Cuisine: American

Venison Reuben Sandwich

A good Reuben is one of the best sandwiches on the planet. And corned venison (or even better, venison pastrami!) gives beef a run for its money as the star of the Reuben show. You have to try this!

Venison Summer Sausage

I’ve been tweaking this recipe for years, and finally have it where I want it. More than one person has told me it’s the best they’ve ever had. One of the breakthroughs was learning about Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA), which brings a satisfying “tang” to Read More …

Venison Chili

The secret to good chili is the right mix of chiles! (who knew?)

Corned Venison

Corned venison is as simple as it is delicious. We’ve all met people who claim not to like venison. I’ve never seen anyone fail to light up with their first bite of corned venison. Many cuts work well, but a boneless roast from the hindquarter Read More …

Venison Breakfast Sausage

Add 1 tsp per ¼ lb of ground meat, and —poof— instant fresh breakfast sausage! Make up a batch of this spice mix ahead of time to use as needed.

Venison Jerky

There are as many jerky recipes as there are people making jerky. This basic recipe is great “as is” but also a fine platform for tinkering.

Dove Kabobs

Meat and veggies on a stick over a grill. What’s not to love? Boneless dove breasts are delicious and the perfect size. But this recipe includes a game changing trick (see what I did there?) that works with any kabob-based culinary adventure.

Venison Country Style, with Gravy

This is a great way to show off tougher venison steaks, like rounds. Even a tough old buck that chews like a superball will be fork tender and delicious. It also works for steaks with lots of connective tissue, like sirloin or shoulder. It’s serious Read More …

Wild Mushroom Soup

Venison stock is the perfect base for this simple but fantastic traditional recipe.

Braised Wild Turkey

This coaxes even a tough old gobbler into something tender, moist and flavorful. This works best with legs and thighs, but also very well with breast.

Venison Sausage with Wine

This elegant sausage highlights and complements the flavor of venison with juniper berries, rosemary, wine and brandy. Many venison sausage recipes almost seem to apologize for the venison — either masking it with heavy spices or shoehorning it into recipes designed around other meats.

Wild Turkey Bratwurst

This is a great generic bratwurst recipe, and wild turkey meat is a fine base for sausage. But wild turkey is as lean as meat gets, so fat is a critical factor.

Pan Seared Wild Turkey Breast

This is an adaptation of a great chicken breast recipe.  It involves slicing a boneless wild turkey breast into roughly half pound pieces, about the size and thickness of a chicken breast, each perfect for one serving. It is fast, easy, and delicious.

Low Stress Venison Stew

This will never win a contest against a well made “from-scratch” stew recipe but it is faster, easier and still really good.

EggNog

This is a riff on the “Elixir Egg Nog” recipe from Fresh Victor Cocktails (FreshVictor.com).

Serve mixed with whatever liquor you prefer, though most traditional is a nice aged bourbon or rum. Pretty darn good “virgin” also.

Cocktail Sauce

It’s disappointing that many restaurants no longer accompany shellfish like shrimp and crab with this traditional American dipping sauce.  Nowadays it comes with something with no zing, apparently generated by an app designed to impress foodies rather than people. In V1 it was ketchup and Read More …

Poultry Stock

Of course this works best with wild birds like turkey, pheasant — or even a big mess of quail. Don’t just “breast ’em out” and toss the rest — all those bones and meat are the ticket to great stock!

Moose Munch

OK, it’s not wild game. It’s hard to work game into desserts. Besides, it does have “Moose” in the name. You could use it to say “OK kids, eat all your venison and daddy will make moose munch.”

If popping your own from kernels, keep in mind that freshness matters — Not because popcorn kernels go bad, but because over time they lose some of the moisture they need to pop properly. If it’s been on the shelf for a year just buy a new batch.

Poultry Noodle Soup

Works great for chicken — but also for wild Galliformes (pheasant, grouse, etc.). Turkey and quail might pose challenges due to size, but would be a worthy experiment. When someone in my house starts to get a cold I go all Jewish mother and within Read More …