Venison

[JMH]

I was at the butchers the other day and picked up a hunk of venison on a whim. I've had it a few times in restaurants, but have never cooked it myself. Does anyone have a good venison recipe they would like to share?

[hoyopr]

What cut is it?

[JMH]

Just checked, it is a 'boneless denver leg' cut.

[thechenman]

Love eating it, but no idea how to cook it, at least not properly...

[Colt45]

In my limited experience I've found that venison is a meat you do not want to overcook - rare to medium rare and no more.

I think a simple red wine sauce goes very well with venison.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[thechenman]

Forgot to mention...back in college we had venison tacos at the frat house one night. They were amazing...the only time I've ever head a venison taco. Never seen one offered at a restaurant. Then again...there could be a reason for that.

[rcsims]

As previously mentioned, don't over cook. Medium should be the most done you will want it. Over cooking will make it taste like liver and will dry out badly.

As for recipes, I would get on the web and find something to suit your tastebuds. Here are a couple of websites that I use, routinely:

epicurious.com

food.com

foodnetwork.com

The red wine sauces are always a good touch. Enjoy!

[daboose]

Not a venison fan myself but we've picked up some very good recipes from this site:

http://www.bigoven.com/recipes/title/venison

http://www.bigoven.com/recipes/title/deer

[JMH]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll probably cook it later this week, and will post the recipe I use.

[Colt45]

I'll probably cook it later this week, and will post the recipe I use.

And what to drink? I can't help but think an extra dry (versus brut) sparkler would work well. I'm getting hungry.......

[JMH]

I'm thinking of using a recipe from an old Robert Carrier cookbook my parents were given at their wedding. It would also solve the problem of what to drink Colt.

Venison Steaks

3lb venison steak

1/4lb butter

salt + pepper

crushed juniper berries

dried rosemary

spanish onion (grated)

1/4 pint beef stock

1/4 pint red burgundy

1/4 pint thick sour cream

1/4lb mushrooms (sliced)

Add butter, salt + pepper, juniper berries, & rosemary to a frying pan & heat

Add steaks (~5min per side) then remove & keep warm

Reduce heat to simmer, add onion, beef stock & wine; reduce until thick; add cream, simmer & strain

Saute sliced mushrooms in butter, add steaks; pour sauce over them; heat through and serve.

Might add some sea salt & rosemary roasted potatoes as well.

Does anyone think I could get away with a venison bourguignonne? Here's the beef bourguignonne recipe from the same book.

Beef/Venison Bourguignonne

3lb meat

flour

4 tsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

1/4lb salt pork (don't think I'd use this)

salt + pepper

4 tbsp warmed cognac

2 carrots

1 leek

4 shallots

1 spanish onion

1 clove garlic

bouquet garni (1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 stalk celery, 2 sprigs parsely)

1/2 bottle burgundy

beef stock or water

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp butter

18 button onions

12 button mushrooms

sugar

lemon juice

Cut meat, roll in flour, brown in pan with olive oil & butter. Remove to casserole dish

Season with salt & pepper, then moisten with cognac, ignite & let burn

Chop carrots/leek/shallots/onion/garlic cook in pan until browned

Add vegetables to meat, add bouquet garni/wine/beef stock or water until contents covered

Cook at 280-300F for 1 1/2 - 2hrs

Brown onions & mushrooms in oil/butter/lemon juice/sugar

Add to rest of casserole when done

[thechenman]

My wife tells me that cooking is all about experimentation...I say give it a whirl...

[cgarner]

My wife tells me that cooking is all about experimentation...I say give it a whirl...

I bet your dog stays fat and happy

[thechenman]

I bet your dog stays fat and happy

Yup...

[Nedule]

I've done my fair share of animal population control & eat wild meat regularly, although venison is not my first pick. My preference is to slow cook & include extra veggies/spices to mellow/balance the venison flavor. I'd go with the bourguignonne, & I'd used the salted pork (or bacon), venison seems to like the salty pig.

[gammon]

I've done my fair share of animal population control & eat wild meat regularly, although venison is not my first pick. My preference is to slow cook & include extra veggies/spices to mellow/balance the venison flavor. I'd go with the bourguignonne, & I'd used the salted pork (or bacon), venison seems to like the salty pig.

+1

Vension is a dry meat, does not have much fat of it's own, you will have to provide some marbling (fat) to the meat,

The leg portion depending which one, forward leg is tough and lots of sinius (stringy), the rear leg is better, closer to the rump area, This is the tender part. lace it with bacon strip if you are roasting or cooking it over the pan as steaks. Do not over cook it, in the medium cook range is nice. Should marinate it overnight with some spice and wine of your choice, the wine alcohol will cook out, but the taste will remain. (some lemon/lime juices if you do not want to use wine).

The venison you bought is probably "red deer", farm raised. This means, it may not be stringy, in texture.

[JMH]

Good to know. I think I may use the bourguignonne recipe and throw in a few pieces of bacon. Will let you know how it goes.

[JMH]

Venison a la bourguignonne is in the oven

*crosses fingers*

[JMH]

Hmm... well as a whole the bourguignonne turned out well, however I don't think venison is suited to stewing - it dried out a bit too much, so I think next time I cook venison, I'll cut a few steaks and cook it on the bbq.

[Colt45]

My understanding is that the denver cut has all the fat removed? So it probably would be more suited to being cut up in steaks / medallions

and grilled or sauteed. Thanks for the update - this has made me want to look for some myself.

[jparker]

My mother in law who is from West Virginia where you grow up eating deer and other wild game says make sure to cook it with plenty of onions to take away the wild game taste from it....put in slow cookery for 5-6 hrs then take out and finish on the grill! Simple but good!

[Nedule]

Hmm... well as a whole the bourguignonne turned out well, however I don't think venison is suited to stewing - it dried out a bit too much, so I think next time I cook venison, I'll cut a few steaks and cook it on the bbq.

One of the problems with venison is that it's dry, not much fat in it, & if you get a fatty piece it's going to taste gamey. If your restaurant memory was a moist tender piece of meat, it was probably drowning in butter, a little secret that most restaurants use for red meat, even fatty beef.

[JMH]

Whenever I've eaten it in a restaurant, it has always been served medium-rare, which is apparently the best way to cook it. I don't remember any butter, but a generous dousing in jus helped a lot I'm sure.