Computers and electronic gizmos can give us headaches sometimes, but they are great for searching around to find new and interesting venison recipes.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has a great site with scads of recipes. Everything from good ol’ venison chili to a bit more interesting fare can be found there.
To see all the recipes, click here to look around.
It’s hard to beat a good piece of lightly-dusted and fried venison, though, and this one sounds great:
Country Fried Venison
¾ lb. to 1 lb. of venison chops/steaks (2-3 big or 4-5 small pieces)8 oz. package of sliced baby Portobello mushrooms 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1- 12-16 oz. can of either beef or mushroom gravy
1 Tbsp of garlic, minced
¼ cup green onion, chopped
Salt, pepper and seasoning salt
½ cup flour
¼ cup cornstarch
4 Tbsp of butter or margarine
Preparation
Season venison chops to taste using your favorite seasoning salt. Place flour, cornstarch, and touch of salt and pepper into large resealable bag (do not over-season). Put venison chops individually into the bag, shake to coat well. Once all chops are coated, remove from bag to a plate. Press coating into chops then let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to help the flour stick to the venison.
Meanwhile, preheat a large (16”) cast iron skillet (preferred) to med-high heat. Also, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and sauté until almost transparent. Add package of sliced mushrooms (season with salt and pepper). Allow onions and mushrooms to sweat and caramelize. Just before onions and mushrooms are finished add the minced garlic stirring to incorporate, about 2 minutes. Do not let the garlic burn, as it will taste bitter. Once onions, mushrooms, and garlic are done remove to a plate.
With the skillet still at medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Place venison into melted butter and brown on each side. This will sear in the juices, not cook the venison completely through. Once browned, drain oil then return onions, mushrooms, and garlic mixture to the pan. Also add in entire can of beef or mushroom gravy. Make sure chops are mostly covered. Place the uncovered *skillet in the oven for 10 minutes to finish the dish. Remove from oven, garnish with freshly chopped green onions and serve. Great with mashed potatoes or a bed of butter and garlic pasta!
*If your skillet is not oven safe, removed browned chops and place them, the mushrooms/onions/garlic, and gravy into a metal baking pan and follow remaining steps.
Submitted by John Wallace, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist
Here’s another recipe that looks easy and sounds delicious!
Crescent Roll Venison Lasagna 2 canisters of crescent rollsGround venison
Diced onion
Garlic (to taste)
Spaghetti sauce
Ricotta cheese
Italian cheese
Cook ground venison with chopped onions and garlic to taste until it is fully browned. Mix in spaghetti sauce just covering the meat, into a mixing bowl, set aside. Open crescent roll canisters and arrange in a circle on a cookie sheet or pizza pan/stone. The crescent dough should be overlapping and the long part of the dough pieces should be pointing out with a circle in the middle (looks like a sun when you are finished). Spoon the mixture onto the overlapping dough base, allowing enough dough to be folded over the filling to create a roll.
Sprinkle ricotta and Italian cheeses on the venison. Take the long part of the dough pieces and bring over the venison cheese and tuck the long part under the dough. Do this with all the long ends. It should resemble a circle or ring when you are finished. There will also be space between the long ends where you can see the venison and cheese; this is the way it should be.
Bake in the oven at 375ºF for approximately 20 minutes, until it is golden brown. Serve with more cheese sprinkled on top.