Venison Meat Preparation for Real Country Home Cooking

About Venison Meat

If you are not familiar with venison, it is deer meat which has been hunted for the express purpose of feeding one's family. I know this because one of my granddads worked with the U.S. Forest Service in the So. California mountians for over 35 years creating fire-break roads, fighting fires, and legally hunting deer once a year, to feed his large family.

With proper permits in hand, my father and his dad would go into the mountains one weekend a year to hunt for deer. They would come back from their father-son bonding trips with a single buck, tied to the hood of the car, and would immediately deliver it to the nearby butcher.

Butchering and Preparing Venison

For a modest fee the butcher would clean and create the various cuts of venison meat, which would last our 5 families the entire winter. Venison is an extremely lean source of protein, and a highly nutritious iron-rich red meat.

Venison meat cuts can be substituted for beef, and cooked in many of the same ways, using the same recipes that you would normally prepare beef dishes. Although venison is extremely nutritious (minus overbreeding antibiotics, or other drug use) it can be rather tough to chew unless first tenderized, plus some people find the smell, or taste, to be offensive or "gamey".

Correcting the "Gamey" Flavor

Some people do not like the wild "gamey" flavor of venison meat; however there are several ways of neutralizing the "offensive" smell and/or flavors. Because I grew up with the distinct aroma and taste of venison meats, I enjoy it.

One of the best ways to get rid of the "gamey" flavor is to mix ground beef or poultry with venison (half and half). Season, mix and bake just as you normally would, to re-flavor ground venison meat. Also add ground venison to spaghetti sauce, and chili beans, or cubed along with gravy and vegetables for stew.

Venison steaks should be cut thin and pounded with a meat tenderizer prior to marinating overnight (if you choose). Another trick is to rub tenderized venison steaks with minced garlic before pan frying with onion slices and bacon.

Venison Gravy

To create venison gravy while cooking Salisbury-style steaks, completely coat

steaks with all-purpose flour, and pan fry in olive oil until cooked to your liking. This can also be baked in the oven, in a covered baking dish, coated with 2 to 4 Tablespoons of olive oil, at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

After removing the venison Salisbury steaks, add a cup of milk to the pan drippings, one tablespoon of beef bouillon, and gravy flour (like Wondra) one shake at a time, stirring constantly over medium heat, until gravy thickens.

Pour venison gravy over breaded-venison Salisbury steaks, and mashed or baked potatoes. Gravy can also be poured over venison steaks and onions, with baby steamed carrots and buttermilk biscuits on the side, for a real country-eating treat.