Great Venison Cooking

‘hunting widow’ recipes

It’s a beautiful July 4 here in the Washington, DC area…we’re almost ready for our annual BBQ and venison roast. This year I’m making BBQ venison sandwiches and grilled roast in cider marinade. Yum! Rick wanted to roast a whole deer on a spit, but all we’ve got is a little portable backyard firepit, which just isn’t big enough…even for our puny Northern VA deer. Maybe next year.

What’s on your menu today? Hope you have a safe and fun 4th!

What fun! Today I got together with my two fabulous sisters–in–law for the cover shoot of my cookbook. Peggy took the pictures since she is the most talented amateur photographer I know (if she ever wanted to go pro, she could do it). Lynn has the beautiful kitchen, much nicer than mine, which really needs remodeling (maybe that’s what I’ll do with any money I make from the cookbook). Here are some of my favorites, although when my sister sits down to design the cover, she may well use one of the other 60 shots Peg got. I’m so lucky to have such talented family.

Susan grinds venison for burgers.

Susan loves grinding venison! What fun!

Susan butterflies a backstrap for stuffing and grilling.

My hound dog makes me laugh. Sometimes I realize I’ve spent 15 or 20 minutes just watching her. For instance, right now she’s curled by by side on the couch chasing something in her sleep. Hysterical.

Yesterday I was sitting out on my patio (which Rick just built and I love it), and this is what I was watching:

I think the tail says it all. Life is great.

So, last weekend was Rick’s hunt club’s annual holiday party…always an interesting event. We decided to bring a venison roast crostini; meat and bread always goes over well with guys. I found a nice horseradish sauce recipe and cooked my little heart out.

The roast came out perfect. It was very rare, just this side of still raw. The way it should be. Rick sliced it thin and it was gorgeous. We tested the crostinis, and deemed them very yummy indeed.

Where is the irony you ask? Well, I had decided to assemble the little sandwiches at the party. So I laid everything out on the counter, where people were milling about. The roast was wrapped in paper, and I had unwrapped it to start assembling. Two men (brothers, I learned) where standing next to me and as I pulled out a piece of meat, one said to me: “aren’t you going to cook that?” He was serious.

I said it was cooked, just rare. Both men were horrified. “Oh, we only eat well done meat. We don’t like it live.”

Okay, these are men who have been shooting deer for probably 40 years ~ more importantly, field dressing the deer. And they’re grossed out by pink meat? Are you kidding?

It turned out there were several people who wouldn’t touch the rare meat. I was astounded, especially since venison is best rare. Weird.

That may explain what the bear, mountain lion, antelope, carribou, and other venison roasts were all well, well done (although, apparently bear and mountain lion are like pork and chicken…they must be cooked through so you don’t get sick).

For the record, bear remains my favorite game meat. The antelope and mountain lion were okay; I’d probably like them better prepared differently.

Watch out folks…the rut is on!

Yesterday in Maryland (Waldorf I think), a Buck jumped through the window at an elementary school. He then proceeded to run into the bathroom, where he caused much mayhem. After finally finding his way out of the school, he got hit by a school bus.

What caused this rampage?

Hormones.

The buck saw his reflection in the window and didn’t like the reflection’s bad attitude. So he attacked. Imagine his surprise when he was suddenly faced with a bunch of very small humans instead of his foe. So he ran to the bathroom, where he noticed the foe again in the mirrors. So he charged. And left a huge bloody mess behind. Dazed and confused, he ran out into the road.

That poor boy had a very rough day.

And the rut has only just begun. Be careful…the boys seem a little more feisty this year than usual. That may just be because I’m more attuned to the behavior of deer than I used to be. Nevertheless…hormones are running wild right now.

It’s hard to believe we’re already almost two months into hunting season here (urban bow season in our area). Although, looking in my freezer it’s easy to believe. I’ve got a lot or recipes to find for the winter. I’m very excited.

This year has been a little different. Rick has spent almost as much time taking the dog out to help retrieve as he has actually in the tree himself. The other day, she got two calls in one morning. That was one tired pooch (and hubby).

I hope all of you hunting widows enjoy the game this year too!

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we’re almost out of venison. I can actually see the bottom of the freezer. I’m feeling a little panicked about this, although I know it’s just a matter of days before the freezer is full again. After all, Rick got 20 deer last year. 20. That’s a lot of meat. We probably gave half of it away. I’m sure he’ll do the same this year and soon my freezer will be full. I hope so…I have a lot of recipes to test!

I can’t believe my last recipe was March 1. Wow, it’s amazing how quickly cooking takes a back seat when my life gets busy. Busy life is, though, and I’m not sure when I’m going to have a chance to try something new. But I will. In the meantime, if I have time, I’ll find some recipes that I know will work with venison and post them.

If you have a great recipe, please share it!

Yes, I’m really up this early on a Saturday morning in late January. I’m up cuz my hunter boy felt a need to go sit in a tree, but he wanted to have coffee with me first. In his defense, he doesn’t usually wake me up; I told him too so I could get a start on my day.

I have a fear that he is getting addicted to the hunting. He’s always been very reasonable, hunting only to fill the freezer and then opting to stay home most days. I was feeling very smug, considering many of his hunter friends are not so reasonable.

Alas, he’s been hanging out with a truly rabid hunter. The result is our freezer is so full he’s started giving meat away…he had to give away half of the meat he got Monday. But he’s out there with the dawg again this morning. I’m cooking as fast as I can, but we don’t even have room to store leftovers. I suppose there are worse problems than having too much food. I’m just wondering if this is only the beginning.

If you need some meat, let me know

I’m a lucky woman. When my husband says “look at the size of that rack,” I know he’s only got eyes for the antlers on the buck he’s admiring.

We’ve been in Colorado for a week, spending time with my family and remembering my father. Every afternoon, Rick and I went on little adventures. Two days, those adventures led us to tracks of land for sale*. On each occasion, we got to meet some of the local mule deer, who apparently are not too skitish around people.
When we couldn’t get Bucky to even look at us while we honked the horn at him, Rick got out of the car to go have a little heart-to-heart. The buck finally looked up when Rick got within 15 feet, but only to snort and go back to feeding.

Where’s the bow when you need it?

I’ve also learned on this trip that most of my relatives hunt. I had no idea. I’ve known these people all my life, but it never came up in conversation. Rick was thrilled. In fact, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get him on the plane tomorrow…I think he wants to stay out here. So, despite the very sad circumstances, this has actually been a pretty interesting and fun week!