Rick Windham Outdoor Columnist
Let’s talk about how to serve your venison if you were able to see and take a deer last week.
The firearm deer season just ended and the archery deer season ends on December 31st. There is also the muzzleloading season, December 1-31, and the late muzzleloading season, January 1-15.
There’s still plenty of time to get a deer if you haven’t already.
I’ve already received a few emails asking for recipes, so here are a few suggestions that I hope you’ll enjoy.
Each of these recipes passed my personal camp test—my regular hunting buddies. If a recipe passes the test with this crowd, I’m sure most of your family, camping buddies, and hunting buddies will love it too. These recipes are quick, simple, easy and good.
Chive Bombs
This is something a little different, something the size of a baseball and very tasty! Start with a few large heads of spring onions and you can create a dish that will have everyone talking. You can cook this in a dutch oven or covered grill.
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2 kilograms of ground venison.
1 kilo of thickly sliced bacon.
1 kilogram of grated cheddar cheese.
1 bottle ranch dressing.
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray Honey BBQ Sauce.
Peel the onion and cut off the outer two layers and carefully peel them so that they remain intact.
Form the ground venison into round balls to fit inside the onion flakes.
Wrap the onion and venison in strips of bacon and poke with toothpicks.
Place in your dutch oven or grill and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour.
Check your onion bombs to see how they are cooking by testing the internal temperature of the venison balls.
Add the crumbled cheddar cheese on top and continue cooking until the core temperature of the venison reaches at least 160 degrees.
Mix the barbecue sauce and ranch dressing in a 50-50 mixture.
Spoon the dressing mixture over the onion bombs and serve.
In most cases, one onion bomb per person is sufficient, unless you have teenagers in the camp. Enjoy!
Deer kebab
This is a very simple lager recipe.
2 kilos of venison steaks.
3 large peppers (I like to use red, yellow and orange for visual appeal).
1 bottle of Italian salad dressing (I like the “spicy” Italian style dressing).
Cut roast venison into one-inch cubes.
Marinate the meat in a thick Italian dressing for a minimum of two hours, preferably overnight.
Cut up some vegetables and alternate the meat and vegetables on the skewer. (I cut my vegetables into large chunks, but you can cut them however you like.)
Place the skewers on the grill or over an open fire at medium heat.
Turn the kebabs two or three times and cook for a total of about 10 minutes.
Brush on more of the Italian dressing while the kebabs are grilling.
Serve this over a bed of rice and you have a great meal for camp or dinner at home. This recipe will feed 2-3 hunters.
Fried venison loins
This is one of my favorite deer recipes! I guarantee there will be no leftovers with this recipe. This is a very simple recipe, but it is a camp favorite for people who have hunted with me in the past. Make sure you have plenty of venison on hand because everyone will want more.
I don’t know why, but the secret is in the Zesta crackers and the butter flavored oil you cook it in. I have used other brands of crackers and the taste is not the same.
3 kilograms of venison.
2 pcs. Butter flavored Crisco.
1 box Zesta saltine crackers (not another brand, will not cook the same way).
1 tablespoon of black pepper.
1 tablespoon of garlic salt.
1 tablespoon of onion salt.
Cut the fillets into ½-inch steaks. Pound the meat with a tenderizing hammer until the steak is about ¼ inch thick. You will almost double the surface area of the steak when you are done.
Mix all the spices together in a shaker. Melt the Crisco stick in a deep pan. Crush the crackers into fine crumbs. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Roll the steak in flour and dip in the eggs. Roll the dipped steak in the cracker crumbs.
Place each steak in the pan and cook for about a minute on each side. Remove from the pan and shake generously over the spices. Allow steaks to dry on paper towels. Add your favorite dipping sauce and you are ready to serve up a real treat.
Make sure you get your share first, because once your camp mates try this, you’ll be overwhelmed and bombarded with requests to cook more. This recipe will usually feed 3-4 hunters.
I hope you enjoy these recipes. They are a great way to finish the hunt and take advantage of what nature has to offer.
