Venison Hash

As I've said many times, my parent supply me with several pounds of venison each year. And I try to make them last. This last time, my parents gave me several pounds of ground venison. So, I needed to figure out how to use it as I don't use much ground meat ever.

But last week, I was really, really tired and really, really, really sore from being out of town last weekend. I wanted a quick and easy, no fuss, no work meal.

Hmmm, ground. That's almost the same as pre-chopped, right? Got it!

Venison Hash

2 lbs or so ground venison (or ground beef)
1 lb southern-style frozen hash browns
1/2 chopped large onion (3-4 inches in diameter)
1/2 pound or so sliced crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon or so garlic powder
1 teaspoon or so cinnamon
1 teaspoon or so powdered ginger
1 pound frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the venison, onion, and mushrooms in large skillet. Drain excess grease (if you are using venison, there won't be any).

Set heat to medium. Add potatoes and cover. Stir every 10 minutes or so until potatoes are done.

Add peas. Cook until peas are heated through and just past crunchy (they should still be firm).

Enjoy with a lovely microbrew.

My inspiration for this dish was a shepherd's pie. I used venison instead of mutton because that was what I had on hand and because I knew it would work well. I used frozen hash browns because all they really ever need is a heat-through and crisp. I did chop the onion and slice the mushrooms, but if you are really pinched for time or energy, you can use pre-sliced. I don't recommend it as doing it yourself isn't that much work, but you could if you needed to.

The result was a wonderfully warm and filling dinner that was definitely homey, very close to what I would call comfort food. And it only took about a half hour or so to make, great when you're on the go.

My only complaint was that it was a little on the dry side. I added a little water when I reheated it for lunch the next day and was very pleased with what I got. The water helped convey the spices much more effectively.

Venison, Lovely Venison

I adore venison. I grew up in a hunting family; between my parents and my siblings, we would get 3-4 deer a year (yes, I've hunted for my own dinner - and brought it home).

Most people who don't like venison think it tastes too gamey. This is usually a result of an improperly field-cleaned deer. The trick to field-cleaning to take your time removing the offal, being very careful not to puncture any internal organs, as this will taint the flavor of the meat.

The second-most cause of gamey meat is improper cooking. Venison is a very lean meat and as such should be cooked in a relatively moist environment over medium heat. If you try to grill or broil it like beef, you will end up with tough, dry, gamey meat.

I prefer stews, braises, and stovetop sauces, like stroganoff, for my venison. Crockpot cooking is another wonderful way to get tender, delicious venison.

Venison in Onion Mushroom Sauce

1 to 1 1/2 pounds venison, tenderloins or steaks are best
1 large onion, sliced thinly
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 tablespoons canola oil
7 or 8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Heat oil in skillet. Carmelize the onion and mushrooms in skillet and remove. Briefly sauté garlic in skillet and remove. Mix flour, salt, and pepper and dredge meat in it. Dredge meat in flour mixture and brown in skillet, removing pieces as they are done.

Deglaze pan with water. Return meat, onions, garlic, and mushrooms to pan and simmer at a medium low heat until gravy is thick and meat is done.

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, noodles or even fried potatoes.

The gravy provides nice moist environment to cook the venison in. The longer the venison simmers, the more tender it will be. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare venison as the meat will be melt in your mouth tender in a relatively short time.

And when there are only two of us, we get to have leftovers!!!!!!

Venison Pie

I am working out some recipes for a party I'm hosting next weekend. A couple of weeks ago, I worked out the pork pie recipe. Next on my list was refining the venison pie recipe. This one had a major challenge: I had a very limited supply of venison, so I didn't want to use it up perfecting the recipe.

I decided to try this recipe on beef and was quite underwhelmed. Then I gave it a shot with venison. This is definitely a recipe where beef is decidedly inferior to venison. While they share some elements in their flavor profile (to the point that they can often be substituted for one another), they are not identical. Ginger brings out much more complexity in venison than it does in beef.

Venison Pie
As stated in the pork pie recipe, recreating medieval recipes pose some challenges. Even English recipes do. Middle English is not Modern English; there are words in Middle English that no longer are used in Modern English, especially cooking terms.

Original Recipe
Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books, Page 51, Recipe xix (this source is available through Google Books)

Venyson y-bake. Take hogħes of Venyson, & parboyle hem in fayre Water an Salt; & whan Þe Fleyssche is fayre y-boylid, make fayre past, & cast Þin Venyson Þer-on; & caste a-boue an be-neÞe, pouder Pepir, Gyngere, & Salt, & Þan sette it on Þe ouyn, & lat bake, & serue forth.

Translation

Take hocks of venison and parboil in fair water and salt and when the flesh is well boiled, make a good past and put the venison in and put powdered pepper, powdered ginger, and salt above and beneath it. Set it in the oven and let bake and serve forth.

Redaction

1 lb Venison (ground)
1 cup Beef broth containing:
4 juniper berries
12 peppercorns
1-1/2 teaspoon Powdered Pepper
3 teaspoon Powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
Single batch of Pie Dough (use the same recipe as in the pork tart)

Boil the venison in the beef broth. Once the venison is mostly cooked, add spices and mix well. Let cool. Once the venison is cooled, add the 1/2 cup of water to ensure the filling is moist (but doesn't have standing fluids).

Roll pie dough out. Cut rounds about 4" in diameter (I used a mini-Bundt pan for a pattern). Put a tablespoonful or so of venison mixture in the center of each pie, fold over, moisten half the circumference of the circle, and seal. If you need more pie dough (I was working with much larger quantities of filling and pie dough) Bake on cookie sheet in 350° oven for 25 minutes.

Deviations from the Original Recipe

I started with beef broth, mostly because I didn't have any venison bones to make broth from. I added the peppercorns and juniper berries to the broth to create a little more depth of flavor.

I used ground venison instead of boiling the venison then chopping it small. It was a lot faster and easier, especially since I was making 40 of these things.

The recipe is actually for venison in a free-standing shell called a coffin. In medieval times, this is one way food was cooked and served. The coffin was not eaten; instead it was placed in an alms-basket for the poor. I wanted a pie that could be eaten by hand, so I made the half-circle pies.

I originally wasn't going to boil the venison, but it really does help the flavor by providing a nice vehicle for the spices and keeps the venison moist. Venison is naturally low in fat, so it responds very well to a moist cooking method. I kept the fluid to a minimum because I didn't want soggy pies.

These pies are really lovely eaten cold (which is how I had planned to serve them). As a result they are a great picnic or camping food.

Empty Pantry

Deciding what to make after a four-and-half day cross-country drive after the holiday was a real challenge. I'd eaten all the fresh food in the refrigerator and in the panty, so I didn't have any onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, etc. But we needed to eat last night. What to do?

Fortunately, my parents had some venison they wanted out of their freezer. And I had canned black beans and red wine. Hmmm, I feel an idea brewing.

A lot of people claim they don't like venison; they don't like the "gamey" taste. If the venison properly field-dressed (don't puncture the intestines or the bladder), the meat won't taste gamey. While venison may seem tough, that is because it doesn't have much fat on it. Long, slow, moist cooking will tenderize roasts and steaks; adding beef fat to ground meat will make it more tender.

Venison and Black Beans in Wine Sauce

1 pound of venison cut into bite-size pieces
3 cans of black beans (red beans would work, but not kidney beans)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh garlic
1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
approximately 2 cups of full-bodied red wine (I used syrah, but I suspect any full-bodied red like zinfandel or merlot would work as well)
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
Black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil (I like canola; olive oil has too low a smoke point)

Sprinkle salt over venison. Brown the venison in a large skillet over med-high heat. Once the venison is seared, add remaining ingredients and simmer over LOW heat for at least a half an hour. Serve over rice.

I wish I had let the dish simmer longer than 45 minutes - an hour and a half would have been great (but the bread wouldn't wait). The venison could have used a longer cook time to make it more tender. In fact, I wish I had braised it in the oven, but the oven was occupied by bread. It was quite yummy nonetheless.