Corned Venison
Corned venison is the perfect example of patience meets flavor. After one week, you are left with some of the finest sandwich meat known to man. It is sure to impress your friends and hunting buddies when they are using store bought meats for their fishing lunches and your bust out the homemade goodness on your sandwich. Just add my jalapeno mayonnaise to knock it out of the park.
Corned Venison
Special Equipment
Food Processor
Container large enough to house the brine and the roast
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 bay leaves
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ ounce sodium nitrate (Instacure No. 1)
- ½ cup sea salt
- 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 roast from back ham (I prefer either the top or bottom round)
Process
- Place all ingredients, except the roast, in a dutch oven and bring to a boil.
- Turn off the heat and cover. You will want to let this brine come back down to room temperature in order not to cook the roast.
- Trim your roast and place into a bowl large enough for it and the brine. The roast should be covered completely. Cover. Refrigerate.
- Let the brine works its magic for 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Remove the roast from the bine and rinse completely.
- Place roast into a dutch oven and cover with water.
- Simmer for 3-4 hours on your stove top.
- Remove from the dutch oven and let cool.
- Slice thinly and store refrigerated.
Chef’s Notes:
- You can serve it warm with a deli mustard or keep as a cold cut. Either way, it’s absolutely delicious on a sandwich.
- It is the perfect complement for wild game hash served for breakfast
Venison Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs venison (I used backstrap for this recipe but any good cut would work)
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms (button mushrooms work but wild foraged oyster mushrooms would add a certain uniqueness to the meal)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup red wine for deglazing…another ½ cup for consuming while cooking
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups venison bone broth (you can substitute beef broth)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup sour cream (at room temperature)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chives for garnish
Preparation
- Cut your backstrap into medallions. Using a meat mallet, tenderize your medallion. Then cut into dice size pieces.
- Season with salt and pepper
- Heat vegetable oil in a dutch oven over high heat. Quickly sear the backstrap, cooking each piece carefully to medium rare. Remove the backstrap and set aside to rest.
- Reduce heat and deglaze the pot with wine.
- Add butter to your dutch oven. Add sliced onions and cook until translucent.
- Add mushrooms and cook until tender.
- Dust both mushrooms and onions with flour and stir until incorporated.
- Add venison bone broth
- Simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
- Add Dijon mustard.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the sour cream until your sauce is well incorporated.
- Add the venison back to the sauce and stir.
- Serve of egg noodles and garnish with chives.
Chef’s Note:
- This dish is traditionally served over egg noodles and I prefer the smaller pasta such as rotini. It is also excellent over mashed potatoes or grits.
- When choosing your wine, it is important to select a wine that you would be willing to drink.
- If you prefer a thinner sauce, just add more broth to the mixture.
Smoked Tomato Bisque
Spring is sneaking up on us and I am in the garden frame of mind. Every year we have an abundance of vegetables that are harvested from my backyard. Of these vegetables, tomatoes (actually classified as a fruit) has a special place in my heart. So many things can be done with them from sandwiches to sauces, to salads, to soups. This is my absolute favorite tomato based soup ever. Sharing this recipe has me fired up and ready to till my soil. Bon Apetite.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of smoked tomatoes, stemmed and quartered (I smoked these creole tomatoes for 2 hours over pecan wood).
- 6 cloves of roasted garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped (I used a Vidalia onion)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- Fresh basil
How to Prepare
- In a large pot, add the tomatoes, broth, sugar, seasonings, red pepper flakes, onions, and garlic.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat, reduce and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the contents of the pot to a food processor and process until smooth. Be extremely careful using a food processor with hot liquids.
- Add the cream and pulse to incorporate.
- Garnish with basil.
Chef’s Note
This goes very well with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Smoked Venison Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs ground venison (I used an 80% venison, 20% wild pork mixture)
- 1 onion, minced finely
- 1 egg
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cane syrup (I prefer Steens Syrup from Abbeville, LA)
Preparation
- In a large bowl, combine venison, onion, egg, bread crumbs, milk, paprika, and Cajun seasoning. Place into a lightly greased 9X5 loaf pan.
- In a separate bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and cane syrup.
- Smoke Meat at 250 degrees on your pellet smoker. After 30 minutes of smoking, pour the ketchup mixture of venison. This will allow the smoke to penetrate the meatloaf and give the glaze enough time to carmelize.
- Continue cooking until the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees.
Chef’s Note: This makes for an excellent meatloaf sandwich. Just add jalapeno mayonnaise (see my recipe at edibleoutdoorscook.com) and provolone cheese to your favorite sandwich bread.
Jalapeno Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise has always been one of those condiments that amazes me. Sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, corndogs, salads etc. This recipe utilizes jalapenos. The variety of mayonnaises are endless. The beautiful thing about this is the simplicity of making it. Try one batch, if you don’t like it…give it to your neighbor then try another.
Ingredients
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 egg (at room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 large jalapeno seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
Process
- Add the egg into a food processor and process for 30 seconds
- Add the vinegar, mustard, and salt and process for an additional 30 seconds
- Slowly drizzle oil into the processor. It is important that you allow the mixture to emulsify. Be sure to take your time with this step. Process until thick.
- Remove the mayonnaise from the processor and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Wisk in the remaining ingredients.
- Place into a pint size jar
Chef’s note: With the lack of preservatives, you will want to keep this mayonnaise in the refrigerator and use within 10 days.
Venison Lasagna
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground venison
- 1 ½ lb ground Italian sausage venison
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 large chopped onion (I prefer Vidalia for its sweetness)
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 6 oz cans tomato paste
- 1 cup venison bone broth (beef broth is acceptable)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/c cup chopped fresh basil
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 “strips” of oven ready lasagna noodles
- 32 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 lb thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
How to Prepare:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, brown both the ground venison and the Italian Sausage together, breaking the meat apart during the process. Add the garlic and onion and cook with the meat, stirring constantly.
- Stir in the oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, basil, sugar, fennel seeds, pepper, and ¼ cup parsley until combined.
- Pour in all tomato products and bone broth into the dutch oven. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for approximately 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, remaining parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and stirring to incorporate.
- Lightly grease 9×13 deep dish pan
- To assemble, spread about 1 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of the deep dish pan. Place 4 noodles on top barely overlapping each other. This should cover the majority of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Top with mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1/3 of the remaining meat mixture of the mozzarella. Then spread ¼ cup of parmesan cheese over meat mixture. Repeat layering two more times until you have three complete layers. Top with remaining parmesan cheese.
- Loosely cover with aluminum foil (I tent my foil with toothpicks that I have set into the top layer of the lasagna)
- Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes to brown the top layer of cheese. It would be wise to place a cookie sheet underneath the lasagna to catch drippings.
Chef’s Note: Thinly sliced eggplant strips can be substituted for the pasta for a reduced carbohydrate meal.
Wild Pork Breakfast Sausage
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground wild pork
- 3 teaspoons dried sage
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
Process:
- Mix all ingredients (except pork) in a bowl.
- Place the pork in a large bowl and add seasonings. Mix well with your hands.
Chef’s note: I make this in large batches and vacuum seal to get ready for the freezer. Wild pork can be leaner than domestic pork. You may consider adding additional fat to this recipe.
General Tso Pheasant
The General Tso dish is more than likely the most well-known Hunanese dish in the world. It is named after Tso Tsung-t’ang. Tso was a successful 19th century general that led several campaigns and is one of the best known historical Chinese figures. The dish itself normally consists of lightly battered chicken in a sweet-sour sauce with a touch of spice. Like a lot of Chinese food, the meal lends well to substituting the normal protein with something that you harvest. In this case, pheasant was used splendidly. Turkey would also be an excellent choice.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole boneless pheasant breast chopped into 1 inch chunks
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons ginger (minced)
- 1 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I prefer the reduced sodium)
- ¼ cup chicken stock (water can be used otherwise)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Process:
- Preheat the vegetable oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Toss the pheasant in the cornstarch (reserve 1 tablespoon of the starch for your sauce) and put aside to build your sauce.
- Combine by whisking the Hoisin sauce, stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and remaining cornstarch in a bowl.
- Fry the pheasant until golden brown (be careful not to overcook the pheasant).
- Remove the pheasant from the pan and drain the oil leaving 1 tablespoon in the pan.
- Add the ginger, garlic, and cayenne to the remaining oil.
- Cook until the garlic becomes aromatic.
- Add back in the pheasant and the sauce.
- Cook for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens
- Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds.
Chef’s note: I use a wok for this dish. It is not only functional but fun. Using chopsticks adds a certain level of authenticity to eating this dish.
Sweet and sour wild pork
Ingredients
1 cup corn starch
2 ½ cups canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Marinade
- ½ lb wild pork cubed into bite size pieces (I used the backstrap)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 medium egg
Sauce
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ chopped red bell pepper
- ½ chopped green bell pepper
- 2/3 cup chopped pineapple
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Preparation
- In a bowl, combine all marinade ingredients with the cubed pork. Cover and leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Place the corn starch in a large bowl and toss the marinated pork chunks until thoroughly coated.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees F in a medium sized sauce pan.
- Fry the pork for roughly 4 minutes until the coating is golden brown and the pork is cooked throughout.
- Set the pork aside.
- Saute the garlic until fragrant, then fry the peppers until tender.
- Add the pineapple and warm throughout.
- Add sugar, vinegar, and ketchup. Stir until incorporated. Bring the mixture to soft boil.
- Add the pork to the frying pan and coat everything evenly with the sauce.
- Serve over rice.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds on top to garnish.
Chef’s note: The wild pork can be substituted with chunks of wild turkey breast. This dish is better cooked in a wok and more fun that way too.
Bread and Butter pickles
In our garden every year you will find a wide variety of vegetables. Cucumbers have always been a staple in our backyard and you can be assured that a jar of these pickles made from those cucumbers can be found in our refrigerator year round. The good thing about this recipe is that you can find cucumbers all year in any supermarket and no canning is required.
Ingredients:
- 8 pickling cucumbers (sliced to your desired thickness)
- 1 white onion (sliced thinly)
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 teaspoons celery seeds
- 4 teaspoons mustard seeds
Preparation:
- Place cucumbers and onions into a large bowl and toss with salt. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight.
- Place cucumbers and onions into a colander and rinse off excess salt. Return cucumbers and onions to original bowl.
- In a small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Let the brine cool. Pour the brine over the top of the cucumbers and onions and place the bowl into the refrigerator. Allow one week to marinade. Place into jars and keep refridgerated.
Chef’s note: Finely chopping a handful of these pickles will make a great relish if the need arises.
