Cooking Resources

Lytle · 11-09-2008, 08:30 PM

So I went to my local butcher shop yesterday to see if they sell whole sub-primal cuts so I can take some home and practice since I'm not in school and got a few weeks before my internship, feel like I'm getting rusty just house cooking with precut meats and canned stuff, need something real to do. I was told I could possibly be able to come in and practice if I wanted, hopefully get to do that a few times before I leave to kill some time while Im bored. Anyway, apparently venison is real cheap right now so Im gonna go back tomorrow when they get the prices from their source back and I plan on buying venison striploin or tenderloin. Anyone got any good recipes? I'm willing to try anything pretty much. I'll cut a few steaks but only got me and 2 people at my house to cook for so wanna do a few different dishes. I haven't personally cooked deer meat myself yet, dont know if theres anything I just gotta try or what. So any awesome recipes or ideas I can use?

Alix · 11-09-2008, 08:40 PM

I'm not a big venison fan, but I have cooked it and always soak it in milk first to make it less "gamey". I would think you should just do whatever you would normally do with beef after the soaking and let us know what worked. Um...how about venison bourguignon? (sp?) Or...stroganoff?

Michael in FtW · 11-09-2008, 09:00 PM

If you have ever seen the "Two Fat Ladies" cooking shows on BBC - or peruse your library for their books - they have several excellent ideas. Two of their favorites were the venison tenderloin with a blackberry sauce, and a flank roast with apricots.

Lytle · 11-09-2008, 09:22 PM

Don't think I'll do the milk trick, I love the gamey tastes. Might try the venison bourguignon (spelling was right), I do got a sweet beef bourguignion recipe that itd go good with. I'm looking for things more focused on being matched specifically for venison though not just replacing beef. Mike, never seen the cooking show. Is that blackberry sauce a demi glace based or what? I think that would be delish. I've had blackberry demi before, berried demis seem to go good with game meats from what I've tasted.

Michael in FtW · 11-16-2008, 10:34 PM

Here is the recipe for: Medallions of Venison with Bramble Jelly or Blackberries

Here are some other Two Fat Ladies recipes

Here is a little about the Two Fat Ladies but you really needed to see them in action to gain a full appreciation of them.

Now, I did say "flank roast with apricots" - I'm thinking that was one of their "wild boar" recipes ...

nicklord1 · 02-28-2009, 05:01 PM

Hi have you got any ideas for sauces with venison steaks

Claire · 03-05-2009, 03:19 PM

I'm not sending a particular recipe, but #1 -- any recipe with red wine matches venison very well. I inherited a bunch of ground venison and the following are great in addition to what have been mentioned:

Chili
Stroganof
Goulash

Venison can really vary in gaminess (I'm one of those who likes the gamy flavor). Around here and other place I've lived, the deer feed on corn from farmers' fields and is so mild you can use it in any lean beef recipe (and yes, I've passed it off as beef). Remember that game IS lean, though, compared to meat that is grown for food, and sometimes you might need to add a strip of bacon or two, or something similar.

If your venison is of this milder variety, then you can use it in any beef recipe. When I lived out west, I had to be more careful.

Oh, my next ground venison meal will be cabbage rolls.

HuntGatherCook · 05-22-2009, 05:20 PM

I’m very much into foraging for wild food and I recently, luckily, scored a bunch of morels and a big bunch of wild ramps (also known as wild leeks).

Last night I made a birthday dinner for a good friend of my daughters. The kid has been hinting he wanted to try venison so that’s what I went with.

First, I got my big cast iron pan hot and fried up a couple big chunks of smoked pork neck. Added some canola oil and had a flavorful place to sear pieces of a hindquarter roast I had cubed and dredged in black pepper and seasoned salt. I threw those in my pressure cooker with two Guinness and a couple bay leaves. Cooked high pressure for 40 minutes. They came out fork tender but still held their shape.

While the meat was cooking I sauteed ramps (chopped greens as well as split bulbs) and shitake mushrooms (the morels will star in future dishes, the delicate flavor would have been lost in this one) in the drippings of the venison, keeping the pork neck in the pan and adding a bundle of thyme and rosemary.

When meat was done, I drained it and added sauteed ramps and shrooms (deglazing pan with white wine and adding this to the pot), bundled herbs, a can of cream of celery soup and a can of water.

Served over angel hair pasta with a fresh loaf of Marco Polo bread and real butter. The room went silent except for the sound of eating. Finally, the kid looked up at me with big eyes and said, "This is REALLY good!". I didn’t hear anything else from him until he was done.

I was proud to introduce a 16 year-old kid to venison in a way that he’ll always remember as a good thing. The best thing is this is a kid who just recently gave up 10 years of vegetarianism.

Nothing like wild food to get you in touch with what’s real and good. Not that vegetarianism isn't real and good......if you're into that, I guess.....

Loprraine · 05-23-2009, 07:59 AM

We are lucky to get lots of ground venison from a friend. We use it as you would beef, meatballs, meatloaf, sloppy joes, tourtiere... We cut it with some ground beef or ground pork.