Suggestions for Venison Shoulder Steaks?

[agray]

I've been given a couple of Venison shoulder steaks (hunted deer, not farmed), and I'd like to cook them up tomorrow night for dinner, but I don't have a clue how best to prepare them - I've never cooked venison before. Any suggestions? From my reading, I see that most venison cuts are best just grilled quickly, but that some need to be marinated/braised. Other than that, I'm an empty vessel...

[Corinna]

A friend gave me some very fresh venison tenderloin in the fall. It was sliced in pieces about 1/2" thick. I had good luck searing them in a pan with a little olive oil. (Not for very long, which I wouldn't do if it had been frozen.) Delicious served over some horseradish mashed potatoes and a drizzle of red wine pan sauce.

Hope this helps.

[ilikefood]

Shoulders seems to be more tough than other parts of an animal. I have never eaten venison shoulder as a steak, e.g. cooked at a high temperature for a shorter amount of time, I usually debone and save the meat for making sausage. Other hunters just grind the meat and use in place of hamburger. That said, if you want to keep it as a steak I would suggest some marinade to make it more tender. You could also try to braise the shoulder. Most loins are great cut into steaks and then grilled quickly, but they have less connective tissue and thus easier to chew than shoulder. Also, venison fat is usually thought to have poor flavor so many people trim the fat off. I think a braise with red wine and some juniper or rosemary would taste good.

[Dana]

For shoulder, I make a venison stew. Cut in small pieces, brown, deglaze with beer, add beef stock then the usual stew stuff - garlic, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, peas, tomato, etc. Thicken with a slurry at the end if it's not stewlike enought for you. Drizzle with olive oil to serve. I may have to make some this weekend now...

[Blether]

Stew and braise are good suggestions, I'll second those. You don't want to fast-cook the shoulder meat in a piece; I think approaching venison the same way you'd handle lamb is a good rule of thumb.

You could also grind the meat and have some really delicious burgers (add fat if the meat's too lean): I picked these ones up from the butcher when I was in Scotland last summer:

and cobbled this salsa together for them:

"That's a tasty burger !"

Edited March 13, 2010 by Blether (log)

[agray]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was wondering, since it was a shoulder, if it would require slower cooking like you would with pork shoulder. I'll dig around for some stew/braise ideas. We do have red wine and juniper berries kicking around... Don't have a meat grinder alas - those burgers look very tasty.

This recipe looks interesting: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1935/succulent-braised-venison

Edited March 13, 2010 by agray (log)

[ilikefood]

This recipe looks interesting: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1935/succulent-braised-venison

I agree, that recipe looks interesting and also looks really good. I will have to bookmark that page so I can make it some day. If you make that recipe, you will have to tell us how it turns out.

[budrichard]

More than likely your gifted veison was cut by a commercial butcher because they cut like it was traditional beef animal right through the bones with a saw.. Venison should be cut as muscle groups off the bone whiich results in boneless venison. Most gifted venison is from someone who for whatever reason shot the animal and paid for the processing and doesn't either want it, doesn't like the taste or its old. If its commercialy cut it should have the date of processing on the package. that said, venison for steaks must be properly cut, quickly seared and eaten medium rare and hot, if not a a long slow braise with aromatics and wine is the key to counteracting any 'gamy' taste which can or canot be strong depending on the browse the animal was feeding one.(deer are browsing animals). Good luck!-Dick

[agray]

Budrichard: it was actually cut by the farmer who gave it to me - he has his own saw as he also butchers his lambs himself. And yes, he cut right through the bones. He gifted it to me because I was looking for venison and it's impossible to get from a butcher where I live (you're not allowed to sell wild venison, but can give it away). Though he did give me some older meat...

I ended up using the BBC Good Food recipe I linked to above. It worked out very well as the steaks would have been quite tough otherwise. I cut the meat from the steaks into rough cubes and then prepared as the recipe suggests (rough cut onions, carrots, celery and turnip, sear meat, deglaze pan...). It was delicious, and the meat did benefit from a slow braise - it was nice and tender after a couple of hours in the oven. It wasn't gamy at all - in fact it ended up being very much like Boeuf Bourguignon.

Edited March 15, 2010 by agray (log)

[ilikefood]

Glad to hear that recipe worked out well. I will definitely have to try that one out now.