Great Venison Cooking

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It’s a snowy day here in Virginia, our first this year. It’s also the first snow with the DAWG. We had no idea how she would react. When I tried to take her out for her quick morning constitutional, she wanted no part of the white stuff. So I thought I was going to have a nice, short morning walk.

Wrong.

She actually does love it. Apparently, everything smells that much better in the snow. Lucky me.

But I digress. The other day I made a pumpkin soup that I found in The Nest Winter 08 edition (page 58). The recipe calls for prosciutto, but I still have a freezer full of venison. It really hit the spot for lunch today; it has a wonderful warm flavor and is very filling. I had it with some nice pumpernickel bread.

Parmesan Pumpkin Soup with Frizzeled Venison

• 2 tbs olive oil (I use Spanish)
• 2 oz venison, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/8 inch dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 oz canned pumpkin
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper, ground
• 4 oz half and half
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tbs parsley

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add venison and saute until crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove meat and set aside.

2. Reduce heat to medium, add onion and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook a few seconds. Stir in pumpkin, broth, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Transfer to slow cooker, cover and cook 3 to 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 on low.

3. Stir in cream and cheese and cover 5 minutes. Stir in parsley. Ladle into bowls and garnish with meat.

Serving size is one heaping cup, 145 calories.