Cooking with Venison

Cooking with venison really isn’t much different than cooking any type of meat, but there are a few guidelines to follow that will increase your enjoyment of venison. The main difference between venison and beef is that venison is very lean. In other words, it contains very little fat. For this reason, venison is much healthier than beef, but it does somewhat affect how you cook it. The advantages of venison are the fact that it is organic, free-range, low-fat, grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic free. Venison is also much higher in omega-3 than typical beef. Whenever you cook venison in a pan, you will need to use some sort of oil such as butter, olive oil, bacon grease or cooking spray to prevent it from sticking. You will notice that when you do cook venison, very little fat renders out of the meat. That is why you need to oil the pan to prevent the venison from sticking. For the same reason, you want to cook venison faster than beef to prevent it from drying out. If you are going to cook venison steaks, searing fast over medium-high to high heat will give the best results. Also, venison is typically at its best when cooked medium-rare to rare. Cooking for too long will quickly dry venison out and make it tough. The same rules apply for grilling venison. Rub the meat lightly with olive oil before cooking and cook quickly over high heat. Venison is healthy and delicious when prepared properly so learn the little differences between venison and beef so that you can enjoy your harvest at the table.

Ground venison is great in any dish you would cook with ground beef. Just remember the lower fat content. If you are browning ground venison in a skillet, always add a little olive oil to make up for the lack of fat in the meat. Ground venison makes great tacos, chili, and spaghetti sauce. The only recipe where working with ground venison is a little more challenging is hamburgers. Typical beef hamburgers hold their shape well as the fat content in the beef helps to “glue” the burgers together. The fat is also what gives a beef burger its delicious juiciness. To make a venison burger that tastes, and more importantly, feels like a beef burger, you will have to add in some type of fat to the ground venison. Commercial meat cutters usually will ask if you want beef fat added to your ground venison. If you want your ground venison to cook more like beef, having the butcher add beef fat is the easiest way to go. If you want to preserve the organic nature of your venison, there is another way to make a decent burger. If you simply try to make patties out of straight deer burger, they will be very crumbly and turn out dry and tough. To make burgers that will stick together well and won’t dry out, add olive oil and an egg to the meat before making patties. As you are mixing up the meat to make patties, simply add one egg and one or two tablespoons of olive oil. The egg and the oil will help to bind the meat together into a patty. Also, the oil will help to prevent the patties from sticking as well as adding a little bit of “juiciness” to the burger.

Venison, if taken care of properly and cooled down quickly, shouldn’t have a strong “gamey” flavor. It is more flavorful than store bought beef, but this flavor should be hearty and meaty, not bad. Sometimes, due to weather conditions after the kill, the deer being in the rut, or other factors, venison can come out with a strong “gamey” flavor. Some people enjoy this strong flavor, but most will find it undesirable. If you do have some “gamey venison, it is best to use it in otherwise heavily seasoned or spicy dishes to help mask the taste. Things such as chili and spaghetti sauce have a strong flavor that helps to cover up any unpleasant taste in the meat. If you do end up with gamey meat, think about your meat care and recovery in the field and see if there is anywhere you might improve next time to avoid strong tasting venison.

Backstrap Butterfly steaks, baked potatoes, and Broccoli

Several Venison Backstrap Butterfly steaks (See deer processing article for tips on how to cut butterfly steaks, or use any steak you have. Backstrap medallions work great too.)
Large Baking Potatoes (1 per person)
1 Head Broccoli
6 strips of Bacon
Sour Cream
Butter
Chives

Begin by pre-heating oven to 375. Wash potatoes and bake on middle oven rack until soft. Approx. 1.5 hrs. Dice bacon and cook in heavy cast iron skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Do not discard bacon grease. Leave bacon grease in pan and remove from heat. Wash and trim broccoli, cut crown into smaller pieces. When potatoes are soft, steam broccoli for several minutes in steamer just until soft. As broccoli is steaming, re-heat bacon grease in skillet over medium heat. Heat until grease is hot, but not smoking. Once bacon grease is hot, place steaks in skillet to quickly fry. Fry for just a few minutes per side depending on the thickness of the steaks and your desired level of doneness. Medium rare to rare is definitely preferable unless you really like your meat well-done. Remove potatoes and broccoli while steaks rest for several minutes. Then serve with bacon, sour cream, chives, and butter for potato toppings.

Venison Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound ground venison
2 or 3 cloves garlic
1 bell pepper (green or red doesn’t matter)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Sautee crushed garlic in 2 tsp. Olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add ground venison and cook until browned. While venison is browning, add chopped pepper and allow pepper to sweat. Once meat is browned and pepper has softened slightly, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and Salt and Pepper to taste. Heat to a low simmer, then reduce heat to maintain simmer. Sauce is ready to eat as soon as it is heated through, but simmering for an hour or more really lets the flavors meld and creates a heartier sauce. Serve over noodles with a Caesar salad and garlic bread. This sauce can be made ahead of time and frozen in large zip-lock bags for quick meals at home, or in camp.

Venison Fajitas

1 package Venison cut into thin strips several inches long.
One half onion
1 bell pepper
1 pkg. Fajita seasoning
Olive oil

If you don’t have packages of venison specifically set aside for fajitas or stew, you can slice up steaks. Slice pepper lengthwise to make long thin strips, being sure to remove seeds and ribs from pepper. Also, slice onion lengthwise to yield strips approximately the same size as pepper strips. Heat 1 tablespoon Olive oil in heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat. Get the pan nice and hot so that the venison and vegetables will cook quickly. Once pan is hot, sauté meat, pepper, and onion stirring frequently. Once vegetables begin to soften and meat is nicely browned, mix up and add fajita seasoning according to manufacturers directions. Simmer meat and vegetables in fajita sauce until sauce thickens. Serve with warm tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, lime wedges, salsa and hot sauce.