recipe forum

Southern Treat
6 squirrels (whole/skinned)
3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup shortening
1 package yeast
Salt and pepper
1 cup milk

In a large pot add squirrels and cover with water. Add salt; boil squirrels till done and meat easily pulls from bone; remove from pot and set aside. Combine flour, shortening and salt in a large bowl. Remove about one cup of the cooking liquid from the pot. Liquid should be warm (105 to 110 deg). Stir yeast into the cup of cooking liquid and allow to set for a couple of min. while the yeast starts to work. Add liquid to flour until you get a good working dough. Work dough, then roll it out thin and cut into strips. Allow dough strips to rise in a warm place for about 20 min. Remove meat from squirrels and set aside. Return liquid in pot to a boil and add dumplings a few at a time (don’t add too many). Add milk and cook on med heat for about 5 min. Return meat to pot, add pepper and reduce heat to simmer.

If you don't like that, we've got a saying around here: Keep the South beautiful, put a yankee on a bus!

Simple. Choose a cut of venison (or elk, moose, any wild hoofed critter) and fry it lightly in butter leaving it pink in the middle. People always insist on over-cooking game meat, and it doesn't need it. Since it has no fat, it is far more moist and tender rare than well done.

Back strap from any Bigegame hoofed animal. Coat with olive oil, rub with spices, cumin papprika, corriander, garlic, cayenne pepper,black pepper, sea salt. Light grill charcoal or wood get grill hot(never use matchlight coals). Sear meat on all sides, cut majority of air to the BBQ and set meat away from direct heat. Finish cooking while the smoke roles and enjoy. DON'T OVER COOK!

venison strogenof. spelled wrong, but ya know what i mean. i used puff balls i found in my yard as a mushroom substitute, worked great.

I screwed up and made these for people. Every time I see them they ask me to make some more. These are very good. They can be cold and still taste great.


Medalions

Venison cut into thin slices (cut for short grain) with little sinew about 2"X3".... Example, just slice the back strap into thin slices.

Fork both sides.
Apply UNseasoned meat tenderizer and Cavenders to both sides.
Let sit for 1 hour to over night.
Cover with 1 part butter (melted) and 1 part olive oil mix.
Get grill hot.
Grill for 2-3 minutes on one side.
Brush with yellow table mustard... both sides.
Grill on the other side for 2-3 minutes.
Eat. Hot or Cold these are awesome.

The ole Nuge's cook book has an excellent stroganoff recipe in it. Once I made that I never looked at chunks of stew meat the same again. Try not to add any lead shot meat or excess MSG to it. The reason I hunt is for personal enjoyment and health of my family.

Here's one I did with pheasant braised in a tomate frito sauce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BazvUleXu0g

Grouse,pheasant or quail cut into halfs or quarterd, put 1 can of cream of mushroom soup in a crockpot cook slow all day adding small amounts of water if needed and served on a bed of wild rice.

The deer I got last year had no fat on it. It took some fiddling, but I've got a great marinade for it now.

Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Worcestershire Sauce
Liquid Smoke
Basil
Rosemary
Marjoram
McCormiks Steak Rub
Salt & Pepper
and your favorite Bourbon (Woodford Reserve for me)

Season to you preference and let marinade over night. Pan fry them with butter, garlic, and shallot. Serve with seasoned red potatoes, a fresh made salad, and glass of sweet tea. Its heavenly.

Most of my efforts have been failures or middling, but one success which I would like to repeat one of these days was grouse breasts, halved and marinated in a mix of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar then slow cooked in a smoker oven for an hour over alder and apple chips. It's similar to a method for smoke-cooking salmon.

Can I get a killer deer jerky recipe? My old man insists on using the expensive jerky seasoning at Wal-Mart, but I'm not very fond of it.

Delicious jerky

I cup soy sauce
!/2 cup teryaki
3 crushed garlic cloves
1/4 cup sugar
teaspoon cayenne pepper
tablespoon black pepper

Slowly heat ingredients in pan and stir for a few minutes. Remove from heat and crack a tray of ice cubes in to cool it down and thin it out. Marinate jerky in this in the fridge for 1-2 hours and put it in the drier. No curing salts need be added as the salt in the soy and the teryaki are sufficient. Be careful who you let try this they might eat it all and never stop begging you to make more. Red pepper flake or more cayenne can be used if it isn't hot enough.

My mum took any type of deer or moose and soaked it for a day and a half in buttermilk. Wash off the buttermilk and use any of the above recipes. The buttermilk will draw out any strong gamy flavor but will not add any flavor of it's own and the acidity will tenderize the meat.

Easy Jerky marinade

Pretty similar to above, but real easy to make.

1 part soy sauce
1 part worchestershire sauce
Mix in a bowl at room temp. A clear glass bowl works well.
Stir in as much brown sugar as you can dissolve (stop when it starts to build up on the bottom of the bowl- thus the clear glass)
Some hot sauce if you like spicy jerky.
Or BBQ sauce if you like bbq jerky.
I layer meat and marinade in a glass bowl and leave in the fridge overnight. Or you can put it in a ziplock bag and squeeze the air out.

Works great with almost any kind of meat. I prefer apple chips for smoking fish or birds, a mix of hickory and mesquite for red meats.

Jerky...,

Basic jerky is salted, dried meat. You need basic sea salt (kosher salt), and lean meat without any visible fat, as that tends to go rancid. So trim off the fat, and many folks freeze the meat slightly before cutting to make it easier to cut it into thin strips. Original jerky apparently was cut or pulled apart with the grain of the meat into long, thin pieces.

I like to take a gallon of water, and 1/2 cup of kosher salt. Marinade the meat in the salt solution for about two hours, which actually pulls moisture from the meat. Then, drain and dry. Anything else is merely flavoring, so feel free to add flavoring ingredients to the meat after the meat has drained of the salt solution. Add the flavorings as a rub, then dry the meat. Experiment as you wish.

IF you use soy or any other sauce that has salt in it for flavoring, you can probably omit the salt water treatment.

You can also make "jerky" using vinegar instead of salt, which is how they make the South African stuff called "Biltong". Purists will say Biltong isnt "jerky" as it doesn't use salt.

Dilute cider vinegar 50/50 with water, use enough water and vinegar to cover your sliced lean meat, and soak the meat for three days in a fridge, then drain it and dry it. You can add some sugar to make the meat more tangy and less sour, as the drying and the acid will inhibit the spoilage. I have never actually tried this method, but I have tried meat preserved by this method, and it is different, but pretty good. So can't verify if truly it preserves meat well. I do know this is a basic Sauerbraten recipe, if you went and cooked the meat instead of drying it, and as Biltong reportedly is a South African/Dutch method, it makes sense they might use a Sauerbraten recipe as a basis for drying meat.

LD

If you just want to taste the pure meat, this recipe was given to me by a very famous chef, just for game meat.

He thinks marinating game meat is an abomination of a beautiful thing, particularly if you marinate backstraps and tenderloin, but I've used this recipe on probably all the hindquarter cuts and they are primo tasting, and tender with this method.

Preheat oven to 450

Take thawed cuts, about 1 1/2" thick, trimmed, and coat with canola oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. (You don't use pre-ground pepper, right? Freshly ground is a huge improvement, indulge yourself a little.)

When the oven is done or nearly so, sear cuts in an iron pan on HIGH heat (Make sure your vent is rocking, 'cause this is gonna make some smoke) for 1 min. a side.

When both sides are done, put in oven for about 2 1/2 minutes a side.

Let rest for 5 min. under foil.

Add a pat of butter on top...Eat.

Simple and the only way to cook the animal. Taste the meat, not the marinade. (No offense to the marinade lovers). Even cuts traditionally thought of as roast cuts (e.g.., butt) taste great steaked and cooked this way.

Tom

Venison Jerky W/Pics oven dried....

Solid Muscle or Sliced Jerky Recipe

1. Slice 3 pounds of venison round with the grain approximately 1/4" to 3/8" thick.

2. Tip: Chill the meat for about 60 to 90 minutes prior to slicing will help your slices remain more uniform in thickness.

Note: After drying your jerky, your 3 pounds of start weight will weigh about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds.

Spices:

1 tablespoon salt

1 level teaspoon quick cure. Get this at your local butcher shop or butcher Supply Company. This is an important ingredient because your jerky will be drying at low temperatures.

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon concentrated liquid smoke. This is optional and is used if you are using a dehydrator and want a smoky flavor


3. Mix the spices together in large bowl.

4. Coat the individual slices of meat with the marinade mixture by dipping both sides into the marinate mixture. Make sure all surfaces have been covered.
After dipping, place the meat slice into a large zip-top bag.

5. Pour excess marinate liquid over meat in the zip-top bag. Close zip lock.

6. Place bag in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

7. Tip: Make sure you mix the meat and marinade at least two times during its 24 hour soak. This will insure all pieces have absorbed the marinade equally.

Drying Oven Method:

1) Turn heat on oven to its lowest temperature.

2) Take meat out of refrigerator.

3) Place meat onto oven racks or clean metal screen. Keep 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch space between slices. Do not allow slices to overlap or the overlapped areas will not dry. I prefer to hang my jerky...it makes better use of the oven space and drys more evenly IMO.

4) Place racks with jerky meat into the oven.

5) Leave the oven door cracked open to allow steam to escape. Let jerky dry for approximately 6 hours or to desired dryness. Oven drying times will vary, so make sure to check the dryness of the jerky every hour or so. Do not leave your oven on, unattended if you are making jerky, plan to be home to watch it.

I like to heat the Jerky at 160° for the first hour or so….then reduce heat to 140° until the meat is sufficiently dry.

There are tons of different Jerky recipes out there….it is something you will want to experiment with. The recipe above is very basic and does not include everything I use in mine, but it will get you started….and make very good Jerky.

I make Full flavor and Mild versions (same ingredients just less).
Meat after soaking in marinade 36 hrs.


Spread out on paper with toothpicks inserted and a light dusting of Coarse ground Black Pepper


Placing on racks, leave some space between them.


Racks loaded, ready for drying


Done….and looking GOOD!


First batch is put in jar (DO NOT PUT IN PLASTIC) fresh jerky needs to breathe a few hours.


You want to reach in and get some…….don’t you????

Why not in plastic? Just curious. I know nothing about the process, obviously.

You can store it in food grade plastic containers, but don't put fresh jerky in any airtight container until it has had time to "breathe" for a few hours.

I have tried storing it several ways and unless you vacuum seal it, it always seems to spoil in plastic quicker than in paper or a breathable jar (lid not tight).

You'll get arguments both ways...and it depends upon how long you want to store your jerky (survivalist vs. enjoy it NOW) and if you plan to refrigerate or freeze.

It also makes a difference if you "cured" your Jerky (I recommend it) and also how "dry" you actually made it. Another factor is how much fat content was in the meat (the less the better).

Ideally, you want to store Jerky in cool, dry place.

If it is for immediate consumption (within a couple of weeks) then almost any method will suffice.

In fact, IF you've made GOOD jerky.....it doesn't stand "a snow balls chance......" of lasting more than a week before being eaten by someone.

So "storage" problems are self correcting.

And then there is the old German Man (Mr. Lange) RIP, who taught me how to make Jerky....who would roll over in his grave...if he knew Jerky were put into anything other than a perforated brown paper bag wrapped in cheese cloth.

Sacrilegious.....I tell you!

<Sigh>

Now you've done it. I have to use those two last 4# packs of frozen deer meat to make jerky............

Well.............somebody had to push you over the edge!

Besides.....you'll love it.

You can also make "jerky" using vinegar instead of salt, which is how they make the South African stuff called "Biltong". Purists will say Biltong isnt "jerky" as it doesn't use salt.

Click to expand...

I tried this a couple years ago. The venison version didn't come out nearly as tasty as the beef version. It still got eaten fairly quickly. If anybody out there decides to try this, make sure you don't dunk your meat in the vinegar solution or that will be all you taste. A light brushing of vinegar is all you need to kill bacteria. As far as longevity I have no doubt it would keep for a very long time but it will dry out inside and become very difficult to eat. Biltong is best when it is a bit moist on the inside still.

A great recipe for your backstraps or steaks:
http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-bacon-wrapped-venison-tenderloin-139664

I made this a couple weeks ago and it was amazing. The sweetness from the brown sugar adds an extra special hint of sweetness that just does it for me. Plus, it involves bacon!