Couple of deer recipes

[dacjohns]

I'm sure there is a thread or two out there with deer recipes but I didn't want to spend all night looking for them.

Got a small button buck opening day. I usually skin my deer, gut them, and then get the tenderloin out and head for the kitchen. I have always been disappointed because that wonderful cut of meat is always on the tough side when it is that fresh. This year I did something different. This time when I headed for the kitchen I did the following"

Marinate for the rest of the day in cranberry-pomegranate juice.
Cook on low heat in the cast iron skillet with a bit of juice, butter, fresh ground pepper melange, some ground sea salt.

That was the best venison I have ever had.




Part two. I don't like boning out the carcass and during processing I try to trim as much as the muscle fascia (silver stuff) as I can. That's where the gamey flavor resides. Last year I tried cooking a neck with some success. This year I did the same thing with better success.

I took the neck, bone and all and soaked/marinated it about 24 hours in buttermilk.
Pour off the buttermilk yuck and rinse reall good.
Put the neck in a slow cooker.
Added a little bit of water.
Quartered a couple of apples and threw them in the pot.
Ground pepper melange and some salt.
Onion.
Cook for about 24 hours.
Meat falls off the bones and shreds itself.
Remove the bones, don't forget the little ones from the joints between the veterbrate. Remove what pieces of fat, tallow, cartilage, and fascia you find.

Not a bit of gamey taste, tender, and ready to season for tacos, BBQ, tamales, whatever you want.

 

[Wannabefree]

Sounds good. may try it soon as i get a deer

 

[Marianne]

What is ground pepper melange?

 

[Wannabefree]

What is ground pepper melange?

It's a blend of peppercorns, some less "ripe" than others. Color of the peppercorns is indicative of maturity of the pepper and makes some milder than others. If I'm not mistaken the black peppercorns are the least "ripe" and least mild. Then you have a range of colors that they turn as they ripen. You can substitute regular black pepper, but it'll have a bit more bite, so you may want to reduce the ammount of pepper used unless ya like it spicy.

 

[Marianne]

Aha! Thanks!
I think I'm going to try some of these venison recipes sometime soon...I hope!

 

[SKR8PN]

One more thing most folks overlook.........keep the HAIR out of and off your venison!
You are correct in trimming as much of the blue off as you can. We also take as much of the tendons out as we can before grinding it into hamburger or sausage.
The ONLY pieces we eat whole, are the tenderloins and the back straps. Everything else gets ground up or cubed for venison stew.
Try cutting the tenderloins or back straps into 1-1.5 in thick pieces(think mini steaks) wrapping them in a strip of bacon, and tossing them on the grill, or into a skillet greased up with real butter.........
That'll make your tongue slap your lips silly!!

 

[Emerald]

My favorite is to take the small roasts (from the legs my butcher makes them up for me) and roast them in my cast iron dutch oven with water(or a bit of red wine) some ms. dash onion blend, real onions, mushrooms and a bit of salt, till very tender.. let it sit out of the oven for about 20 or so minutes and then take the roast out and make the broth(add more water if needed.. some times it cooks down to much and I have to add a bit) into gravy and then slice the roast and pour gravy over the meat and a good mash of potatoes.
take the left overs and add potato, carrot, onion, celery and some nice green peas and put between two pie crusts... that is what we had for dinner tonight. venison pot pie!
I am lucky to live in an area where the deer are not very gamy unless they bag the big bucks.. Even their fat isn't gamy.
I also brine and smoke the roasts and back straps for Vam.. or if I roll the roast in black pepper and coriander and garlic and smoke and then steam it after smoking you get vastrami!...

 

[dacjohns]

Try this.

Marinate overnight in Italian dressing little pieces of meat.
Drain off the dressing.
Cook in Worcester sauce stirring often until the liquid cooks off.

 

[Marianne]

Keep talking people!! I love tried and true recipes!

I have had the bacon wrapped backstrap on the grill before. Oh wow, wonderful!!

SIL said that he has some venison he'll give us when we get over there later today. He's going to hunt a deer for us that I was going to use primarily for dog chow, but now I've decided half of it is going in the freezer for us.