There’s a million stories in the naked city, and all the best ones include a deerhunt, a spirit campfire, family, BloodBrothers, a sagging buckpole and slabs, shanks, haunches and straps of sizzling, grilling venison.
By Ted Nugent
There’s also a million genuine heartfelt reasons why we hunt, and each and every one of them is meaningful, powerful, fulfilling, gratifying, spiritually satisfying and personally invigorating.
But after the trophies are measured, the stories told, the laughter and celebrations tempered, in every deercamp I have ever had the privilege of attending, it always boils down to the meat, the sacred, hard-earned venison.
Trophy hunters cherish the meat, recreational hunters cherish the meat, sport hunters cherish the meat, and meat hunters cherish the meat. We all hunt for our own personal, legitimate reasons, but at the end of the day, bottomline, it’s all about the venison. Everywhere, everytime, every hunt, every kill.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TED’S CLASSIC SONG TOOTH, FANG & CLAW
I have discovered that every hunter has their own way to hunt, their own personal way they handle their game, and as many hunters as there are out here, there are equally as many recipes for preparing our hard earned trophy of supreme protein.
Here in my always fun NugeBlog #38, I would like to share a recipe that is a little different, and that everybody who has ever tried it has fallen in love with it.
A Favorite Recipe!
Though this favorite Nugent family recipe is as basic as flesh and fire, and quite honestly, all we need is flesh and fire to truly appreciate the superiority of venison, this little twist on tradition seems to maximize the natural flavor of our favorite meat.
I was raised on Vernors Ginger-Ale, a Detroit-brewed soda that is absolutely delicious, served hot or cold. It’s effervescent!
Take your favorite cut of meat, (can you say BACKSTRAPS!) and after proper cold aging and the careful butchering and slicing off of all the silver skin, fat and membrane, lay thinly sliced medallions in a glass dish deep enough so that a can of Vernors and a cup or so of quality olive oil, or oil of your choice, cover the slabs.
Add a dash of your favorite seasonings over each medallion, cover in Saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. We like ground ginger, paprika, oregano, garlic salt and garlic pepper. But over many years of creative experimentation, we have discovered that you just can’t go wrong with any seasonings of your choice.
Get creative, go wild, hit that spicy road less traveled already!
The next step is also very subjective, and though a well-seasoned cast iron skillet is always killer, as is usually the case, nothing quite compares with local seasoned hardwoods and coals. Mesquite, oak, cherry, apple, hickory are all good, as long as flames are kept under control, any good wood works great.
We like to combine dry seasoned wood with fresh cut green chunks to keep the smoke going and minimize the flames.
We tong each medallion still dripping with the seasoned Vernors and oil, and lay them over red hot, golden, orange coals.
Venison is always best when rare to medium rare, so we singe them quickly over these hot coals, turning them but once apiece. It only takes a minute or two per side as long as the coals are real hot.
Family Time is Important
As family time together is always valued more than life itself, we all gather around the fire giving each other a hand and participating in every glorious step of this life-giving ceremony.
Over a bed of hot buttered rice or smashed garlic potatoes with the skins, or around equally grilled veggies, we serve the hot medallions of singed venison hot off the grill. Singed on the outside, bloody on the inside, everybody who has ever experienced this palate-stimulating meal literally rolls their eyes, grimaces with awe-inspiring love, spontaneously breaks out in little rump shaking dance steps, all the while making little happy puppy noises of uncontrolled delight.
Give it a try. We think you will love it as much as we do. And you can take each step and ingredient and improvise, adapt and overcome in an unlimited way and style.
Say a prayer for the wildthings, and show our precious game animals the ultimate respect. When we kill ’em and grill ’em, we are using God’s miraculous creation in the most respectful way possible.
Hunt like you mean it, kill like you mean it, grill like you mean it and eat like you deserve it.
Come on over to my Facebook boogie where we will be sharing more recipes over time. Nothing drives animal rights freaks crazier than the logical perfection of eating venison. Consider their anguish a bonus for doing a job well done. Do the job well done, but do the venison rare and bloody!
“I can hardly stand myself, I’m having so much fun!”
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