Great Venison Cooking

Archive for the ‘Vension Entrees’ Category

I’m so excited—I finally got a full subscription to Rouxbe Online Cooking School, and I’m starting to work my way through all the lessons and the practices. In just a few lessons, I’ve already learned so much that’s going make me a better cook. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things I most love about our community garden is that everyone is eager to share what they grow. The other day, one of our neighbors loaded me up with Thyme and Rosemary—two of my favorite fall spices. The smell of fresh herbs in the kitchen is so incredible. They taste pretty good too. So tonight I pulled them out to spice up my venison back strap. So delicious! I served it with creamy braised radishes for an easy and elegant meal (if only my dining room table wasn’t full of all the dishes I’m donating to Purple Heart on Monday).

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Any recipe that requires a visit to Bestway, my local Hispanic food market, is cause for excitement. I just love that market, full of interesting vegetables and condiments that can’t be found at any of the other six grocery stores within a mile of my house. This recipe comes from Natural Health magazine (April/May 2011, pg. 76) and the ingredient I was curious to find was piloncillo, which is a very unrefined brown sugar that comes in big blocks. I had to research what it even was before I could go to the store and know which aisle to look in (thank you Wikipedia). The store had a few varieties, but the store manager said the one wrapped in the corn husks was best, and I believed him.

Aside from the fun new ingredient I got to use, I was also drawn to the salsa that goes with the meat. I love Pico de Gallo and I love anything made with ginger. I was intrigued by the combination of ginger with the tomatillos and cilantro. The ginger gives the sauce a nice zing, which for me counter-balanced the heat of the serrano pepper in it. It’s a lovely salsa.

The magazine recipe calls for tuna steaks, which I switched out for venison steaks. I used a flank roast cut into 1-inch thick steaks. And since our grill is currently broken (very sad story), I broiled the steaks. I think the switch worked…very, very well.

This post is the first in many (I hope) to post in the Food Renegade Fight Back Friday blog. I’ve always been interested in sustainable food practices, but in the past few months I’ve been taking a more proactive stance in clean eating. Access to a steady supply of wild game and an organic garden where I can grow produce (I use the term “I” loosely…Rick does all of the hunting and gardening in our household. I do the cooking and eating) helps. So does sharing it with others.