Whitetail deer

Venison French Onion Sliders

/ Steph Brown / Leave a comment
2 lbs Ground Venison…
2 TBSP Beef Bouillon Base (Better than Bouillon)
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
Kosher Salt & Pepper
1 stick salted butter
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
2 Medium Sweet Onions
24 Slider buns ( I used sesame buns)
12 oz Gruyere cheese or Shredded White Cheddar or both

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Line the baking sheet with the bottom halves of the slider buns. They should cover the pan.

In a large skillet add 2 TBSP of the salted butter. Thinly slice both onions and place into skillet on medium heat. Cook until onions are caramelized …about 20 minutes. While the onions are caramelizing prepare your venison in a separate bowl. Add 2 lbs of ground venison, 1/2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, 1 TBSP beef base and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Once the onions have caramelized add in the venison. Cook until the meat is nice and browned.

Melt the remaining stick of butter in a small bowl. Add in 1 TBSP beef base, 1/2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce and at least 1 TSP each of the onion and garlic powder. Set aside.

Once the meat is fully cooked add in your chopped Gruyere cheese or shredded white cheddar cheese with the onions and mix well. The cheese should melt nicely and hold the venison together. Scoop the meat, onion and cheese mixture over each of the slider buns on the greased cookie sheet. Cover with the top buns. Using a pastry brush, brush the buttery mixture over the top of the buns. Sprinkle the buns with onion and garlic powder.

Bake the sliders for about 20 minutes until the buns are browned and cheese is melted. Enjoy!

sliders

 

Venison Stuffed Bell Peppers with Portobello Mushrooms

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Venison Stuffed Bell Peppers 2 3

This recipe will yield 6 stuffed large bell peppers and you will have enough meat left over to make up to 5-6 burritos. You can prep for 2 meals at once or you can cut the recipe in half. It’s that easy.
What you will need:
2 lbs ground venison
6 large bell peppers (Did you know there are female and male bell peppers? Simply look at the bottom of each pepper. Male peppers only have 3 bumps while the females have 4. Choose 6 of your favorite female peppers, any color, as they will stand up right better when baking)
1 small white onion (optional)
2 cups cooked brown rice
16 oz of Prego Mushroom spaghetti sauce (or make your own fresh tomato sauce fresh from the garden)
8 oz Baby Portobello sliced mushrooms
1 fresh whole garlic clove
Shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (Optional topping)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and garlic salt. (Tablespoon of each or season to taste)
Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a large skillet you will begin to brown the 2lbs of venison over medium heat. You may want to add just a dash of extra virgin olive oil. Dice up the small white onion and mix it in with the venison while the meat is browning for added flavor. Add each of the seasonings to the meat while it is cooking and chop up the whole garlic clove to add to the mix as well. Once the meat is almost half way cooked go ahead and add the 8 oz of Portobello mushrooms. Pour 1-2 cups of the mushroom sauce over the mixture, just enough to keep the meat from becoming dry. Mix in 2 cups of the cooked brown rice. Reduce the temperature to medium low and let simmer.
While the mixture is simmering fill a large pot of with water on medium high heat that you will use to soften up your peppers. Carefully slice just the tops off of each pepper. Thoroughly clean out the seeds and rinse each pepper. I like to utilize the entire pepper and dice up the tops of the peppers you removed and toss them into the skillet. After you have prepped the peppers place them into the pot of very hot water for about 5 minutes or just until they are warm to touch and the skin has softened. Carefully remove the peppers and fill each one with the meat mixture as pictured above. Place the peppers into a deep baking pan. Once all peppers have been placed into the pan you will cover them with the remaining spaghetti sauce. Place the pan into the oven at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. Once the peppers are cooked you can top them with shredded cheese. Cheese is optional.

There are many variations of stuffed peppers but this is definitely one of my favorites.
You should have quite a bit of the meat mixture leftover. As mentioned before I like to add this to a warm burrito shell along with some fresh avocado, tomato slices a dab of sour cream and my favorite hot sauce. This easily doubles as a second meal that you can quickly throw together the following day.

Teriyaki Venison Jerky Marinade

/ Steph Brown / 1 Comment

What you will need: 5 lbs Venison Roast (Whole Muscle) – Sliced thin and cut into 1/4-1/2″ strips

  • 1 1/2 cups Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons Simply Asia Spicy Szechwan Five Spice
  • 3 teaspoons Simply Asia Sweet & Smoky Hibachi
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons local honey
  • 1 tablespoon Blue Agave syrup

Combine all ingredients into a seal tight bag once mixed thoroughly with Venison strips and marinate for 12-24 hours prior to cooking or dehydrating.

Venison Chili

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This recipe will light you up like a Christmas tree!

This recipe will light you up like a Christmas tree!

There are a million ways to create a great chili. This one is not for the faint of heart. You may want to wear gloves when preparing this dish to avoid burning your skin or eyes later on. Don’t learn the hard way. Trust me on this.

What you will need:

  • 3 Green Bell Peppers
  • 2 Red Bell Peppers
  • 1 Whole White Onion
  • 6 Habanaro Peppers
  • 6 Poblano Peppers
  • 6 Jalapeño Peppers
  • 1 TBSP Chili Powder
  • 1/2 TBSP Cayenne Pepper
  • Cracked Black Pepper
  • Kosher Salt or Mediterranean Sea Salt
  • 1 Fresh Whole Garlic Clove
  • 3 46 oz bottles of Tomato Juice
  • 2 16 oz Bag of Uncooked Red Kidney Beans
  • Shredded cheese (Mexican style or cheddar)
  • Sour Cream to dollop on top
  • 2 LBS Ground Venison
  • 1 Lb Hot Sausage

Preparation:

Chop all peppers into small pieces. With the Habanaros you may want to just half them and sauté later with the meat. Do the same with the Onion unless someone you’re cooking for doesn’t like them then you can puree it with some of the tomato juice. They’ll never know. Reserve a little for the side to sprinkle on top when you’re ready to eat.

In large cooking pot slice half the garlic cloves and heat over medium heat with 3 TBSP Olive Oil.  Once the garlic is starting to sauté add in the venison and sausage. Cook over medium heat until almost brown. Slowly add in some of the Peppers and tomato juice to get the heat going. Generously salt and pepper meat while adding in the Cayenne Pepper and Chili Powder. Continue to add in the remaining Peppers, garlic and onion as well as spices and tomato juice until your pot is full. Add both packages of kidney beans and stir. Turn to medium-low and cook for 2 hours or until beans are cooked completely. Stir frequently.

Spice it up a bit tip: Top chili with Shredded cheese and remaining raw Onion. Add a scoop of sour cream to mix it up. 

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Venison Crock Pot Recipe

/ Steph Brown / 3 Comments

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Preparation of your bounty and ensuring that your game was field dressed and processed properly and promptly is essential for great tasting Venison.

Crock Pot Venison

What you will need:

  • Any sized Crock-pot based on the size portion you will be cooking for.
  • Venison Chops or Roast
  • Vegetables (Small bag of red potatoes, small bag of carrots, 1 package of baby portabella or white mushrooms.  You can use whatever vegetables you prefer.  Mix it up a bit.  Try using celery and your favorite peppers and onions.  Don’t go overboard on ingredients unless you are using a large slow cooker.
  • 1- 2 cups Beef broth and/or Cream of Mushroom soup.
  • Lots and lots of spices! (Mediterranean sea salt, cracked pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, fresh garlic cloves and steak seasoning or any of your personal favorites)

Preparation:

  • Cube Venison Chops or Roast (place in slow cooker)
  • Chop vegetables and mushrooms into bite sized pieces and toss them in with the Venison
  • Season meat and vegetables generously.  Always important not to salt too much but don’t be afraid to use seasonings that are not high in salt content.
  • Pour beef broth and/or cream of mushroom soup over the meat and seasonings.  Stir the contents of the crock pot really well.  You may only need 1-2 cups of broth or 1-2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup depending on how many servings you are making.  (Remember this is not a soup recipe so don’t over do the liquid to meat/vegetable ratio.)

Once all of your ingredients are in and stirred, place the lid on your Crock-pot and turn on High for 4-5 hours depending on how well done you prefer your meats to be cooked.

Teach Your Daughters to Hunt

/ Steph Brown / 3 Comments

My extremely proud father and sharp shooting brother!

Life is too short to not teach your daughters how to hunt.  This sport is no longer just for men and it’s having a resurgence of newcomers with the popularity of movies like the Hunger Games.  Young girls everywhere are seeing that archery is not only cool but in the movie it depicts a way of life that hunters live by. We are learning and teaching each other how to live off of the land and build a bond between people that hunters understand. Along with this also comes the respect you gain for our land and wildlife.

My dad instilled hunting in my family as far back as I can remember.  In 1975 my dad purchased a large plot of land in Southern Ohio.  He started to build his dream of constructing a hunting cabin to share with his family and friends.  So it began the story of what built our bond.  In early 1981 construction began and I was just a bun in the oven.  Flash forward a few years and my parents have grown their family to a total of five with a younger brother and sister for me.  We spent almost every weekend there for the next decade.

Growing up in the woods was something I will never forget and the memories I have are one of a kind.  Imaginations are stretched when you grow up playing in the great outdoors.  You learn about nature, animals, insects and the endless recreational activities that mother nature provides.  The things I would learn from my dad proved to me to be priceless.

The bond I have with my dad has never been greater.  The older I get the more I want to spend to time with him and my family.  Hunting together whenever we can is my favorite thing to do.  Nothing is guaranteed so spending as much time in the woods with him is what I thrive on.  My dad has taught me everything I know and continues to educate me through his experiences and knowledge.  The thrill of the hunt and watching me succeed makes him more proud now than taking his own trophy buck.  He has filled walls with mounts so watching me and my brother walk in his footsteps is his gratification. He knows he has passed down a family tradition that we will carry on with our own families.

The look on my dads face is priceless when he witnesses a hunting success.  Last year we were on a hunt in early January.  It was the day before his birthday to be exact.  Muzzle-loader season in Ohio and one of our favorite hunts together.  We had been tracking through a foot of snow for miles on end.  Finally we spotted a doe laying down next to a tree on the hillside about 150 yards uphill.  He asked if I wanted to take the shot.  He even offered up his back for stability as I was standing in snow up to my knees.  I wanted to show him that I could handle this on my own so I told him I had this. Took my stance and dialed in on my target with confidence and fired.  Smoke is all around me and I can’t see anything but I hear what sounds like laughter and someone hitting the lottery.  My dad screaming, “you got her sis, you smoked her good.  She didn’t even move from where she was laying.”  This was followed by a quick high five and a smile that lasted all day.  Happy birthday, Dad!  These are the days I live for and I think it’s safe to say he does too.

Please teach your daughters to hunt.  Take them with you.  Even if they aren’t ready to get involved in the hunt let them be there to tag along.  They can take it all in and learn what hunting is all about. Best of all they may find out that it is something that can turn into a real family bond.  My dad and I share something very special and it is the love for hunting and the great outdoors.