I was recently given a couple of pounds of ground venison meat. (Bleah, that’s Bambi, I thought.) But I’m gonna cook it anyway, and I just don’t know what to do with it.
Is it like beef? Can I use it in chili? I thought that might disguise it enough that I could eat it, too.
Any special preparations I need to do to it to make it edible? Or can I just pretend it’s ground beef? Does it taste different, or have different texture that I need to take into account?
If it was properly handled during butchering, it doesn’t need disguising. Here’s a couple suggestions:
Properly handled ground deer is wonderful. The main thing to remember is that it is very lean. Use it the same as you would extra-lean ground chuck and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.
Thanks, Scumpup! I think I’ll try the chili tomorrow with half of it, and perhaps a meatloaf with the other half.
I’m just a bit squeamish about eating deer parts, myself. For the record, I don’t eat pigs, either, so I’m a fairly picky meat-eater. But what are “loose meat sandwiches”? (I suspect a guy I know might like them, so it might be worth learning how to make 'em.)
The “loose meat” sandwiches I had were crumbled, seasoned ground beef on a hoagie roll with sauteed onions–sort of like the ground beef for chili or sloppy joes before you started adding the sauce. I think it is an Iowa thing.
You just make the tacos like you would with regular ground beef. It’s so lean, you can brown it and not bother draining the fat off.
The important thing, as Scumpup indicated, is how it was handled during butchering. Some people add fat to the meat during the grinding, which gives it a greasy, tallowy feel and taste that isn’t well-suited to chili or meat sauce recipes–they’re OK to start with, but quickly take on a waxy texture if allowed to cool at all. If it feels greasy to the touch, you might be better off frying patties for burgers (although I personally would avoid the oyster sauce).
My advice is feed it to the cat. Or to the dog.
I’ve tried venison in various forms and it is just plain nasty. Don’t let that “If it’s prepared right” line fool you. It’s just plain nasty.
If you insisto n eating it, spice the hell out if it. The more flavors you can get between it and your taste buds, the better.
Venison’s not really like beef, although it’s a red meat. It’s really more like mutton or lamb, and it’s quite, quite tasty. Personally, I like to just add a bit of salt and make deer-burgers.
Also, if you can get hold of some venison loin or steaks, it’s wonderful to marinate them overnight in a lemon pepper sauce and bake it, basting every twenty minutes or so with a mixture of honey and ginger. Add in a baked sweet potato and a salad, and you’ve got one hell of a meal.
I respectly beg to differ. Venison is not nasty. My husband is a hunter and he got two deer this season. They both were butchered and what’s left of them are down in the freezer. We love venison, although I realize it is a matter of taste.
Deer chops and roasts are wonderful. We had some rib-eye steaks that were tender and juicy, just like beef rib-eye steaks. They did not need “spicing the hell out of.” A little brush of oil, some salt and pepper, and 20 minutes under the broiler and they were delicious.
Ground venison we use for burgers or chili. I mix the venison about half-and half with beef, because the deer fat can taste a little ‘heavy’ to some people, and they can get dry. You do need to cook them all the way through - no rare deer burgers! Add in a beaten egg, a little salt and pepper and make patties. They’re great.
Or brown it like beef and make chili.
Drat! Since you don’t eat pork, you’re missing one of the great venison recipes:
I make a meatloaf using equal parts ground venison, ground beef, and mild pork sausage. I’m not sure what you could use to replace the pork sausage, but you might consider mixing in ground beef for more of a “gentle” introduction to venison.
Just one request, MissGypsy, and that is to please let anyone you share your venison with know that it is venison.
A friend offered me a bite of home made chili, and it was great! Spicy, simmered just long enough…but later I was told it had deer meat in it, and I was upset. I don’t dislike venison at all, in fact I rather like it, I have just made the decision not to eat any animal that wasn’t raised for food. Lots of people have reasons for not eating one food or another, and venison’s one of those iffy ones, in my experience.
The meat does tend to be a bit more tender when ground then beef. Adding a bit of ground beef helps to hold it together and keep it from drying out quickly, or you could add a beaten egg per pound or so before cooking. If you want to go for burgers, flash brown them on high heat, then simmer them covered in some broth or wine to cook them through.
Here’s a couple of recipes:
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
1 lb. lean ground beef or venison
1 c. soft bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. minced onion
2 tbsp. milk
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2/3 c. Heinz chili sauce
2/3 c. red currant jelly
Combine first 8 ingredients and form into bite-size meatballs, using a full teaspoon for each (approximately 40). Brown lightly in oil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Drain well. Combine chili sauce and jelly; pour over meatballs. Heat, stirring occasionally until jelly melts. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes, until sauce has thickened. Baste occasionally.
Venison Loaf with Mushrooms
4 slices soft bread, crumbled
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1 c. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. tomato sauce
2 lbs. ground venison
1 lb. sage sausage
1/2 c. chives or onions
Water
Salt
Crumble the bread into a large bowl and dampen with milk. Beat eggs and add to softened crumbs together with tomato sauce, chives or onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper as desired. Mix ground venison and sage sausage together then work into mixture evenly. Add as much water as is needed to make a good substantial loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until done and well browned. If you have enough mushrooms, saute an extra quantity quickly, in margarine and pour over the loaf.
*“Mix ground venison and sage sausage” *
Oops, I missed that part…but I think you can find beef sage sausage, of just use that much regular ground beef and add a pinch of rubbed sage, instead.
If it didn’t have any fat added to it when it was ground, venison can be pretty dry. That’s why they sometimes add the fat. Deer fat is pretty bitter, so pork fat is commonly used.
I grind my own, and don’t add fat until I’m cooking it. I make a good venison chili colorado, to which I add a pretty fatty pork sausage.
I just went looking for the recipe and couldn’t find it, but here are the essentials off the top of my head: (quantities are totally guessed at, since I cook by eye)
Venison Chili Colorado
1 pound ground venison (coarse ground is better)
1/4 pound fatty pork sausage (not sweetened)
1 pound tomatillos
2 tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
Dark beer
Spices to taste:
California Chili powder (just a little - it’s not supposed to be red)
New Mexico Chili powder (for heat)
6 or 7 whole cloves
Ground cumin
1 clove garlic
salt
1 piece baker’s chocolate
Brown the meats and drain off most of the fat. While you’re doing that, roast the tomatillos, tomatoes, and jalapenos under the broiler until the skins are toasty. Grind the vegetables up in a blender.
In a small stockpot or medium dutch oven, combine the meats and the vegetable puree. Eyeball enough beer to cover, and add the spices. Simmer for an hour - more if you’re using cubed venison. Fish out the cloves when you’re done. Nobody likes to chomp down on a whole clove.
I always tell people it’s venison. I’ve had a few people who were ambivalent about eating “Bambi” really like this chili. I never take offense from those who don’t want to eat it.
Well, I tried making venison chili, and it was BAD.* This stuff has a weird, off sort of taste (my SO described it as “very gamy,” but I’m not sure what "gamy tastes like.) Suffice it to say, I didn’t bother saving the leftovers.
The venison looked to be pretty dry as I cooked it, so I’m guessing little or no fat was added. Based on this, it’s possible that I may have overcooked it somewhat. The smell of it cooking just turned my stomach, so I’m not sure I’m ever going to like it.
But I still have another pound to use, so Deva’s sweet and sour meatballs might be the way to go.
I can see where combining pork sausage with the venison might even out the intense flavor in a meat loaf. Anyone think ground turkey or that turkey sausage might work the same, since I don’t eat pork?
*Strangely, my 2-year-old son loved the chili. Then again, he eats dirt whenever he gets the chance. 
Absolutely. My family still raves about the chili I made with a secret ingredient (venison). There are no particular precautions to be taken if the animals were farmed. If it’s wild venison, you might want to avoid eating it rare.
MissGypsy, I would think you could add ground turkey, and it would even out the flavor. But you’d still have the problem of it being dry. What do you typically add to ground turkey to keep it moist? The same should do - maybe even just some vegetable oil.
And on the venison is gamey controversy, let me say that I am a hunter, and I have had venison that was gross. It can be really strong and dry. They say that has to do with how the animal was field dressed, but I think it is also influenced by the animal’s age and diet.
If it’s really that bad, throw it out. No sense wasting your time and other ingredients on something you can’t stand.
I have had some outstanding venison too though. Can’t brand it all by one taste. It varies much more than beef.
Age and diet have a lot to do with the flavor of the meat. I’ve bagged a couple big, mature bucks. The spectacular racks were nice, but I also ended up with a freezer full of strong tasting meat. Those guys ended up doing duty as chili and other spicy dishes. The steaks and roasts all got marinades overnight before use. For eating, I much prefer to bag a yearling buck, preferably one who lived near a corn field. They are always tender and sweet.
Even so, I would not describe the mature bucks as tasting “nasty.” Handling the meat properly, right from the shooting on up is critical. Meat that is contaminated with urine or feces from a badly placed shot or clumsy field dressing will taste foul. So will meat that was allowed to dry out before butchering and grinding. So will meat from a carcass that was allowed to hang too long or in too warm conditions. Sorry to hear that you got a bag of what is apparently bad meat.
I can see where you would never want to try it again after such an experience. My dad won’t touch lamb or mutton because he tried it once in the army (in 1960) and it was badly handled meat.
I love ground venison in chili, or made into sausage (all I do is add premixed sausage seasoning to taste). I have a pretty good supply of venison year-round, since my husband is a hunter and brings home lots of it (what we can’t use, we share with family and friends).
I also love the tenderloin. I cut it into medallions and season with seasoned salt and pan fry it. Low fat AND delicious!
I’ll occasionally buy ground venison up at the market nearby and use it in shepherd’s pie, frying it up in a pan loose-meat style w/ chopped onion and seasoning with a mix of soy sauce, a little w/ Worcestershire [sp?], and water. Once cooked, spread it on the bottom of a casserole and then add peas and sliced boiled carrots and cover it with mashed potatoes, top with some bread crumbs and parmesan and bake in the oven. I like it in chili but sometimes it can be too flavorful.
My Mom used to make tasty stuffed peppers with ground venison when I was a fawn (puntentional). I know she always used half and half ground pork sausage/venison. Her recipe is pretty conventional but she learned it in Hunky Town (she used to live in an ethnic Hungarian/Eastern European neighborhood that was known colloquially, as such.). I think the gamier flavor of the venison matches well with green bell peppers and the slight acidity of the tomato sauce/juice that they simmer in seems to help out.
I don’t really know the exact measurements-
Mix:
equal proportions of ground venison with ground pork sausage.
cooked rice
chopped onions
garlic
stuff green peppers with the meat mixture
(line a large pot with the stuffed peppers
Cover halfway with tomato juice
add a large spoon of paprika to juice (Real Hungarian Paprika is the best (sweet or hot).)
Bring to a boil and simmer covered for about an hour.