Venison

[Recoil Rob]

I've read a couple of people hear say they're too tough, to many tendons and either grind them up or toss them.

Myself, I love them and keep any that fellow hunters don't want. I braise them, any kind of braise will do, red wine, stock (preferably venison stock), Middle Eastern spices, whatever you like. They fit great in the Le Creuset oval ovens. You do have to braise them a long time, but the tendons get soft and are delicious.

I have thought about trying Osso Deero but they are too small in diameter for that, best to braise them whole.

Rob

[snowangel]

Another question. I have a lot of little bits for grinding for burgers (have grinder). Should I be mixing this ground venison with something, or grinding it with something else that has more fat? (not talking sausages)

[Hard H2O]

Another question.  I have a lot of little bits for grinding for burgers (have grinder).  Should I be mixing this ground venison with something, or grinding it with something else that has more fat?  (not talking sausages)

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Personally I like my ground venison straight up. If I want ground beef or pork I will cook ground beef or pork. When I want to eat venison I will eat venison.

YMMV

I would try some before mixing it up. When substituting in recipes you might need to experiment a bit.

[Magictofu]

You should jump on the occasion. I would love to learn how to hunt but my girlfriend thinks I would not be able to push the trigger.

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In essence you are pulling the trigger whenever you consume farm raised meat. Someone is killing the beef steer, chicken, hog...It might as well be you harvesting an animal that has spent its life running around wild rather than an animal that has spent its life relatively confined.

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Totally agree with that... this is partly why I would like to learn to hunt... but then I have to admit that the act of killing is not what would attract me the most to this activity. I think that I can live with the contradiction of the pleasure of eating meat and my dislike of killing.

[Hard H2O]

Totally agree with that... this is partly why I would like to learn to hunt... but then I have to admit that the act of killing is not what would attract me the most to this activity. I think that I can live with the contradiction of the pleasure of eating meat and my dislike of killing.

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Killing is not what hunting is about. There is so much more.

I was very saddened at not finding the buck that I am sure I hit. The next day the ravens were making quite the racket...

Taking a low fat protein source from lake or field to your own table is one of the reasons I hunt and fish. I kind of feel like I am getting back to the way people used to live.

I try to have the utmost respect for the animal. I do not harvest a lot. I do not fill the freezer. I eat it as fresh as possible. If I cook it I eat it.

I know people with chest freezers full of fish. A few of them do not cook much. Imagine a chest freezer full of old fish...

One learned it from the parents who lived through hard times. I can understand the need to fill the larder if that is all you have but you still need to consume it before it goes bad.

Fish in my freezer does not last long. A fish fry is to tempting to let it get all frosty.

My wife and kids won't eat venison so it usually lasts a bit longer in the deep freeze.

[Recoil Rob]

Another question.  I have a lot of little bits for grinding for burgers (have grinder).  Should I be mixing this ground venison with something, or grinding it with something else that has more fat?  (not talking sausages)

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If you're going to freeze the ground meat, freeze it as is, you can always add fat to it when ready to use.

I'm not a big fan of burgers anyway, not big on ground meat except when making pate's terrines and such. I take all the little bits and odd pieces and freeze them in 1 or 2 lb bags. I use it for stews and chilies. I make a venison/black bean chile that all my family and friends love. I trim the fat and gristle off those small pieces and cut them as uniformly as possible into 1/4 - 3/8" chunks. I feel it adds more to the chile than it would ground up.

If you want to use it for burgers you can add beef fat.

I do add pork fat when making fresh sausage meat.

[snowangel]

Thanks, Rob. I did just go ahead and freeze the clean trimmings (not ground). And I, too, really like chili with little chunks!

[Recoil Rob]

Good, I think it freezes better in chunks and you can always grind it later.

[budrichard]

For skinning and butchering, one can procure from a Sportings Goods store, a Gambrel T type rack http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/template...1233&hasJS=true , that one cuts slots in the rear legs inside the tendons and then hang the deer from this device. Skinning in thus done head down with meat removal to follow. In Wisconsin, we now just do meat removal without cutting any bones or spinal column due to CWD. Head is removed and DNR analyses and Posts results on thier website. Until results are in, vension is not consumed.-Dick

Edited November 18, 2008 by budrichard (log)

[eldereno]

OK....I have been given a bunch of venison, some loin roasts and other roasts (not sure of the kind). Have found some recipes for loin medalions and wild mushrooms, which sound good. However, I would like to make a great chili with cut up or ground venison. I haven't found a specific thread on venison chili so thought I could post my question here. Any recipes for a really delicious chili made with venison????? The Super Bowl is coming up, you know!!!!

[Recoil Rob]

First off, those loins, much better off searing them whole, finish in the oven no more than med. rare and saucing after they're cut into slices 1/2 - 3/4" . I like taking some olive oil and heating in a small sauce pan with fresh herbs and red pepper and then drizzling over the meat, Florentine style!

For year I've made a venison black bean chili that get high praise from all. It's fairly free form but basics are I trim the meat and cut into a small dice rather than grind it. I brown the cubes and then add some chopped onion and fresh anchos, garlic, bay leaf, spices, etc. When all that is cooked up I add my chili powder. I make my own from ground roasted chili's, and let it cook in the fat from the meat, then I add some canned tomatoes. I add liquid which usually contains some black coffee (decaf) at least one bottle of dark beer, and the pre-soaked black beans, this all simmers for at least 4 hours. Then I add one cup of cider vinegar, stir it in and let it sit overnight.

I know this is rather free form but chili should be. The end result is quite refined, the black beans smooth it out.

OK....I have been given a bunch of venison, some loin roasts and other roasts (not sure of the kind).  Have found some recipes for loin medalions and wild mushrooms, which sound good.  However, I would like to make a great chili with cut up or ground venison.  I haven't found a specific thread on venison chili so thought I could post my question here.  Any recipes for a really delicious chili made with venison?????  The Super Bowl is coming up, you know!!!!

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[eldereno]

First off, those loins, much better off searing them whole, finish in the oven no more than med. rare and saucing after they're cut into slices 1/2 - 3/4" . I like taking some olive oil and heating in a small sauce pan with fresh herbs and red pepper and then drizzling over the meat, Florentine style!

For year I've made a venison black bean chili that get high praise from all. It's fairly free form but basics are I trim the meat and cut into a small dice rather than grind it. I brown the cubes and then add some chopped onion and fresh anchos, garlic, bay leaf, spices, etc.  When all that is cooked up I add my chili powder. I make my own from ground roasted chili's, and let it cook in the fat from the meat, then I add some canned tomatoes.  I add liquid which usually contains some black coffee (decaf) at least one bottle of dark beer,  and the pre-soaked black beans, this all simmers for at least 4 hours. Then I add one cup of cider vinegar, stir it in and let it sit overnight.

I know this is rather free form but chili should be. The end result is quite refined, the black beans smooth it out.

Most recipes for the loin suggest preparing it as you said. That's what I'll plan on.

Your chili sounds great. I ordered some black beans from Rancho Gordo and plan to use those. I'm usually pretty good at making alterations and/or "winging it" once I have followed a recipe and know how I'd like to change it up. Not so good or confident about making it up as I go. Will probably use your great suggestions, ideas from recipes that I have found, and my own taste to, hopefully, put together a tasty treat. I thought I would start it on Friday night or Saturday morning, refridgerate it and serve Sunday (for Super Bowl) with appropriate garnishes to accompany it. Any help regarding amounts of the ingredients would be very welcomed!!!!!!!

Thanks!

[Recoil Rob]

I generally usually use 2#'s of raw meat to 2#s dry black beans but again, it's not crucial.

I found the "chili primer" I wrote up for a friend in 1996, wrote it by hand so I'm not going to transcribe it here and I don't have a scanner but if you pm me a fax# I'd be glad to send it to you.

[Prawncrackers]

Hi folks, been clearing out the freezer again, this time i've dug out some sliced liver and heart of fallow deer. Another impulse buy! Does anyone have any recipe ideas for these. I'll be cooking it tomorrow after work so something quick would be great. I did toy with the idea of braising the heart stuffed with its own chopped liver but it's not a really a Monday dish.

I've been mulling over maybe a creamy marsala sauce over seared liver. But the heart i don't know, should i slice that thin too? Or maybe chunk it, skewer it and spice it with fennel & cumin Beijing style. Will it get tough? Any other suggestions welcome, here's a pic of the raw ingredients to inspire all you carnivores:

[Magictofu]

For a monday dish, a quick fry for either of these would work. I never tried venison liver or heart but I imagine it cooks exactly like calf liver or beef heart. From your earlier posts, I'm sure you can come up with something delicious but here's what i would do:

1. Quick sauteed heart served very rare on a salad.

2. Liver, pink in the middle, covered with a quick port reduction sauce with plenty of shallots serve with mashed potatoes.

[Prawncrackers]

Heart salad is a capital idea. I knew i should have taken these out a day earlier, i've got a few ideas bubbling now but they're all a little time consuming.

[snowangel]

Now that it's fall, I'm all over venison again. For some reason, I take a hiatus on it during the summer. Probably because it does not lend itself toward grilling.

But, for all, we're all over spicy, and Asian seems to fit the bill. Last night was braised beef (vension is our case) and potatoes from "The Revolutionary Cookbook." This is truly and outstanding dish, and I'd try and make sure you have plenty of leftovers. Tonight was Fuschia's beef and cumin from the same book. Earlier this past week was Venison kao soi.

Edited to insert link.

Edited October 16, 2009 by snowangel (log)

[xxchef]

In defense of Road Kill

(Venison Mincemeat recipe at end)

Many years ago I was at the wheel of an encounter between my pick-up truck and a large buck deer on a rural road in CT. I remember that it was the night before hunting season opened in the area and this lovely 8-pointer dove out of the corn field he had been raiding and into my path. I might have been going just a tad faster than prudent and there wasnt thing I could do to avoid him.

When the dust had settled and I was pretty sure I wasnt damaged and the truck would still drive, I called my wife, to whom I was en route to pick up from work, to tell her I would be a little late. What are you going to do with the deer? she asked me. I dont know… leave it there?? NO WAY, she says you bring it here and well have the police tag it for us. Uh, OK dear, I reply. Apparently if you hit a deer you can keep the carcass if you want but it has to be tagged by the state police so you do get nabbed for poaching or hunting without a permit. Loading the buck into the back of the truck by myself was seriously ugly requiring lots of rope, levers and swearing but the job got done.

Soon after getting to the Country Inn where my wife worked the Trooper arrived, looked at the deer, looked at the truck and wrote out a tag for us. Id never killed an animal for food before this and had no clue what to do next. Idea! I had an uncle who was big-time into hunting/fishing and general outdoors-y stuff. I called him and he gave me general directions for field dressing (which we did in the bed of the truck that night and was by far the most disgusting thing I had ever done to that point in my life) and hanging the carcass (for about a week in our wood shed).

The butchering was pretty straight forward. I lost the better part of one rear leg do to damage from the accident (from the deer, not me!) but the rest looked fine. Because of freezer-space limitations we decided to bone-out the whole thing and ended up with just over 100 lbs of boneless steaks, roasts, cutlets and ground venison. The deductable on my truck insurance to get it repaired was $200 so we figured we did OK with a freezer full of meat at $2 a pound.

The meat was fantastic but we ended up with lots more ground than we were accustomed to eating (not big burger eaters) and had to look for creative ways to use it. The absolute BEST was when I discovered a battered recipe card of my grandmothers for Venison Minced Meat Pie Filling. This was the real deal, with lots of ground venison, beef suet, apples and the rest. We made a bunch of it and our holiday season that year was filled with mincemeat pies, cookies and tarts.

Here's my Grandma's Recipe...

Venison Minced Meat Pie Filling

Ingredients

4 Lbs Ground venison

2 lbs beef suet,

3 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1 whole orange, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 lbs dry currants

1 cup brandy

3 cups sweet cider

3 lbs raisins

8 oz chopped candied citron

2 pounds brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon allspice

1 TBSP nutmeg

2 teaspoon powdered cloves

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Simmer 1 hour, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

2. Prepare canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions.

3. Pour mincemeat into hot jars, leaving 1" head space. Remove air bubbles with not-metallic spatula.

4. Adjust caps.

5. Process pints 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner.

Yield: about 6 qts

Edited October 16, 2009 by xxchef (log)

[snowangel]

I now have 150 lbs. of venison in the freezer. Help! We can only eat so much venison curry (Thai) and chili. HELP! (yes, I'm screaming; 150 lbs. is a lot of meat.) Savoury, not sweet, please.

[kayb]

Makes a wonderful meat loaf, with some pork fat added. Use your favorite meat loaf recipe. Also, it makes great pasta sauce, in a basic tomato/basil/oregano/garlic preparation.

I like the chops just floured, seared and then braised in broth or red wine. Ribs are great baked in the barbecue sauce of your choice; ditto roasts.

I generallly prefer my venison ground, as deer down here have a tendency to be tough. If it's a roast or even a chop, unless it's a very young deer, I cook the livin' h*** out of it.

[snowangel]

One of the things I've learned as I butcher my own deer -- don't cut that roast of chop thing into steaks. Cut it into appropriatly sized hunks. Then, when you want it, you have the choice -- steaks or roast. Tonight, a simple meal of a chop roast (off the back, on top of the ribs), with salad, roasted asparagus and twice-baked potatoes.

As I look at the pile of venison in the freezer, I'm so glad I butchered it myself. Everything is VERY WELL labeled, and I packaged it appropriately. As we have settled into life as a family of four (Diana is at college), our requirements are different. There are packages of this and that ranging in weight from 1/2 lb. to 2 lb., with a lot of them in the 1/2 pound range. Oh, and there are some 1/4 pound packages.

[sjemac]

Hey, you're doing great! I grew up cutting up our own deer and now I cut up at least three a winter.

I wouldn't use the shanks. I see above where some make soup, but I don't have the patience to get all of the tendons out. Believe me when I say they are seriously stringy.

Yes, we make rump, shoulder and round roasts--delicious in the crock pot!

BLASPHEMY!!!

The shanks are the BEST part of the deer/moose/elk. You need to sear them off and then braise slowly at 200 or so for at least 8 hours. The "stringiness" resolves into velvety goodness. No need to remove the tendons, they turn into delicious gelatin as they braise and naturally thicken the sauce. The shanks are the one part of the deer besides the tenderloins and loins that we never turn into sausage or burger.

Edited December 8, 2009 by sjemac (log)

[sjemac]

Here's a post from last year:

Most of the meat we eat in our house is game. I'm blessed to live in an area of the world possessing a variety and abundance of game. Moose, deer, bear, ducks, geese, pheasant, grouse, rabbit and hare can all be found in my freezer and a trip to the coast every summer gets us a few hundred pounds of salmon and halibut. Other than the occasional chicken or pork cuts we buy VERY little meat.

Over the last 12 years I have killed and processed 60+ big game animals for our food and literally thousands of waterfowl, gamebirds and small game. I've learned a lot about butchering them and cooking them, including utilizing charcuterie and sous vide in their preparation.

I thought it might be interesting for some to follow a single deer from the field through processing to the dishes it ends up in throughout the year. I won't show or talk about every single dish since a lot of it ends up being eaten as hamburgers or pretty pedestrian stews and stirfys but I will try to highlight some of the unique or special recipes I make with it.

PS. This is not meant to be a back and forth on the morals, need or ethics of hunting (lots of other places to duke that out) but to merely talk about one animal from a culinary point of view. Some of the initial pictures may be a little graphic for some but I've tried to tone it down as much as possible.

Anyway. Here's the product in the raw form. A young buck I shot in the back country west of my home. The land is designated as Forestry zone, so there are no homes or crops allowed and only limited grazing by cattle permitted. Some logging takes place but there are few roads. This deer is about as free range as any meat can get. I was able to get a steady and clear shot and put the bullet between his nostrils into the brain. A knife thrust to the heart sped him along and helped to bleed him out. The boys helped in the cleaning.

After hanging by the pelvis with the hide on for 20 days at about 2-4 degrees C this was the state the deer was in. Normally I save the ribs off of younger deer but on the ones I hang, the rib meat is quite thin and dries out quickly.

Starting the hide from the rear -- note the fat deposits.

The deer completely skinned out. Again, note the fat layer on the outside.

With sharp knife, all the outer fat is carefully shaved off of the meat, leaving the wide flat muscles coming off of the shoulder available for stir fry and fajita cuts.

Front legs removed, exposing back loins.

Spine and rib cage is all that is left.

A front quarter, ready for boning out. With wild game we NEVER use cuts like those done for beef, but instead separate out all the individual muscle groups and package according to whether they are grilled, braised or ground. The long bones are cracked, roasted and used for stock making.

A sampling of the cuts we get. Clockwise from top right: Neck meat (stews), Top Sirloin (grilling and one of the best cuts from the animal), Tricep (stews and braising), two Under Blade cuts (perfect for fajitas), and two heels SHANK MEAT (calf muscle) with the achilles tendons attached to add body to the liquids they are braised in.

Everything cut wrapped, boxed and ready to freeze. Weighed 57 lbs of nearly boneless (fatless and silverskinless)meat (we keep the shanks on the bone). By comparison, the cow moose we got yielded 285 lbs of boneless meat so one moose equals 5 deer in terms of meat yield.

[Mallet]

Great post. Just out of curiosity, why the emphasis on not using beef-type cuts?

[David Ross]

In defense of Road Kill

(Venison Mincemeat recipe at end)

Many years ago I was at the wheel of an encounter between my pick-up truck and a large buck deer on a rural road in CT. I remember that it was the night before hunting season opened in the area and this lovely 8-pointer dove out of the corn field he had been raiding and into my path. I might have been going just a tad faster than prudent and there wasn’t thing I could do to avoid him.

When the dust had settled and I was pretty sure I wasn’t damaged and the truck would still drive, I called my wife, to whom I was en route to pick up from work, to tell her I would be a little late. “What are you going to do with the deer?” she asked me. “I don’t know… leave it there??” “NO WAY,” she says “you bring it here and we’ll have the police tag it for us”. “Uh, OK dear”, I reply. Apparently if you hit a deer you can keep the carcass if you want but it has to be tagged by the state police so you do get nabbed for poaching or hunting without a permit. Loading the buck into the back of the truck by myself was seriously ugly requiring lots of rope, levers and swearing but the job got done.

Soon after getting to the Country Inn where my wife worked the Trooper arrived, looked at the deer, looked at the truck and wrote out a tag for us. I’d never killed an animal for food before this and had no clue what to do next. Idea! I had an uncle who was big-time into hunting/fishing and general outdoors-y stuff. I called him and he gave me general directions for field dressing (which we did in the bed of the truck that night and was by far the most disgusting thing I had ever done to that point in my life) and hanging the carcass (for about a week in our wood shed).

The butchering was pretty straight forward. I lost the better part of one rear leg do to damage from the accident (from the deer, not me!) but the rest looked fine. Because of freezer-space limitations we decided to bone-out the whole thing and ended up with just over 100 lbs of boneless steaks, roasts, cutlets and ground venison. The deductable on my truck insurance to get it repaired was $200 so we figured we did OK with a freezer full of meat at $2 a pound.

The meat was fantastic but we ended up with lots more ground than we were accustomed to eating (not big burger eaters) and had to look for creative ways to use it. The absolute BEST was when I discovered a battered recipe card of my grandmother’s for Venison Minced Meat Pie Filling. This was the real deal, with lots of ground venison, beef suet, apples and the rest. We made a bunch of it and our holiday season that year was filled with mincemeat pies, cookies and tarts.

Here's my Grandma's Recipe...

Venison Minced Meat Pie Filling

Ingredients

4 Lbs Ground venison

2 lbs beef suet,

3 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1 whole orange, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 lbs dry currants

1 cup brandy

3 cups sweet cider

3 lbs raisins

8 oz chopped candied citron

2 pounds brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon allspice

1 TBSP nutmeg

2 teaspoon powdered cloves

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Simmer 1 hour, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

2. Prepare canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions.

3. Pour mincemeat into hot jars, leaving 1" head space. Remove air bubbles with not-metallic spatula.

4. Adjust caps.

5. Process pints 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner.

Yield: about 6 qts

Thank you so much for the recipe. I long for the lost days of tasting my Grandmother's Mince Pies-only made with venison that came from the mule deer that my Grandfather procured in the ranges of Central Oregon. All this modern stuff out of a jar, and only containing fruit, really isn't true mince "meat."