Seeking Recipes for deer meat

Hello everyone-With it being deer season I thought I'd see if anyone had any good deer stew recipe's they'd be willing to share. It'll be my first attempt at cooking it. If you have any recipe's for deer meat even if it's not stew, I would love to hear them.

Thanks in advance!!

Welcome to permies Mia
We have a different species of deer (red deer), but I assume using the tough cuts of any deer is about the same.
The big thing from my perspective is venison's extremely lean, and a bit of added fat makes a much improved stew.
If that's not your thing, it'll be fine, just a bit 'dryer'.
I don't have a recipe as such, but here's the kind of thing I'd do:

Quantities are completely dependent on how much meat you've got!
Dice carrots, onions and celery
Chop up bacon, fatty pork, pancetta...
Mix some flour, plenty of salt and pepper in a big bowl
Cut the stewing venison into good-sized chunks (say an inch across)
Chuck into the bowl and coat well
Heat up a heavy pan till quite hot, add some vegetable oil or fat and fry the venison in batches so it gets nice and brown.
Don't try and pack too much in at a time or it will 'stew'
Keep adding the browned meat into a casserole dish, and browning more.
You'll need to keep adding fat.
When it's all done, add more oil to the pan (don't clean it, those meaty flavours are gold!)
fry the pork for a bit, then add veges and turn it down: you want them to caramelise, but slowly.
When they're golden, tip in a bit of red wine, if you like it, otherwise I'd add stock or water.
Scrape the goodies off the pan and tip it all into the casserole dish.
Add a couple of bayleaves, maybe some fresh thyme and a bit of tomato puree.
Cook it slowly for ages, stirring occasionally.
I'd do it in the oven, or even a slow-cooker to avoid burning it.
right at the end, I'd add some garlic, and maybe parsley and serve with mash

That sounds delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing.

On any tougher meat the key to getting really good texture seems to be in the duration of cooking. A long slow cook (4 hours or so) will really tenderise the meat to the point where it falls totally apart.

From that point any normal recipe will probably work well - eg stews. As suggested above, lean meats can benefit from having a bit of additional fat added as they cook. My preference is for animal fats like lard which has the benefit of being really cheap here in the supermarket.

Thanks Michael. I'm also planning on making deer jerky and bbq'ing some of the meat too .

mmm... Jerky.... I love making Jerky.

I use an electric food dehydrator to make it - you can get really creative with your marinades as well. I bought a dehydrator online a few years back that I use for making dehyrated meal for hiking trips. I can dry about 3kg of meat at a time without problems.

If you have a large amount of meat to process a larger one is a good idea.

Any good Pot Roast recipe! Age the meat on the counter (covered) a day or two. Rub it in garlic, flour it and brown it in a big pot. Slow cook it w/ turnips, carrots & celery, couple cups of beef stock or pot likker. I like to use a good sized hunk of de-salted fatback in the slow cooker. Season to taste.

Kdan Horton wrote:Any good Pot Roast recipe! Age the meat on the counter (covered) a day or two. Rub it in garlic, flour it and brown it in a big pot. Slow cook it w/ turnips, carrots & celery, couple cups of beef stock or pot likker. I like to use a good sized hunk of de-salted fatback in the slow cooker. Season to taste.

That sounds really good too. My deer jerky turned out really good. I'm gonna try your recipe but i'm also gonna add some peppers to it. Thank you!

My co-worker tells me to throw it in the slow cooker with a can of mushroom soup.
This year is the first time I've got a whitetail, looking for good recipes as well.

best bar none is to batter and fry it... add some seasonings to the flour... just dip in egg, then roll in flour and let sit for a few minutes, then deep fry. Here we mostly eat deer meat and I've been collecting recipes because it gets old eating the same meat almost every day... sometimes I'd love to be able to trade some of it for some good ol' homone injected beef haha, but beef is just too expensive around here, so we're lucky to have more deer meat than we can use.

anyhow, here is a copy and paste of some recipes I've been collecting, I hope the format translates over, otherwise it'll just be a big jumble.. good, it pasted ok, my page breaks didn't show up, but shouldn't be too hard to figure out. None of these are mine, I have a thread going in a popular hunting forum


Medalions

Venison cut into thin slices (cut for short grain) with little sinew about 2"X3".... Example, just slice the back strap into thin slices.

Fork both sides.
Apply UNseasoned meat tenderizer and Cavenders to both sides.
Let sit for 1 hour to over night.
Cover with 1 part butter (melted) and 1 part olive oil mix.
Get grill hot.
Grill for 2-3 minutes on one side.
Brush with yellow table mustard... both sides.
Grill on the other side for 2-3 minutes.
Eat. Hot or Cold these are awesome.


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If you just want to taste the pure meat, this recipe was given to me by a very famous chef, just for game meat.

He thinks marinating game meat is an abomination of a beautiful thing, particularly if you marinate backstraps and tenderloin, but I've used this recipe on probably all the hindquarter cuts and they are primo tasting, and tender with this method.

Preheat oven to 450

Take thawed cuts, about 1 1/2" thick, trimmed, and coat with canola oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. (You don't use pre-ground pepper, right? Freshly ground is a huge improvement, indulge yourself a little.)

When the oven is done or nearly so, sear cuts in an iron pan on HIGH heat (Make sure your vent is rocking, 'cause this is gonna make some smoke) for 1 min. a side.

When both sides are done, put in oven for about 2 1/2 minutes a side.

Let rest for 5 min. under foil.

Add a pat of butter on top...Eat.





pan seared venison tenderloin with blue cheese and panko over a squash, carrot, and bamboo shoot ragout.

the sweet , earthy, and salty should go well together. i make something similar without the bamboo. its really excellent! (let me type up the recipe...will edit soon.)

****
cut loin into desired sizes (its dense and will need some thickness to get a good med. rare)
mix crumbled blue cheese (5 oz or so) with 3/4 cup panko in a bowl
heat oven to HI broil and put a skillet on high heat with some butter and olive oil
sear off loin for about 3-4 minutes on each side (HOOOOOOT pan!)
top with the cheese and panko mix and press down a bit to firm
move steaks under broiler to about 4-5 more minutes to get a good med. rare

****
chop up and fry up some bacon in a sautee pan or big skillet
put diced squash in the roasting pan or skillet with olive oil over medium stovetop heat. add salt and pepper and 1/2 cup chicken stock.
bake this at 350 for about 15 minutes (dont overcook this!)
put diced carrots, bamboo shoots, tablespoon of sugar, choppen garlic, salt and pepper in a medium heat sautee pan and brown in butter and the bacon fat (3 or 4 mins should be fine.)
add 1/2 cup of chicken stock and simmer for about 10 mintues or so
add a couple of chopped big leeks (or sweet onion) with another 1/4 cup of broth and simmer another 10
put it all together and heat up over med-low heat.
you can toss in some nutmeg or brown sugar with ginger if you feel like it
*****
-oven goes to 350
-whack the birds in half, down the middle
-take a dutch oven and heat up some olive oil and butter over medium high heat
-rub the bird parts in butter and lightly flour them. brown them in the pan and get all the surfaces seared.
-pull them off and set aside. sautee a couple of shallots (or sweet onion), chopped bacon, taragon and thyme
-deglase with a healthy shot of white wine and reduce. add a couple pinches of salt, brown sugar and pepper along with enough dark beer and chicken stock (half and half) to cover just over half way up the birds. (i also like to toss in 4 or 5 black cherries cut in half). simmer this for 2 or 3 minutes.
-put the bird back in, breast up, and cover the pot. put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (you want it just under "bone falling off tender."
-when done, take out the bird halves and reduce the liquid on the stove. when its about half way gone, reduce the heat and add enough heavy cream to thicken the sauce (half to 3/4 cup should be plenty)

*****
-roast 3 or 4 large sweet potatoes in a 375 degree oven for a hour
-peel and put potatoes in a bowl with 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp brown sugar. mix well with masher or beaters. (i also really like crispy bacon pieces in this too but its not totally necessary)
-put 4 tbsp of bourbon in a saucepan and simmer for a few minutes
-toss the bourbon, a stick and a half of butter, salt and pepper into the potato mix and mix up well
-put in a dish and pop back in the 375 oven for 15 mins or so.
-top with chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts both do well)

*****
toss asparagus with a light coat of olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. grill (or dry pan fry) enough to get some good char


put a good helping of the potatoes on a plate. cross over a few stalks of asparagus. on top of this put your desired amount of bird. top with cream sauce. EAT!!



Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients:

2 ½ #'s Pork or 2 Lbs Pork and ½ Lb bacon
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon fennel
2 teaspoons sage
2 teaspoons thyme
½ teaspoon rosemary leaves (finely chopped)
2 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

I use scraps left over when I cut up a feral hog. Generally I just take the leg quarters and backstraps, but if it's a somewhat large hog (>100Lbs) I'll also skin off the meat outside the ribs and save it specifically for sausage. I freeze the meat in zip lock bags, and when I'm ready to make sausage I put them in the refrigerator to partially thaw. When grinding meat it should be firm, almost frozen.

I grind the meat using a fine plate, and then add the spices. I mix them in thoroughly by hand, and then run it through the grinder again.

Wild hogs are pretty lean, and even with the added oil it's sometimes necessary to lightly grease the pan to prevent the meat from burning. I typically at least spray the pan with cooking spray. I haven't actually tried adding the bacon, that might help.




venison subs. I take a frozen chunk of meat and slice it real thin with a razon knife and fry it in butter with onions, mushrooms and peppers, and crushed garlic and put it on a loaf of french bread with american and cheddar chesse melted on it. I cant picture a better tasting meal. Im also a big fan of cube steaks. I have a cuber for my grinder. take a cube steak drench it in flour cook in butter and also make a batch of fried potatoes with lots of onion and put it all on a plate and laddle sausage gravy over the hole mess. Its a meal fit for a king. then again backstraps on the grill are hard to beat too.




We do roast, steaks, burger, sausage and jerkey.

Roast is in a dutch with onion soup mix and beef broth and assorted veggies, Steak is Lea & Perins (spelling) with garlic salt and Lemon Pepper, done on the grill with Kingsford, not V1 or whoever else supplies your propane.

Burger is mixed with beef fat or pork roast.

Sausage is always done 1-2 ratio 1lb wild meat with two of pork (any pork is good, just don't use a ham, it to salty). It is still pretty lean. We make breakfast sausage Italian sausage, and all kinds of linked sausages.

Jerkey is with a mix and sliced by hand real thin and done on a dryer.

If you don't have a dutch oven, go get an oven dutch (no legs) and a dutch oven cook book and start trying new things. A dutch oven (to me any way) is a cast iron pot with or without legs that can be used in a regular oven or on coals or open flame. A dutch oven is not an enamel pot with a lid like you see on food net work.






H, btw... here's something you fellas might not have heard of/done with it yet (venison). I can quite a bit of ours in mason jars! works like a dang champ and WAY better than freezing, it'll keep longer and it's easier to prepare when you're ready to eat. I'll take some of the bones, boil them in a big stock pot to make a broth with LIGHT spices to taste (usually with a couple cubes of beef bullion too). You don't want to overspice it because that will make it harder to do different things with it later on... anyhow, after the broth is done, I'll lightly brown chunked meat, I don't cook it, just sear it enought to brown the outside over a high heat. Then I put the meat in the jars, add enough broth to cover it up (leaving enough headspace in the jar) and then pressure can it for the appropriate amount of time. When you go to use it in a stew, make a vegetable stew FIRST (using the broth from the jar). Then when the stew is actually done, dump the meat in. You do this because after canning it is VERY tender and will actually disappear in the stew if you try to put the meat in at the first. Works great, no worries about power outages, super easy to use, no thawing, and a good SHTF skill to have. You can use it in stroghanoff and plenty of other dishes where "stewed" meat would be called for. I find PINT jars are the perfect amount of meat for a decent pot of stew that would easily feed 4 folks for a meal.






All it takes is a little imagination and a lot of experimentation. One year I made the mistake of cutting shoulder meat in thin slices, steaming it until tender then wrapping it in a spiral with bread dough and baking the result like roll up dinner rolls.

Now during harvest time the men insist on having it prepared for "field meals" as you can wrap them in aluminum foil and put them on the exhaust manifold for a round to heat them up.




A crowd pleaser of mine has always been Italian venison sandwiches. Put a roast in the crockpot with a packet of Italian dressing mix, a jar of pepperoncini (salad peppers) and their juice. Put water in to cover the top and let it cook until you can pull the meat apart. Serve with provolone cheese on sub rolls and fresh salad peppers. Man I can't wait for deer season!





Marinade

1.5 cups veggie oil, ¾ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup worchesterchire sauce, ½ cup red wine vinegar, 1/3 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed, 2 tbs. Dry mustard, 1 ½ tbs fresh parsley, fresh sliced garlic cloves to taste, fresh cracked black pepper.

oh, and take some advice from a fella who really processes ALOT of deer meat. DO NOT GUT the deer right away (unless you have to transport a long time). when cleaning the animal, remove ALL the meat possible before you gut it, then remove the rest of the meat WHILE SMELLING EACH PIECE THAT YOU THROW IN THE COOLER... If a piece smells weird (ie, not like the others) put it in a separate container and DO NOT let it touch the bulk of the meat ever... All it takes is a drop or two of urine to RUIN a whole deer. That is what most people call the "gamey" flavor as it is nearly impossible to remove the bladder, kidneys, ureters and urethra without spilling any. Doing it like this, you'll never risk ruining a whole deer again.

Secondly, if you're feeding someone who is sensitive to the remaining "gamey" flavor, remove every bit of stuff that isn't dark red meat. All the bluish membranes, all the tendons/sinew and most importantly all the fat. That is where the gamey flavor comes from. I find a really nice fillet knife helps with that. I don't waste anything, all that gets ground up for heavily spiced dishes like chili, but it will win over even the pickiest wild game eater/snob I've spent the last 3 years trying to get deer meat to taste a little more like beef, and removing everything except for the dark red meat is the biggest help, along with the cleaning instructions above. I know, most folks WANT deer to taste different, and I'm not trying to convince those folks. For me though, our meat consumption is easily 90% deer since I have depredation permits on our farm. It's a blessing and a curse because we can't afford beef right now, BUT, after 3 years of only buying beef a handful of times, venison does get a little old haha. I am very thankful for our bounty, but a little variety is nice too

M Foti wrote:oh, and take some advice from a fella who really processes ALOT of deer meat. DO NOT GUT the deer right away (unless you have to transport a long time). when cleaning the animal, remove ALL the meat possible before you gut it, then remove the rest of the meat WHILE SMELLING EACH PIECE THAT YOU THROW IN THE COOLER... If a piece smells weird (ie, not like the others) put it in a separate container and DO NOT let it touch the bulk of the meat ever... All it takes is a drop or two of urine to RUIN a whole deer. That is what most people call the "gamey" flavor as it is nearly impossible to remove the bladder, kidneys, ureters and urethra without spilling any. Doing it like this, you'll never risk ruining a whole deer again.

Secondly, if you're feeding someone who is sensitive to the remaining "gamey" flavor, remove every bit of stuff that isn't dark red meat. All the bluish membranes, all the tendons/sinew and most importantly all the fat. That is where the gamey flavor comes from. I find a really nice fillet knife helps with that. I don't waste anything, all that gets ground up for heavily spiced dishes like chili, but it will win over even the pickiest wild game eater/snob I've spent the last 3 years trying to get deer meat to taste a little more like beef, and removing everything except for the dark red meat is the biggest help, along with the cleaning instructions above. I know, most folks WANT deer to taste different, and I'm not trying to convince those folks. For me though, our meat consumption is easily 90% deer since I have depredation permits on our farm. It's a blessing and a curse because we can't afford beef right now, BUT, after 3 years of only buying beef a handful of times, venison does get a little old haha. I am very thankful for our bounty, but a little variety is nice too

Hey, Thank you so much for the recipes and advice. Variety is nice, I agree. Maybe since it's thanksgiving tomorrow you'll get some turkey? Anyway Happy thanks giving to all of you!!

One of my favourite recipes for deer is goulash. That's a simple Hungarian stew with onions and paprika, traditionally made from beef.

1.3kg onions
1kg meat
2-3 table spoons of ground paprika
~1l water/soup (I normally use the soup I make from the bones of the deer)
2 bay leafs
5 juniper berries
10 peppercorns
1-2 teaspoons marjoram
4cl vinegar
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt
if available 2-3 table spoons of pulverized mushrooms (I use mostly king boletes, Sarcodon impricatus and black chanterelles)


cut the onions into pieces of about 2 cm, the meat into cubes of 3cm
heat a pot and add some oil or fat. now fry the onions until they get a little brown. Add the salted meat and fry a little longer. Now you have to add the paprika powder and the tomato paste and after about 1 minute deglaze it with the soup or water. The paprika should have turned it's colour from red to brown but it must not burn because it would give an ugly bitter taste.
Now just add all the other ingredients and cook it slowly for 3-5 hours, depending on the quality of the meat.

Florian Kogseder wrote:One of my favourite recipes for deer is goulash. That's a simple Hungarian stew with onions and paprika, traditionally made from beef.

1.3kg onions
1kg meat
2-3 table spoons of ground paprika
~1l water/soup (I normally use the soup I make from the bones of the deer)
2 bay leafs
5 juniper berries
10 peppercorns
1-2 teaspoons marjoram
4cl vinegar
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt
if available 2-3 table spoons of pulverized mushrooms (I use mostly king boletes, Sarcodon impricatus and black chanterelles)


cut the onions into pieces of about 2 cm, the meat into cubes of 3cm
heat a pot and add some oil or fat. now fry the onions until they get a little brown. Add the salted meat and fry a little longer. Now you have to add the paprika powder and the tomato paste and after about 1 minute deglaze it with the soup or water. The paprika should have turned it's colour from red to brown but it must not burn because it would give an ugly bitter taste.
Now just add all the other ingredients and cook it slowly for 3-5 hours, depending on the quality of the meat.

Never thought about using deer meat in goulash. Sounds interesting though. I think I'll try it if we get another deer. I've actually been wanting to try lots of foods I never have lately LOL. Thank you for the recipe.

I think it's all about what your use to. Most of the issues people have with eating deer is .. it's not beef. I grew up eating deer, I like it anyway you can cook it. Pan fried, grilled, seared, kabobs, ect. The toughness is not really a issue for me either. It's meat not ice cream. One of my fav is Croc pot roasts with some garlic and onion bullion base, carrots, and celery.

My aunt used to soak the meat in milk for a bit, then bread and pan-fry. Pretty good this way. A little-less gamey this way, but it was a muley from sagebrush, which is probably worse than whitetail.

Yup same for me. Dredge in eggs, throw a little flour on them, and good bit of black pepper.

I like cutting my deer up about 1/2 inch thick and fry it just until the flour is browned at about medium.
The key is to just get the middle hot but not cook the holy crap out of it.

That's the biggest mistake in my opinion people have with cooking deer... It's always way over cooked.

I've used this recipe with moose, bison, and lean grass-fed beef, so I'm thinking it would be fine with venison.

POT ROAST WITH HAZELNUT BARLEY

1 tablespoon olive oil
3- to 4-pound boneless chuck or other lean roast
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups pearl barley

Heat olive oil in a heavy pan. Brown roast over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften. Add mustard, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cover pan, lower heat, and simmer until roast is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (or whatever it takes) You don’t need any other liquid.

During the last 40 minutes of cooking, melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add hazelnuts and cook over medium-high heat until they are crisp and brown. Add water, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and barley. Cover and steam over low heat until water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

Remove meat, slice, and serve with barley and pan juices.
SERVES 6

you can use venison anywhere you would use beef, and possibly pork..seasonings may need some adjusting to taste it as you cook..some good seasoning would be worchestershire sauce and thyme..

Florian Kogseder wrote:One of my favourite recipes for deer is goulash. That's a simple Hungarian stew with onions and paprika, traditionally made from beef.

1.3kg onions
1kg meat
2-3 table spoons of ground paprika
~1l water/soup (I normally use the soup I make from the bones of the deer)
2 bay leafs
5 juniper berries
10 peppercorns
1-2 teaspoons marjoram
4cl vinegar
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt
if available 2-3 table spoons of pulverized mushrooms (I use mostly king boletes, Sarcodon impricatus and black chanterelles)


cut the onions into pieces of about 2 cm, the meat into cubes of 3cm
heat a pot and add some oil or fat. now fry the onions until they get a little brown. Add the salted meat and fry a little longer. Now you have to add the paprika powder and the tomato paste and after about 1 minute deglaze it with the soup or water. The paprika should have turned it's colour from red to brown but it must not burn because it would give an ugly bitter taste.
Now just add all the other ingredients and cook it slowly for 3-5 hours, depending on the quality of the meat.

Im not far from Austria myself, I have a cottage about an hour from Znojmo/Znaim. But I mostly live near Prague.

Came across a deer last year which had been hit by a car but still staggered up the hill into the forest by my house, was out skiing and it was just sitting there wounded looking at me with hauntingly blue eyes. Couldnt get hold of anyone as it was the weekend and didnt know whether to give it the coup de grace or try to nurse it back to health but it expired by the time I brought my sled out. So we called out a family friend who is a hunter we shared it. Lovely stuff.

Here is my recipe, similar to yours but a bit spicier with the chilli and horse radish. I like your idea with the juniper berries though and will throw some in next time:

drop of olive oil or whatever is your poison
2 onions
3 cloves of garlic
about half a kilo of deer meat cut into chunks and a bone if possible
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato passata
1 tablespoon paprika powder
2 red peppers
at least one small chilli pepper
half a litre of water
glass of red wine or some beer
salt and pepper and other herbs to taste, I use a bay leaf and marjoram plus horse radish

Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the meat, then start adding the rest of the stuff gradually, onions, garlic, peppers, chilli, tomatoes, paprika powder, herbs etc. Add the beer or wine and let it soak up, add the water, bone and bring to the boil and then let it simmer gently for at least two hours. Add(or drink) more beer/wine if necessary. Grate some horse radish over and its best served with bread or potato dumplings.

Can also work with boar meat.

Smoked paprika venison.

3 lbs. venison cut in cubes about 3"
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika or chipotle powder
Two ribs of celery sliced
One medium onion sliced
One bunch of cilantro (coriander) torn coarsely with hands.

Rub the venison with the paprika and salt,
Place the celery and onion on the bottom of a slow cooker or crock pot
Place venison on top of the onions and celery and cover with cilantro.
Cook for 6 hrs on high or until the meat shreds easily.

Served shredded with tortillas, pico de gallo and sour cream.

Jd Gonzalez wrote:Smoked paprika venison.

3 lbs. venison cut in cubes about 3"
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika or chipotle powder
Two ribs of celery sliced
One medium onion sliced
One bunch of cilantro (coriander) torn coarsely with hands.

Rub the venison with the paprika and salt,
Place the celery and onion on the bottom of a slow cooker or crock pot
Place venison on top of the onions and celery and cover with cilantro.
Cook for 6 hrs on high or until the meat shreds easily.

Served shredded with tortillas, pico de gallo and sour cream.

OMG!!! That sounds so amazing! Thank you! I will definitely be trying this recipe out. I'll upload pics when I do....if I remember anyway. It sounds pretty damn good.

Joseph Fields wrote:I think it's all about what your use to. Most of the issues people have with eating deer is .. it's not beef. I grew up eating deer, I like it anyway you can cook it. Pan fried, grilled, seared, kabobs, ect. The toughness is not really a issue for me either. It's meat not ice cream. One of my fav is Croc pot roasts with some garlic and onion bullion base, carrots, and celery.

So far the only way I haven't liked deer is when it's cooked like a hamburger....yuck. Other than that I enjoy it. I don't know what it is about it being 'patties', but I'm not a fan.

Amber Phenneger wrote:the only way I haven't liked deer is when it's cooked like a hamburger

Is it the texture of the ground meat or something else?
In my experience, the main problem is that people will often really, really overcook venison patties.
It's pretty gross to me any more than medium rare.
While some people freak out at eating 'underdone' hamburger;
I think it's way more common that they just don't realise how quickly hamburger cooks,
how much it needs 'resting', and how much more it cooks while resting.

some great stuff posted on here people! will be trying a few this fall.


some of what i d.o

-can it! caning deer meat in presser cooker(with beef broth) is absolutely killer!!!

-poke and marinade steaks in Catalina dressing over night then grill hot n fast

-leave roasts and steaks in hole muscle form when butchering. this makes it faster to process and stores better. also on pieces like back strap, i cook whole, so i have a nice tender rare middle. i take it to 130* inside and off the grill it comes. nothing better than back strap and eggs in the morning browned hard in bacon grease! well fresh trout fillets(done the same way) n eggs, is a close second. lol

-stew is pretty strait forward. try some beef broth and a bay leaf if you dont already. also, use sea salt.

-cube into 1" cubes, marinade in catalina dressing(or whatever you like) drain liquid off and shake in andy's red fish coating. deep fry just till done. dont over fry or they will not be as tender. they go down like popcorn!

Amber you sure started a great thread.

My mom cooked it many ways but the way I liked best was how my wife fell in love with eating it.

My wife always refused to eat deer meat, "calling it Bambi".

We were all at my step-dad's moms place for Sunday dinner. There were two cake pans of lasagna. My wife was told the one on the right was hamburger and the one on the left was deer.

After finishing her second huge helping they let her know both cake pans were deer lasagna. Another convert!

My mom always spoiled us with her lasagna, she used multiple types of cheese, like seven layers and pure deliciousness clear through.

My issues are toughness and gamey flavors. Deer that have fed on conifers are different than those who fattened in oat fields.

I cut meat thin and use a generous quantity of finely ground pepper to coat it. Pineapple juice softens meat. Mix and let sit. Use pineapple or other fruit juice and stir it all up. I also use Italian seasonings and garlic. My primary concern is masking taste and destroying bad odor. The process softens tough cuts. Cook like beef or lamb. The main red meat that many have experience with is beef. Deer meat is closer to lean sheep and goat. Any cuisine capable of rendering an old billy goat palatable, should be somewhat transferable to venison. Middle Eastern and African people have millennia of experience with that.

offtopic, sorry couldn't help myself

Dale Hodgins wrote:My issues are toughness and gamey flavors. Deer that have fed on conifers are different than those who fattened in oat fields

I didn't know about conifers. Kinda makes sense: I can't imagine they'd improve the flavour of many things...
The feral venison I've had has always been great, but they prefer our tasty native bush to those introduced pines.
Considering hunters have been known to carry ice axes and ropes, a deer wouldn't last long in a field, that's for sure!
There's also no such thing as a hunting season round here and the deer totally avoid anywhere vaguely 'civilised'

The Capercaillie or western wood grouse is the largest of that family. While other large birds of Europe have been hunted to near extinction in times past, this one has never had that problem. An old Scott told me that they taste of terpentine and are game of last resort.

Leila (a little off topic for me also ))

There's also no such thing as a hunting season round here and the deer totally avoid anywhere vaguely 'civilised'

I grew up in Iowa and had the benefit of corn fed beef, pigs and deer(ate much, never killed any, imagine that). I spent a good deal of time in Arizona, had a friend that would get an elk every year. When I was dating the wife we saw some of Arizona's huge mule deer on some camping trips by Crown King.

I now drive over the road mainly because wife moved us to West Virginia, local work driving is hard to come by without knowing someone. (My uncle Bob has the county record for last year of hitting the most deer (3) and of the biggest rack (12 point).

Back to my point of your post of deer avoiding anywhere civilized, I have seen deer in all the states I have ran in, within walking distance of Manhattan, NY, feeding on the grass right along any busy interstate freeways. A friend that lives near Washington, D.C. moved to his neighborhood and seeing 7 deer in his backyard decided to fill his freezer with venison, a neighbor turned him in, had to go to court, pay $350.00 and they confiscated his compound bow. I haven't seen any bears but in 2012 2,683 were taken in West Virginia.

Sorry I meant to mention in my last post that I went to http://recipeland.com and typed in "deer" in the recipe box and all kinds of recipes came up, tried to include one in that last post but it must have been the wrong file type.

Love recipeland, if you have 3 or 4 ingredients you're not sure what to do with, put all the ingredients in the search engine there and some darn recipe will come up. Often more than one.

I made this up with my last backstrap from last season. Bowhunting season starts in 4 days, so I had to clean out the freezer!

Baked backstrap with fried sage leaves

1 backstrap, or 1/2 backstrap
1tbs salt ( coarse sea salt preferable)
1 tbs coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp dried sage
1 cup whole fresh sage leaves
Bacon grease or oil for frying

Clean backstrap of all visible silver skin, pat dry
Mix the Salt, pepper, and dried sage and apply liberally, almost forming a crust

Preheat oven to 350
Heat a skillet with a spoonful of bacon grease or butter to near smoking,then sear the backstrap on all sides 2-3 minutes.
Remove from skillet, place in baking dish and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of the backstrap.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 inch bacon grease or fry oil till hot, then fry whole sage leaves till crispy.

Remove the backstrap from the oven and let rest 10-15 minutes. Slice into 1/4 " medallions and serve on top of the crispy fried sage.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

I'll see if I can dig up my favourite venison recipe: Venison pie - slow cooked venison with red wine, bacon, mushrooms, and caramalised red onion

Yes please! That sounds like a hunter-foragers dream!

VENISON PIE with bacon, mushrooms and caramalised onions

1kg Venison (neck, shin, or other tough parts) cut into medium cubes
60g (½ cup) plain flour
A couple of Tbspns fat or oil (I use bacon fat, or coconut oil)
3 small red onions, peeled and quartered
3 rashers of bacon, rind removed, roughly chopped
10-15 mushrooms
250ml (1 cup) red wine
Venison stock or water (or beef stock)

Preheat oven to 120C. Toss the cubed venison into the flour, then brown the pieces in a frypan (cast iron pan works great as it retains the heat well) with plenty of bacon fat or coconut oil over a high heat. Once browned transfer to a casserole dish or crockpot. Add the onions and the bacon to the frypan and cook until brown and caramalised. Add to the pot along with the mushrooms.

Pour the red wine into the frypan and deglaze all that deliciousness from the pan. Simmer for 10min or until the liquid is reduced by half. Add to the casserole. Using stock or water make sure the casserole dish is about 1/3 filled with liquid. Cover. Put in the oven for 2-3hrs (or most of the day in a crockpot. Cook slowly. Allow to cool completely once cooked.

By far the best and easiest pastry I've ever had and used for these pies is Maggie Beer's Sour Cream Pastry, but you can just use store bought stuff if you like.

Preheat oven to 170C. Line your pie tin with pastry, Add the cold stew mixture. Cover with pastry lid, press the sides together artistically, then brush with egg to get a nice shiny glaze when it cooks. Make a small slit in the centre of the pie to allow steam to exit. Bake for 45min. Stand for 10min before cutting it.

If you're feeling lazy like I am a lot of the time, you can just use ramekins or mini casserole dishes for individual servings, fill with pie mix, then just put a pastry cover on - really quick and easy

Goes great with a spicy shiraz

My wife is a "city girl" but when she had this stew, she said, if venison is this good, I can eat it daily.

South American Venison Cilantro stew

2 pounds venison
1/2 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large red onion, chopped fine
1 aji pepper (or other hot chile pepper), chopped fine
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bunch of cilantro (coriander leaf)
1 bottle of beer
1-2 cups chicken or beef stock
5-6 medium yellow potatoes or Yuca


PREPARATION

Cut the meat into approximate 2 inch cubes.

Mix the vinegar with the garlic, cumin, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and some salt and black pepper, and pour over the meat. Let meat marinate at room temperature for an hour.

Purée the cilantro with some water in a blender or food processor until you get a smooth paste. (you can also add 1 cup of spinach if you are not too fond of cilantro, however it will not taste the same)

Heat 3-4 tablespoons oil in a large pot or skillet on high heat. Working in 2 batches, brown the meat on all sides. Remove meat to a plate.

Lower the heat and add the onion and aji pepper to the same skillet with the leftover marinade. Cook until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the meat back to the skillet, along with the beer, the cilantro, and 1 cup of the chicken stock. Cover and cook over low heat until the meat is tender, about an hour.

Peel and quarter the potatoes or yuca, and add them to the stew. Continue to cook over low heat until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes more, adding more chicken broth if necessary.

Serve warm over rice.

One of our deer hunters left us with a deer to process.  We cut the hind quarters and back strap into steaks and a few roasts.  The rest will be ground into hamburger.

Grilled, pan fried, chicken fried for the steaks and hamburgers, stew, chili, shepherd's pie and tacos for for the ground.

These recipes sound good.  Here is one for a roast I found in another thread:

Leah Sattler wrote:I would  dump a can of tomato soup over it and cook it in the slow cooker on the 10 hour cycle. the acid tomatoes will help to tenderize it and the soup is already seasoned. I use either homemade or 'amys organic'. a can of tomatoes works great too but I would add some, garlic, pepper, salt and onion if were to use plain tomatoes. I have pretty simple tastes though. that is my standby for cooking goat roast.  I usually make a gravy out of any juice left in the cooker and serve with rice or mashed yukon gold potatoes.

Lots of great recipes in this thread! It's getting to be that time of year, when a big bowl of stew is just what you want.

Here's a favorite stew of mine, I leave the recipe very unstructured so that you can add/omit ingredients to suit your taste. I love the sweet flavors of the root vegetables and butternut squash and then the surprise of the tangy cranberries.

Venison and Root Veggie Stew

Cut venison into bite size pieces, dredge it in plain flour, sear in a small amount of hot oil (I use about half olive oil and half salted butter) in a cast iron skillet until brown. Add more oil as needed to keep it frying. We're just trying to get a good bit of brown on the outside, not totally cooking the meat. Brown meat in batches, if you must, as to not over crowd the pan. Sprinkle the meat generously with salt and pepper while searing in the pan.

In a roasting pan, cut into bite size pieces onion, butternut squash, unsweetened cranberries and plenty of any root vegetables you like. I use potatoes, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes and carrots. Toss with salt and pepper and allspice (use about 1 tsp. allspice per 2 cups of vegetables). Add water to nearly cover the vegetables.

Transfer the meat from the skillet to the top of your vegetables. Add a small amount of water (Sometimes, if I have some, I use Blackberry wine instead of water. Yum!) to the skillet and stir up any remaining bits of browned flour from the pan. Pour this juice over the meat in the roasting pan. Cover with lid and slow cook in the oven at 275° for 3 hours.


I'll throw in my hamburger recipe here too. It's kind of like individual meatloaf patties. I don't measure my ingredients usually when I cook, so these are approximated.

Hamburger Patties

1 pound of ground venison
1 raw egg
2 cups seasoned stuffing, dry
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion
1 red, sweet banana pepper, finely chopped is added if I have one
3 T. steak sauce (57sauce is great, A-1 is too. Or a combo.)
2 T. prepared mustard

Mix all ingredients well and form into patties. I like to freeze the patties on a bread pan (not touching). Then throw them in a hot, oiled skillet or a hot grill while still frozen. I think they hold their shape better and they don't get over cooked in the middle before the outside is set. And, only flip once, don't get all spatula happy, let them cook without flipping multiple times.

I've been looking for a recipe to substitute for Heinz 57 or A-1.

These sound like they would work.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/237452/heinz-57-copycat/


   1 tablespoon ketchup
   1 1/4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
   1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard

   1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
   1 drop hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®)

Whisk ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon juice, and hot sauce together in a small bowl until smooth.

Only one serving.


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/86516/steak-sauce/

   1 1/4 cups ketchup
   2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
   2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
   1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

   4 drops hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
   1/2 teaspoon salt
   1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until needed.

Anne, those sound good to me. Thanks for the links. I have a book called "Homemade - How to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products You Would Otherwise Buy" (Reader's Digest). It has several condiments recipes, but none for 57 or A-1 sauce.