Windows to the World

Seems to me I have had decent venison and moose but when the girls were young we were invited to a friend's for "Barron of Bear". The kids (and I) were a bit tentative at first but it turned out well:
My oldest, maybe 8 years at the time said:
"Daddy, why don't you shoot a bear?"

Cooking Venison

Venison can be a tricky meat to cook if you've never cooked it before. You cannot cook venison like you would cook beef, because venison is a leaner meat.

Venison will cook in half the time of beef and this is where some people get meat that comes out over cooked, tough, and/or chewy.

Venison has a great flavor, however it can be a bit game-y to some people. Many people will mask the game-y flavor by marinating the meat over night in one of their favorite sauces or marinades.

The main reason most people do not like venison is because they either don't know how to cook it properly, or they had it from someone who didn't know how to cook it properly. When made the right way, venison is a great meat with delicious flavor. Whether making hamburgers, tacos, stews, or roasts venison is a great lean meat that makes any meal.

Link
Broken Arrow Ranch recipes for cooking game.

Venison is naturally lean. It's low in calories, fat and cholesterol....
A 3 oz. serving of venison loin has only about 139 calories, 62 grams of cholesterol and 5 grams of fat. A comparable cut of beef has 223 calories, 77 grams of cholesterol and 13 grams of fat.

Venison Cooking Tips
When preparing venison for cooking, trim off as much fat as possible. Any visible fat should be removed since it adversely affects the flavor of the meat.
A good venison recipe should include another form of fat such as butter, cooking oil, bacon, or even beef fat to enhance the flavor.
Never salt venison before cooking. Salt inhibits browning and removes juices.
Don't over cook venison. Over cooking any lean meat leads to dryness.
Choose a method of cooking that adds moisture to the meat. Slow simmering in a sauce, frequent basting, or cooking in a crockpot will prevent venison from drying out and becoming tough or chewy.
Use moist-heat cooking such as braising, even for steaks.
When roasting, pan frying or grilling, cover the meat with foil for 5 to 10 minutes.
before serving to give the juices time to distribute evenly.

Venison Remedies
If your venison has a strong and unpleasant taste....
Soak the meat in salt, vinegar and water for several hours to help remove the gamey taste.
Use long, slow cooking methods and cook in sauces, gravies, etc.
Use seasonings, marinades and sauces.
Try combinations of thyme, parsley, garlic, onions, soup mixes, etc.
Marinades tenderize the meat and disguise the gamey flavor.

A favorite marinade I use....

1 c. beef broth (can be subsituted with a can of beer)
1 tbsp. pickling spice
1/2 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. sage
1 bay leaf
3 crushed peppercorns
3 crushed allspice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. vinegar

Combine ingredients. Cover meat and marinate in refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours.

Evening Ylee:
I built a big house up coast for a guy who came up here so he would not shoot some government functionary who might quibble with his development plans south of 49.
The deal was he would feed the crew I brought. He had tried shooting the bears that tore up the fruit trees he had planted so every now and then supper was "Corned Bear". He gave up shooting the bears and on the orchard.
A good sized bear is a week's work and then some if you wish to "corn" it.

ROFLBMO....Ylee, you never know what you will find on here. I have cooked alot of game and if done right, it won't have a gamey taste to it. With deer season shortly upon us, I thought it wise to post the proper way of preparing it so there would be no surprises when it came to serving it. This same method is appropriate for elk as well as moose so enjoy...I prefer using wine and/or beer in my marinades as not only does it help to tenderize but sure makes it taste good...

Anyway, have a great night. I am off to bed now. Catch you tomorrow.

All quiet out in the blogs.... And it is a beautiful morning in peaceful Milos :-)

Hope all goes well at work today and the idiots are less in evidence!

good morning YLee.
The weatherman was right. It snowed last night but should go away today.
Palm if all the fat is trimed from the venison before cooking I think it would be low in clorestrol. I guess because hunting season is in the fall the deer have fattened up to survive the hard food forage they have here in the winter.
The Queen used to buy farm raised bison and it was really lean. There used to be elk ranches here in Manitoba and they also produced a lean meat. I the gov allowed deer ranching they too could produce a lean product.
Ylee enjoy your shift.

all seems to be looking good this morning. What looks to be a big refrig going through the ditch


Max has been fixing one of the shoes on our horse. He has had a slow leak for the past few months. Wonder why it is when you buy new tires one seems to alwys find that stray nail on the road!

Looking forward to the new cams, it looks as if the puppy has shut down for the season.

..theres one on each side now...(ships in the ditch, that is)

Hi, now it's time to catch up on a weeks worth of blogs. Oy vey. Seems since getting home I've hit the ground running. Our new dishwasher showed up at 7am.
They called at 6:30am to say they were coming. Had to dress, make coffee and take out the old dishwasher in 30 minutes.
Took longer to install the new one. But it works and is really quiet.

OY! This has turned into the venison blog! :)

ditto

I have eaten delicious chef-prepared, farm-raised venison a few times and did enjoy it.

Now, if I could just entice some hunter to sit on my deck at 3am and take care of Jane Doe for me, I'd be a happy gardener. I know, I know. It's not legal to hunt in the middle of the night, but I won't tell and neither will my neighbors. (I have heard an occasional rifle shot at odd hours.) Lately, she's been munching raspberry and blackberry leaves. It sure would be nice not to have to contend with her and her babies marauding next year's garden.

I wonder what Ylee's got up his sleeve for his next batch of cams-around-the-world. I can hardly wait....

Ylee...you may want to check out this site for more cams to post...looks like it has a lot of International ports etc....worth the look.Link

Evening Ylee!! Only 13 hours and 40 minutes to go!!

No recipe for cooking - my mother always did a great job on it, but I have to relate this story....
When I was going to the Univ of Wyoming back in the dark ages... had a friend that lived in Laramie and had a cabin in the mountains west of there. He always shot more deer in his back yard than he could use. He asked me if I liked venison - told yes and he said he bring me a box. He did- about 100 pounds worth. Since I had a little refrig that might hold 4 ice cube trays I took it to my folks that lived 65 miles away. My mother was extremely happy to get venison since my dad could no longer hunt.
Cut to the chase...... I asked my mom a few months later how they like the meat. She said they loved it but is was all Sirloin and some of it was pretty tough. When I mention this to Tom, he said " Oh, I'm not a butcher- it just all looks like sirloin meat to me!"