I have a freezer full of venison. Because it's frozen and thus requires additional prep time, I usually don't use venison in my recipes. The other reason is that I really haven't found any preparation that I really like other than cooking in a water smoker. Venison is a super-lean meat that requires a slow cook; otherwise what's usually left is a tough, stringy meat, and sometimes a gamey flavor. I have ways to deal with the gamey flavor; and that brings up another facet of my reluctance to use venison -- the "marinading." Not so much of a flavor-adding marinade as it is to remove the gamey flavor, I usually let the meat soak overnight in the fridge.
However, I mentioned that I have a LOT of deer meat, and some of it's getting older than I would like. With this most recent deer, I made 40# of Italian and Sundried Tomato-Parmesan sausages using the trimmings from butchering the roasts. They came out excellent, so now I think I have a plan for that aged meat.
At any rate, the Vegetable Venison Soup starts out much like any vegetable soup, with oil (I use olive) in the bottom of a pot (I use cast-iron); use enough to cover the bottom of the pot and then some. Over a medium fire, I put a venison hind-quarter roast that I cubed, and brown the meat on all sides. Then, in goes the South Louisiana trinity, chopped: onions, celery, and bell pepper, plus a few minced garlic cloves. Get a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, and sauté. In addition, cut up your denser vegetables like carrot, turnips, and potatoes, into bite-sized pieces. When the onions start to turn translucent, I add the cut-up vegetables, a couple bay leaves, and add enough water to cover.
Checking in the fridge for a tomato I'd been saving for a soup or stew (grocery produce is so unreliable, especially in the winter, that more often than not I wind up with mealy, tasteless tomatoes), I discover that I waited too long to use it. Not a problem, I'll compost it and instead use a can of diced, stewed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. After evenly dispersing the ingredients throughout, turn the fire to low.
At the time, I was drinking a Heiner Brau Märzen and considered adding some to the pot. Thinking that the beer would balance the venison, I opted instead to open a bottle of a less flavorful brew to add. Add 1/2 of the bottle to the pot, unless you like a more pronounced malt flavor. Simmer for half an hour and then add the softer vegetables like corn, green beans, lima beans, and add a can of red kidney beans.
At this point the venison is still tough and a bit gamey. Lacking the prep time to marinate the meat, I start looking in the cabinet for some flavor control -- Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar. Worcestershire (say WOO-ster-SHEAR) has vinegar in it, but add a tablespoon of it and one of the cider vinegar. I spied the herbs I used in making the sausage and added a couple pinches of rosemary, thyme, and basil. Simmer another hour and taste the liquid. At this point, add salt and pepper to taste, carefully. Try the meat for tenderness and flavor.
Now I've always heard that soups and stews, such as gumbo, are better the next day -- and it's true. It gives the flavors time to really permeate all the ingredients, and the same applies to soup. This may come as a real disappointment. If you can actually wait a day to eat this, your willpower is stronger than mine.
I could take about one and a half handfuls of spaghetti and break it in half over the pot, turn the fire a little lower and cook another 15 minutes. The spaghetti is optional -- if the soup is thick enough, I'll forgo it; however, I'd like this soup to have a little extra body. I like to make the spaghetti (or noodles, etc.) separately, though, because they get soggy when reheated in the soup. Whenever I make soup, I always make a LOT, so I'll take enough for today and maybe two other days this week and freeze the rest.
Ingredients for this soup:
About a 3-4# Venison roast, onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, carrots, turnip, potatoes, canned stewed & diced tomatoes, tomato paste, a decent beer, lima beans, canned corn, canned red kidney beans, frozen green beans, Worcestershire, cider vinegar, bay leaf, rosemary, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, spaghetti (optional).
See "A Word on Gamey Flavors", in a future posting, for information on how to reduce wild game's strong flavor.
However, I mentioned that I have a LOT of deer meat, and some of it's getting older than I would like. With this most recent deer, I made 40# of Italian and Sundried Tomato-Parmesan sausages using the trimmings from butchering the roasts. They came out excellent, so now I think I have a plan for that aged meat.
At any rate, the Vegetable Venison Soup starts out much like any vegetable soup, with oil (I use olive) in the bottom of a pot (I use cast-iron); use enough to cover the bottom of the pot and then some. Over a medium fire, I put a venison hind-quarter roast that I cubed, and brown the meat on all sides. Then, in goes the South Louisiana trinity, chopped: onions, celery, and bell pepper, plus a few minced garlic cloves. Get a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, and sauté. In addition, cut up your denser vegetables like carrot, turnips, and potatoes, into bite-sized pieces. When the onions start to turn translucent, I add the cut-up vegetables, a couple bay leaves, and add enough water to cover.
Checking in the fridge for a tomato I'd been saving for a soup or stew (grocery produce is so unreliable, especially in the winter, that more often than not I wind up with mealy, tasteless tomatoes), I discover that I waited too long to use it. Not a problem, I'll compost it and instead use a can of diced, stewed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. After evenly dispersing the ingredients throughout, turn the fire to low.
At the time, I was drinking a Heiner Brau Märzen and considered adding some to the pot. Thinking that the beer would balance the venison, I opted instead to open a bottle of a less flavorful brew to add. Add 1/2 of the bottle to the pot, unless you like a more pronounced malt flavor. Simmer for half an hour and then add the softer vegetables like corn, green beans, lima beans, and add a can of red kidney beans.
At this point the venison is still tough and a bit gamey. Lacking the prep time to marinate the meat, I start looking in the cabinet for some flavor control -- Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar. Worcestershire (say WOO-ster-SHEAR) has vinegar in it, but add a tablespoon of it and one of the cider vinegar. I spied the herbs I used in making the sausage and added a couple pinches of rosemary, thyme, and basil. Simmer another hour and taste the liquid. At this point, add salt and pepper to taste, carefully. Try the meat for tenderness and flavor.
I could take about one and a half handfuls of spaghetti and break it in half over the pot, turn the fire a little lower and cook another 15 minutes. The spaghetti is optional -- if the soup is thick enough, I'll forgo it; however, I'd like this soup to have a little extra body. I like to make the spaghetti (or noodles, etc.) separately, though, because they get soggy when reheated in the soup. Whenever I make soup, I always make a LOT, so I'll take enough for today and maybe two other days this week and freeze the rest.
Ingredients for this soup:
About a 3-4# Venison roast, onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, carrots, turnip, potatoes, canned stewed & diced tomatoes, tomato paste, a decent beer, lima beans, canned corn, canned red kidney beans, frozen green beans, Worcestershire, cider vinegar, bay leaf, rosemary, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, spaghetti (optional).
See "A Word on Gamey Flavors", in a future posting, for information on how to reduce wild game's strong flavor.
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