Let's talk about Deer Season! Got a venison recipe? page

[Kevin_in_WMich]

In Michigan and a number of other states around the country it's already or nearly deer season. Which if you're a hunter or are lucky enough to know a generous hunter it's also a time that some truly primal food is on the menu. I was lucky enough as a kid to be raised in a family with a number of avid deer hunters and to this day I usually put away enough venison in the fall to have it available year round. I'm hoping this year is no exception.

While the last few years I've adventured out a bit from my comfort zone and done some interesting things like smoking venison roasts. This year though I'm planning to break completely with tradition and put away absolutely no "venison burger" which has always been the staple way of processing deer in my family. I have 1/2 of a grass fed steer on the way which will come with plenty of ground meat so I have no need for even more "burger".

On top of that I'm planning to actually utilize the fat from the deer rather than just discarding it. This is pretty scary to me since for years I've been told how terrible of a taste that fat will impart on the meat. However, inspired by Hank Shaw at Honest Food.net and in some limited experiments so far I've been pleasantly surprised.

Between getting married, adopting a crazy basset hound, and fencing in my backyard I've had little time to blog. I'm hoping over the next month to get back into the swing of things blogging about my experiences with venison this year.

For now I'm planning to do a cased sausage with cold hearty fresh herbs (rosemary and sage) we still have in the garden. Brine and smoke an entire hind quarter using a recipe based in part of corned beef. And try my hand at coming up with something resembling Liverwurst or Braunschweiger uses all deer meat including liver, fat, and venison. The first deer is already in the fridge waiting to be processed into sausage and I'm super excited to get started tonight.

I'm hoping to have a series of posts up this month on my experiences on Making It Primal. If anyone had any suggestions for me on things to try, I'd love to hear them.

[Noctiluca]

I don't have any particular recipes but I find that balsamic vinegar is a fabulous flavor as a marinade or sauce with venison!

[seaweed]

i shot a deer of recent and got the whole animal. the liver and heart i just cooked and ate. i made a bit of pate out of the liver but it was hard as it tasted so darn good and the dog was rather desperate for some too. the heart i just sear fried and ate and it was divine. i made sausages out of the meat from around the ribs. just chucked it thru the mincer with some chopped onion, some garlic and some horopito leaves. then mixed in some salt and pepper and red wine and left it to sit overnight. then put it into sausage skins. i hung a few to airdry as an experiment and they became salami. the rest i either seam boned out and made into steaks and froze. or if they were smaller made them into stir fry. i made broth out of the bones and rendered down the fat to make venison tallow. not that there was much fat on it. the rinds were very nice too. i left a few pieces in lumps so as i can roast it. fortunately it was a fallow deer so it has such a nice flavour, i dont really need to hide it in any way.

there are good recipes here
Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

[Fitness Wayne]

I will be checking back here later to grab some venison recipes. I just started to train in archery and hope to be ready to hunt by January.

[KotikBegemotik]

Once upon a time I had an incredible venison dish with mushrooms and I think a sherry and cream sauce. It was served on bow tie pasta but I think you can leave that part out.

[Diana Renata]

Hmm... I just cook it like very lean beef or buffalo. Been living on the one I hit last spring for a little while now. My favorite though is venison tartare.

[KotikBegemotik]

Venison with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce Recipe - Allrecipes.com

The recipe calls for flour, but I think you can omit it and just use more heavy cream.

[Mr. Anthony]

I grew up eating a lot of venison (and still do whenever I can get some), and love pretty much anything you can do with it. You can tell the difference in deer that have been out eating wild and those that have been hanging out at corn feeders a lot. I'm really wanting to make some venison stew the same way I've been making grass-fed beef stew lately. Maybe try that? I just basically make the meat into good-sized cubes, lightly brown it, then throw into a big pot with:

chopped sweet potato
chopped purple potato
diced green pepper
diced onion
diced shallot
chopped beet
sliced zucchini
big can of organic diced tomatoes
a little olive oil
some heavy whipping cream
couple spoons of pure cocoa powder
hot sauce
salsa
diced ancho chiles
ancho chile powder
ground pepper
hot sauce
chipotle salsa
couple spoons of pure vanilla extract
a few handfuls of raw spinach or mixed greens
A cup or two of water

I dunno, probably some other stuff. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to slow simmer for a few hours, simmer uncovered for the last hour or so. Add things or take away to taste, but this last batch I made was awesome. I'd really like to try it with venison meat and fat.

[johnmjoy]

November First Venison Braise

Venison Roast: 5 lb, trimmed of as much fat as possible (and extraneous membrane), tied with butcher string, if needed to keep together.

Dust:
1/2 c. potato starch
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp Mombasa (or Cayenne)

Aromatics:
1/2 c. minced shallot
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 fresh bay leaves
Crushed in mortar & pestle:
2 tsp juniper berries
3 whole allspice berries
7 each black peppercorns: (Lampong, Malabar, Tellicherry – substitute if needed, but arrive at roughly 21 total)

Braise:
1 c. water
1/2 c. red wine (NOT especially oaky)
1/4 - 1/2 c. demi glace


Wash and pat dry roast. Roll in Dust to coat. Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add oil of choice, and wait until heated. Brown dusted roast on ALL sides, a couple minutes per side, until well browned. (Reserve remaining dust as thickener for finish.) Remove roast. Add shallot and garlic, and sauté until aromatic. Add water and wine to deglaze. Add remainder of aromatics and demi, and simmer until all combined and aromatic. Return roast (and any emitted juices) to Dutch oven, cover tightly and place in 225F oven for a Long Long Time (six or more hours).

Remove roast and keep warm on serving plate. Meantime, heat residual liquid to simmer. Mix 2 Tbsp reserved Dust in 1/2 c. water. Wisk Dust in water until blended thoroughly, then add to simmering liquid to thicken. Add additional wine, if desired, and allow alcohol to cook away. Serve sliced roast with thickened liquid.

[hostetlgaret]

the rest i either seam boned out and made into steaks and froze.