Venison on the rocks

[mike_belben]

If you can call the pennsylvanian sandstone i made my grill out of a rock anyways.. You can actually break these things down to beach sand pretty easily.  



Oak and hickory, plus a few marinated leg cuts..



Turned out excellent, very tender.



 Didnt all happen in a day, but the rock, the wood and the meat all came from my own yard.  Kinda cool to think about that.

[thecfarm]

Looks good!!

[coxy]

its deer season down there already 

[mike_belben]

I'll tell ya.. theres generations of billies back in them hollars thatll never be tamed.  

Deer season?  Salt and butter. 



Backstrap fajita tonight.  It went fast. 

  

[petefrom bearswamp]

Yum yum

[coxy]

sweet baby rays      I also like the bbq sauce  at Burger slop  

[luvmexfood]

My grill bit the dust and haven't replaced it. Put me some cinderblocks down, old grill grate across the top, and put some veggies, shrimp and chicken on skewers after marinating. Built a fire under the grate from some old firewood. When it burned down put the skewers on. YUM. Don't need some fancy grill.

Gets me thinking. Bought a big family pack of chicken thighs today. May have to try some this way.

[mike_belben]

I defrosted and prepped another bag-o-buck yesterday.

Left to right is steak pieces, stew pieces, i wish front shoulders werent so full of tendon pieces, and i wish i had a grinder pieces.  The last two go to the coyotes.



Started grill about 3pm and kept feeding it to get a solid heap of coals.  Hotdogs for lunch, then got started on a pot of deer stew for today.  We had steak cuts and baked potatoes last night.  It was perfect.




The trick with grilling potatoes is butter in the foil, then season ontop the butter patch. (i used FlavorGod "everything") Cook until soft, direct flame is fine just roll it often.  The skin will be packed full of flavor.  I poked the foil and potato this time but im gonna experiment with rolling them up into a wrap with some water vs milk next time to kinda steam some moisture in.




Just tried some stew for breakfast.. Its always better as a leftover.   Came out pretty good i think, meat is soft and has a bit of an old fashioned man camp, woody character from all that hickory smoke getting under the oversized lid.  None of this stuff has been gamey at all.  Red cuts with all the white connective tissue and silver skin removed.. And cooked hot and fast to a rare color (by beef standards) produces a steak replica.  Backstrap and loin can taste every bit as good as a good filet minon. The stew cuts were the small meat chunks that have a touch of white you cant get out.   That was similar to corned beef.  My wife likes it all and she has been a lifelong member of the "hates venison" camp.  My kids see a deer and start yelling "LETS EAT IT! SHOOT IT DAD SHOOT IT!"

Recipe wise I towel dried the meat, rolled it around on a paper plate of olive oil then  seasoned.  Seared that in a pan with olive oil, then flour and red wine.  Put it into a pot with beef broth and water, then oil seared some white onion, tossed it into the big pot and brought to a boil for few minutes then moved to the side for about an hour of simmer.  I put in carrots, potato and red/orange/yellow pepper and brought back to a boil with a plop of butter, then another hour of simmer.

I should have put the carrots in 20 minutes earlier but they did soften up a bit overnight.  Just that the potatoes got a little too soupy. But that did thicken the broth so im pleased.  Quick lunch for a few days.

[DelawhereJoe]

Deee season starts September 1st here

[Southside]

Mike - ever try making jerky with the tougher front shoulder pieces?  Better than feeding the 'yotes.  

[mike_belben]

No not yet. You?  My brother does up in mass.  I dont have a grinder or dehydrator yet.  Theyre on the list though, expecting a pretty good tomato crop.  

[luvmexfood]

If you have access to a pressure canner bone out the shoulders and any tougher pieces of meat and can. They come out tender and no wild taste. Flip the lid off and make barbecue or put over potatoes with gravy. 

For some reason kids seem to love venison. 

[mike_belben]

Hmm.  I will investigate, thanks.  

[Southside]

I don't remember which cuts but I have made jerky out of the tougher meat.  Marinade it then hang it in the oven with the door open just a crack at 250 ish for like 12 hours.  The only problem is that not much makes it into the bags as I just have to have "one more bite".  

[mike_belben]

Thatll have to be a winter project.. As its like 90 inside a camper all summer.  I looked into how to make a dehydrator the other day and remembered hey.. I still have a bottled gas stove and oven insert from a free camper i stripped years ago.. Two actually.  Tada.  

I have been stripping bark off long sound unsellable logs for 2 years and its time to do some framing.  The pieces that arent making the shed cut have piled up and im thinking the man grill is gonna get a lid and a bar like countertop to work on.  If i add in a stove and oven insert, it means less sandwiches and cereal for dinner in summer time.  If im gonna be housewife im gonna do it right. 

But first, food. 

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   All looks good. I am glad the kids are being properly trained about what deer are for.

   I prefer to leave the bone in the shoulders and make a roast out of them. Same with the neck. Easier to remove after cooked than deboning it. Brown it, salt & pepper to taste, put in covered cast iron roaster or Dutch oven, fill with white & sweet potatoes, carrots and a big onion, add a big can of cream of mushroom soup and water to fill then put in a slow oven. By the time the carrots and taters are done the meat is falling off the bone. Good as roast and leftovers make great hash or sandwiches.

  I made real good corned venison out of the hams and tenderloin last year. Am going to try making canned corned venison this year where you add the spices in the jars then pressure till canned.

[Hilltop366]

Nicely done, some of the best steak i have ever had was cooked over coals in the wood stove at a backwoods camp after we decided the cook stove was no longer safe to use.

I don't hunt but some places around here a little farther in the country "deer season" starts shortly after the sun goes down! 

[Greyhound]

Coincidence.  I made a slow cooker venison roast yesterday.

 

[olcowhand]

What is this "Venison" and "Deer" you all are speaking of? Up here in Northern Michigan, something like that would come in right handy to feed folks. If they were plentiful, I think someone would have told me. I think I'll ask around. You mean there's a season to hunt them?
Who'd a thunk it?
I like the recipes on here, gents. Keep 'em coming.

[mike_belben]

I got a dehydrator from a neighbors yard sale for $5 this week.  The leg meat trimmings did not go to the coyotes this time. 

My first stab at jerky was a blur of flying spices getting dumped in a bag.  I think it was soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, flavor god's "everything" and a shot of weber burger season followed by a why not splash of some asian chili garlic sauce, a few sprinkles of chili powder and a good squirt of naked wild honey plus a dab of water to mix it all.  Half day in the bag, half day in the dehydrator.  It was salty, meaty and heaty and stopping was a problem.  Even with fully intact silver skin, no gamey.

  Wife brought a bag to work today (buncha middle aged women at a doctors office) and it was gone before lunch.  She said people were cruising by looking for another chunk all afternoon and walking away disappointed, so thats pretty encouraging.  My second batch was a cleaner cut of leg meat with a lot less punch for the kids and that didnt last long either.  

Gonna have to shoot more 4 legged organ donors soon.