Anwen's Venison Soup

My step daughter loves making soup, and thinks making it up as she goes along is preferable to using a recipe. So I gave her some stew meat and told her to have fun. The resulting soup was pretty tasty.

Anwen's Venison Soup

2 lbs venison stew meat, cut into chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 cups fresh green beans, cut into bite size pieces
1 handful of linguine, broken into 3 inch strips
venison (or beef) broth; enough to cover the ingredients and/or make the soup as liquid as you like
1 tbs rosemary, ground
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

Throw all the ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours (depending on how tender you like the carrots and onions).

Venison Breakfast Strata

I hosted Christmas brunch for the family, and made this strata (modified from the Colorado Collage cookbook (big surprise!)). Since this strata has some very sophisticated ingredients in it, and since I was serving waffles for the kids, I assumed one strata would be plenty. Wrong! Everyone loved this. My guests practically licked the serving dish clean. And I was once again reminded that my 12-year-old stepson loves fine foods.

I did take a picture, but it didn't turn out...perhaps I was too junked up on caffeine to hold the camera steady. Trust me, it's very pretty.

Venison Breakfast Strata
1 cup milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 loaf day-old French bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 lb venison meat, cut into thin slices
2 cups loosely packed, chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 pound smoked Gouda cheese, thinly sliced
3 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup basil pesto
4 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream

Lightly grease 12-inch au gratin dish or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. In shallow bowl, combine milk and wine. Dip bread, 1 or 2 slices at a time, in milk mixture. Gently squeeze as much liquid as possible from bread, taking care not to tear. Place bread slices in prepared dish.

Cover bread with slices of meat and cilantro and drizzle with olive oil. Layer half of the cheese and half of the tomato slices over the bread. Top with half of the pesto. Repeat layers of cheese, tomato, and pesto. In medium bowl, beat eggs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour evenly over layered mixture. Carefully pour cream over top and cover with plastic wrap. Chill overnight.

About three hours before serving, remove strata from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350. Place pan on baking sheet and bake, uncovered, until puffy and browned (about 1 hour).

Enjoy...this is delicious!

Taco Soup with Venison

I recently participated in a recipe exchange. Alas, I believe it was with my friends where the chain fell apart...after two weeks, I've only received three recipes. But the three I got look great!

Meg Poston sent me this taco soup recipe. I don't know where she got it, but she said she's modified it over time, getting it down to it's very simple current form. It is very good. I would really classify it more of a chili than a soup, but does that really matter on a cold winter night? No, not at all.

Making this recipe also gave me a chance to do some internet research. It calls for Rotel tomatoes, which I'd never heard of. In a rare fit of sanity, I decided to find out what they are before going to the grocery store. Good thing too, because my local International Market doesn't carry them. So, what they are is a brand of diced tomatoes with green chiles. After much poking around, I found a can of tomatoes with green chiles that I suspect was the same thing (or very darn close).

Taco Soup with Venison
1 lb lean venison, cubed (stew quality meat)
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasonings
1 pkg dry Ranch seasonings
2 large cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn (or one can of corn)

I made this in a crock pot. To do that, sauté the onions in olive oil. Then put all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours.

If you want to use the stovetop, then brown the meat with the onion in a soup pot. Add seasonings. Drain beans and corn. Add to meat along with tomatoes. Simmer until well blended and hot.

Serve with Tostitos or Fritos, sour cream and grated cheese. Eat and enjoy.

Easy Venison Calzone

I've been looking for recipes that are easy for Rick to take to work...that means easy to heat, can be eaten hot or cold (he gets interrupted a lot), and not to fragrant (he owns a massage center, so the smell of spicy food isn't a good thing).

Calzones seem to fit the criteria, so I've been searching for recipes. I found this one on YouTube (actually, I found it anywhere I searched for Venison Calzone, so I thought I should try it).

The video doesn't provide amounts, so I looked up other recipes to get an idea of about how much of each ingredient is necessary. I think I got it about right. We ate this two nights in a row, and it was definitely better the second night. Also, it doesn't have any of the usual Italian flavors...that was okay with me, but Rick wanted the oregano. That said, it was very easy to make and looks pretty.

Easy Venison Calzone
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp Fennel seed
1 tbs Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb ground venison
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 cup romano cheese
4 oz mozzarella, shredded
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Pizza dough recipe (I used the prepared dough from Trader Joe's)

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out dough, making oblong shape about 1/4 inch thick. Spread tomato down center of dough, and top with browned ground venison, green pepper, mozzarella, and romano cheese, salt and pepper. Fold ends of dough and roll. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame. Bake in a jelly roll pan until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool five minutes, slice and serve.

If you want to make your own dough, I found this recipe on Cooks.com:
GOOD 'N EASY PIZZA DOUGH

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. salad oil
2 1/2 c. flour
If using self-rising flour, omit salt in dough.) Note: Unbleached flour can be used in this recipe.

Venison & Chile Cheesecake

Today was the annual Appalachian Hunting Club holiday party. I thought this would be a good time to try a new appetizer out. I figured with a bunch of hunters, something of the cheese and meat variety would be a likely hit.

I was right.

I turned to my trusty Colorado Collage cookbook for inspiration, and found it on page 33 in the Chile Cheesecake. I made a few modifications (mostly adding ground venison, substituting the sour cream with guacamole, and omitting the green onions and black olives).

It was delicious. This would be a wonderful dish for your Superbowl party...it's a nice change to 7-layer dip.

Venison & Chile Cheesecake
2 cups tortilla chips, crushed
6 tbs butter, melted
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softended
2 eggs
1 4-oz can diced green chiles
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
8 oz colby-jack cheese, grated
1 lb ground venison, browned
1/2 cup qucamole
2 plum tomatoes, diced

Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, combine tortilla chips and butter. Press into bottom of 9-in. springform pan. Bake 15 minutes, remove from oven, and leave oven on.

In large bowl, blend cream cheese and eggs. Add green chiles, jalapeno, colby-jack, and venison. Pour over crust and bake 30 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook.) Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run knife around inside edge and remove sides from pan. Spread guacamole over top and sprinkle with tomatoes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Warm Winter Lasagna

This past weekend was a cold one. So it was only natural that we decided to go get our Christmas tree, braving the chill winds to find the perfect tree to cut (it was in the absolute, farthest corner of the 40 acre property).

But we warmed up after with a gooey, cheesy venison lasagna. I actually made three versions of it--one following the recipe below, one substituting zucchini for pasta, and one without any cheese. All were delicious, although the zucchini had so much water in it that that one was kind of messy. Someday I'll find the right thing to use instead of pasta, but I don't know what it is. (I'm open to ideas!)

Sorry...no picture. We were all too hungry to think about that. It looked like lasagna.

Warm Winter Lasagna

2 c. (15 oz.) Ricotta cheese
3 c. (15 oz.) shredded Mozzarella
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb lasagna (Rick made the pasta, but left to my own devices, I'd buy it)
1 recipe meat sauce

Combine cheeses, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of 9x13x2-inch baking pan. Layer 3 pieces of uncooked lasagna over sauce; cover with about 1 1/2 cups sauce. Spread cheese filling over sauce. Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce and cheese filling. Top with layer of lasagna and remaining sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Remove foil; bake about 10 minutes longer. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Venison Meat Sauce
1 large sweet onion, chopped
3 tbs olive oil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced (depending on how much garlic you like)
1 1/2 to 2 lbs ground venison
1 tsp paprika
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can plain tomato sauce
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 tbs dried basil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
3 tbs dried parsley
1 tsp sea salt
Pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the ground meat and paprika and cook until meat is browned. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 to 4 hours (the sauce is ready to eat after 1 hour, but will be better the longer it simmers).

Grilled Venison Steak Salad with Cranberry Dressing

I like eating healthy. In fact, I love fresh veggies and fruit. Alas, I also love pizza and ice cream. I struggle with eating well, especially when it starts getting cold. Really, who wants a carrot on a cold, rainy day when there is a bag of tortilla chips on the counter? It doesn't help that Rick is not a big fan of green food.

But I'm the one writing a cookbook. Ha. I'm sure there are plenty of hunting wives out there who like the occasional veggie on their plate as well. So I'm going to start finding recipes that don't have pastry crust or potatoes as key ingredients.

My first is this fantastic salad. I discovered the dressing when I was hunting for winter salads to make for Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure I found it on epicurious, but honestly I can't remember (if you know where it came from, let me know). The dressing was so yummy, I thought it'd be great on a main dish salad. So here is my creation. It is delicious and very satisfying.

Grilled Venison Steak Salad with Cranberry Dressing
(serves 4)

1 lb venison steak, cut into strips for grilling
2 tbs olive oil

8 cups of mixed salad greens
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup gorgonzola, crumbled
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
Cranberry dressing


Baste the venison strips with the olive oil and grill until cooked to your taste (we like our meat a little rare, so it only takes about three minutes to grill). If you don’t have a grill, you can broil the meat.

Put two cups of greens on a plate. Sprinkle with tomatoes, gorgonzola, walnuts, and onion. Add strips of meat and drizzle with a tablespoon of salad dressing. Set the extra dressing on the table in case anyone wants more!

Cranberry Dressing
3 tbs red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cranberries (if frozen, thaw)
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs water

In a blender or food processor, combine vinegar, oil, cranberries, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and water; blend or process until smooth. Note: this is a very thick dressing.

Crack Brownines for the Dog

I wish I had a camera with me when sweet little Shih Tzu Tamu snatched one of these doggie treats right out of her friend Olive's mouth. Poor Olive looked so confused.

If you want to make the dog in your life go crazy, make these treats. The process is a little messy, but the end product is worth it. We use venison liver, but if you don't have access to that, calf liver from the store will work too.

Doggie Crack
(Based on recipes on Dog Aware)

1lb liver pureed
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flower (or corn meal, graham cracker, other grain)
2 tbs spoon honey
2 tbs spoon garlic salt
Dash oil

Mix well in food processor. Spread in 8 inch baking pan and bake in microwave for 7 minutes. Cut into 1 inch cubes while still warm. Be prepared to feed a few to your dawg. Spread cut pieces on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate until crunchy. (You can also bake at 200.)

Store in the freezer...they will mold if you leave them out. We find Happy has no problem eating them frozen.

Doggie Crack Biscuits

I wish I had a camera with me when sweet little Shih Tzu Tamu snatched one of these doggie treats right out of her friend Olive's mouth. Poor Olive looked so confused.

If you want to make the dog in your life go crazy, make these treats. The process is a little messy, but the end product is worth it. We use venison liver, but if you don't have access to that, calf liver from the store will work too. Beware: Your dog will become addicted very quickly.


Doggie Crack Biscuits

The original recipe came from Dog Aware. We used the ingredients from one recipe with the cooking instructions from the other.

1lb liver pureed
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flour or corn meal (graham cracker would work too)
2 tbs honey or molasses
2 tbs garlic salt
Dash oil

Mix all ingredients together and spread in 8x8 microwavable dish. Cook for 7 minutes in the microwave. Remove from dish and cut into small squares (about 1 in x 1 in) while warm. Then dehydrate until all moisture is gone (about three hours). If you don't have a dehydrator, you can bake at 200 for about two hours.

A Spectacular Failure (of a Meat Pie)

A cook, even an amateur, wouldn't be a cook if she didn't experience the occasional spectacular failure.

My pot pies have been a hit, except for one little thing...I use aluminum pie tins that can't go in the microwave. I decided to make some hand held meat pies, which would be easier for Rick to take to work.

So, the other night I mixed up some pie filling, drained the excess liquid, placed it on some pie crusts that I'd rolled out like pizza dough.

It would have worked if I'd actually used pizza dough.

The result was not pretty at all. Tasty, but not pretty. Next time, I'll use the pizza dough. And maybe even find an actual recipe.

The filling was very good, though. So here it is.

Venison Meat Pie Filling
1 ½ lbs ground venison—browned in olive oil
2 tbs olive oil
½ cup peas
2 carrots--chopped
1 russet potato—chopped
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
1 can vegetable stock (about 14 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat and set aside. Add all other ingredients to the onions and simmer for 15 minutes.

Jeff's Grandma's Amazing Irish Meatloaf

The other day my friend posted a status update on Facebook that he was making his grandma's meatloaf. I love meatloaf, so I asked for the recipe and he kindly gave it to me.

I made it the other night for Rick's family. Since they're Irish, I thought they may like it. What makes a meatloaf Irish? I'm guessing because there are not tomatoes at all. Whatever, my sister-in-law declared it "the best meatloaf I've ever had." I have to admit, it was darn good eating.


Jeff's Grandma's Irish Meatloaf (with Venison instead of beef)

First...here are the instructions as Jeff gave them to me. As you can see, I had to do a little research to find out the right proportions, which I figured out by looking up recipes on Cook's.com

From Jeff: The secret is...........fresh ground ham steak, 2 eggs and bread crumbs..Oh and a red pepper all run through the Kitchen aid grinder. 1 large onion as well. Add 1 1/2 lbs of freshly ground beef or venison, elk. I buy Organic beef a whole cow really every year thats what I use. But it's real lean so Venison should be good! bake for 1.5 hrs in a dutch oven with-out the lid. Pour off the fat if any and cover for an hour. remove to set and make flour gravy in the browned drippings.
Mmmm good!

My interpretation:
1 1/2 lbs ground venison
1/2 lb fresh ground pork
2 eggs
3 cups fine bread crumbs
1 red pepper
1 large onion

Run eggs, bread crumbs, red pepper, and onion through a food processor. Mix in ground meat (use a kitchen aid if you have it, if not, your hands will work just fine.

Bake for 1.5 hours at 350 in a dutch oven with-out the lid (I actually used a bread pan because I don't have a dutch oven).
Pour off the fat if any and cover for an hour (there was no fat to pour off when I used the venison).

Look at the Size of that Rack

I'm a lucky woman. When my husband says "look at the size of that rack," I know he's only got eyes for the antlers on the buck he's admiring.

We've been in Colorado for a week, spending time with my family and remembering my father. Every afternoon, Rick and I went on little adventures. Two days, those adventures led us to tracks of land for sale*. On each occasion, we got to meet some of the local mule deer, who apparently are not too skitish around people.
When we couldn't get Bucky to even look at us while we honked the horn at him, Rick got out of the car to go have a little heart-to-heart. The buck finally looked up when Rick got within 15 feet, but only to snort and go back to feeding.

Where's the bow when you need it?

I've also learned on this trip that most of my relatives hunt. I had no idea. I've known these people all my life, but it never came up in conversation. Rick was thrilled. In fact, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get him on the plane tomorrow...I think he wants to stay out here. So, despite the very sad circumstances, this has actually been a pretty interesting and fun week!

Thinking of My Dad

I'm sitting in front of a fire with a Shih Tsu at my feet, drinking coffee and thinking about my father.

My father died Friday morning after a six-year fight with AML (the really bad type of leukemia that you can't cure). Dad gave the disease a good fight, living much longer than most people who get it. Most of the time, even when he was in the middle of one of his many treatments, he didn't look like a man with a life-threatening illness. In fact, he played golf two days before the infection that finally killed him sent him to the hospital.

I'm going to miss him terribly, although right now I've got great comfort in being in his home with his dogs and his things all around me (although the sight of his golf clubs in the trunk of his car where he'd left them, with his JayHawk driver cover that he loved so much, kind of undid me).

Today I have to write an obituary for the funeral home. There is so much to say about this wonderful man, I don't really know how to begin. He was smart, and kind, and very funny. He was deaf as a doornail, which often made conversing with him hard. He had a way of summarizing a point with extreme clarity. He was a gifted public speaker. He had a sense of adventure, always willing to try new experiences. He was making jokes up until the day he died.

One of the the things I loved most was how he completely accepted and loved his family. Truly the only thing he wanted for us was happiness. He didn't care what we choose to do with our lives as long as that choice made us happy. That kind of acceptance is hard to find. When I met my husband two years ago, Dad didn't care what Rick did for a living, where he was from, whether he went to college...he only cared that Rick adored me and made me happy. Everything else was gravy. I wish Rick had had time to know my father better.

The sadness is going to come and go, but he lives on in all of us. I see him in my nephew Jake and in my brothers. But nothing is like the real thing, and Dad is going to be missed.

Dad was a big supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you know someone with this disease, make a donation today.

Treats for a Happy Dawg

Have you ever known a dog that wouldn't eat anything you put near it's mouth? It's a rare dog indeed who is a food snob.

Our beloved Happy Dawg is just such a rare creature. She won't eat anything raw...it must all be cooked just so (even her yummy venison bones). Drop some ground meat on the floor, and it will sit there all night. This animal is the pickiest eater ever in canine history.

Rick really wanted to find some treats for her so he could reward her when she does things like behave during a bath or track a deer. But we tried everything, and it was no go. So, yesterday, he decided to make some liver jerky and see if that might make her salivate.

Bingo! This dog is performing every trick in the book to earn a treat. She LOVES them. Sid, the little gray cat, was not interested at all. (If it doesn't have cheese on it, she could care less.)

Happy Dawg Jerky Treats

• 1-quart water
• 1 tbs plain salt
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Venison liver sliced 1/8” thick (we usually do two livers at a time)

Set aside the venison liver. Combine all other ingredients, stirring so that they dissovle. Add the liver and soak for five minutes. Remove liver, place on paper towels, and pat dry. Place the liver on dehydrator trays, or if you’re using a conventional oven, on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Dehydrate on lowest setting for 6 to 8 hours. (in the oven, put on lowest temperate and leave the oven door open a crack…you may have to play with the timing and temperature to figure out what works best.

Requesting All Comfort Food

This has been a very hard week, and I'm in serious need of comfort food. This is my plea for recipes...they don't even have to be venison!

I'm in Colorado right now, and have been since Sunday. I fly home today. I feel mixed emotions about that. I'm in Colorado because my father is very ill, possibly in the last few months of life. I want to be with him, holding his hand while he sleeps (the smile he gets when he wakes up and sees his family there is worth everything). As much as I want to be here, I miss my husband terribly. I want to be by his side, supporting him while his business weathers this economic storm. It's very hard. I imagine over the next few months I'll be traveling between home and Colorado.

When I'm home, I want to make meatloaf, shepard's pie, burgers...what else? What other meat-based comfort foods are there? Is there, by any miracle, a venison chocolate cake recipe out there? Let me know!!!!

Yummy-in-the-Tummy Venison Pot Pie

I promised my niece that I would find a gravy-based venison pot pie recipe (she didn't like the one I made that had a broth base). In my searches, I came across several fun blogs where people share their home cooking recipes. Culinarily Obsessed is where I found the Easy Peasy Pot Pie recipe. Using that as my basis, I altered it a bit...in the process making not-quite-as-easy-peasy as the original, but very yummy-in-the-tummy.

Yummy-in-the-Tummy Venison Pot Pie

Makes 4 individual pot pies or 1 two-crust, 9-in. pie

1 package pie crusts (2 crusts) (or make it from scratch if you’re so inclined)
½ cup frozen peas
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small potato, cubed
1 can cream of potato soup
1/2 cup milk
1 lb venison, cubed
1 small onion, chopped

Brown venison with onion, set aside. Preheat oven to 425.
In a medium bowl, mix together vegetables, soup, milk, and venison. Stir until combined.

Place the pie crust into the individual pot pie tins or 9-in. pie pan and pour mixture into crust. Place second crust on top of each and pinch edges together. Cut four slits in center of crust. Bake for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Yummy Breakfast Biscuits

Breakfast can be a little haphazard around our house, and often my hubby leaves without eating. This is a very bad thing for him since his day job is very physical (he's a massage therapist). He doesn't like muffins, so the breakfast muffin recipes I've seen wouldn't work. He does like biscuits, though. Eureka!

I rifled through a bunch of recipes and then made up my own when I couldn't find one. I made these the other night. They were very, very good out of the oven and easy to make. They are edible reheated, but not quite what we were hoping for. So they won't work for our breakfast on the go, but I'm pretty sure I'll be making these when the kids come to visit.

Yummy Breakfast Biscuits
2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of milk

2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 Sausage recipe*

• 1 lb. ground venison
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/3 teaspoon rubbed summer savory
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2/3 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425. Mix all the ingredients, except the cheese and sausage, to make the biscuits. Roll thin and divide into two parts. Sprinkle one half with the cheese and venison sausage, then lay the other half of the dough over the cheese. Cut with a small cutter and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

*This is great sausage, but if you don’t have time to make sausage, you can just work the spices into the meat and brown it. You’ll only need half of this recipe for the biscuits. The remainder is delicious mixed into scrambled eggs.

Steak on Stick--the perfect party appetizer

Rick is out hunting in the rain today. That doesn't sound like my idea of fun, but he seemed pretty psyched. At least he decided to skip the morning hunt and stay dry a little longer (often his need for coffee in the morning outweighs his need to sit in the tree). He left mid-morning, after doing part of the prep work for the teriyaki venison skewers we're taking to a party tonight (that is slicing the meat into strips).

The hunting widows reading this may be wondering how I've convinced my husband to go to a party on a Saturday night during hunting season. Trust me, this is unusual. The only reason he is going is because the people upon whose land he hunts are throwing the party. His plan is to come out of the tree at dark, walk up to the house, a
nd join the fun. I'll be getting a ride to the party with a friend.

We're bringing Rick's famous Steak-on-a-Stick, teriyaki venison style. Every time we've made this, it's gone immediately. Even our picky young nephews have told us we can make it whenever we want.

Steak-on-a-Stick—Venison Teriyaki

• ½ lb to 1 lb venison chunks, cut into strips (about ½ inch wide by 3 to 5 inches long) (note: because you are marinating this, you don’t have to use prime cuts of meat. Just make sure you’re using pieces of venison that you can cut to into the strips)
• Teriyaki sauce
• Skewers (we use bamboo skewers if we're taking these to a party)
  
• 1 cup sesame seeds

Cut the venison into strips and place in container with lid. Cover the meat with teriyaki sauce. If the sauce doesn’t cover the meat, add water until all pieces are submerged. Place in fridge and let marinate for at least 4 hours (the longer the meat marinates, the more tender it will be). After marinating, put meat on skewers, threading well enough so the meat won’t fall off when cooking. Clean out the container and put the meat on the skewers back in it. Pour the cup of sesame seeds over the meat, cover, and shake so that the seeds cover all the meat. Heat grill to 350. Place the skewers on the grill. By the time you’ve put the last one down, it will be time to flip. It generally takes 3 to 5 minutes to cook.

For the Teriyaki sauce

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs minced ginger (fresh or from a jar)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp honey
• ¼ cup cold water (if needed to thin sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to allow the sauce to thicken. Once it reaches a boil, take it off the heat and let it cool. If it looks too thick, add the cold water until it’s the consistency you want.

A few notes:

• These are best when cooked on the grill, but they work in the broiler too. Either way, watch them closely because they cook very fast.
• You can probably use pre-made teriyaki sauce, although we’ve never tried it. The homemade sauce is very easy to make and really doesn’t take much time.
• The recipe makes a lot! We usually take it to parties, and we never bring any leftovers home.

Warm Chili for a Chilly Day

brrrr...it's cold here. The fact that our brand new furnace is broken probably isn't helping! Thank goodness for cuddly pets and space heaters. Chili also helps on day like this, and I just so happen to have some ground venison already thawed.

I love chili in pretty much any form. This recipe, though, is my old standby (perhaps because I've memorized it by heart). It's adapted from the Vegetarian Chipotle Chili recipe in the Colorado Collage Cookbook published by the Junior League of Denver in 1995 (one of my absolute favorite cookbooks).

Venison Chipotle Chili

2 lbs ground venison
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbs chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 28-oz can plum tomatoes with juice, chopped
1-2 tbs chopped canned chipotle chiles in adbobo sauce
salt and pepper to taste

In large skillet, brown the venison and set aside. In large, heave saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and peppers. Cook until tender (about ten minutes). Add chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for two minutes. Add the meat, tomatoes, and chipotle chiles. Heat to boiling. Add a little water if it looks thicker than you like. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Like most chiles, you can eat this immediately, but it's really better the next day (after the flavors have gotten to know each other a little better). Note of warning...the chipotle peppers can pack a punch, so if you're feeding people who prefer their chili mild, than only use 1 tbs of them.

I'll post a picture when I make it and get one!

Florida Key Deer...aren't they cute?

I call myself a hunting widow, but that's only partially true. Rick is really very reasonable; if we're home, he'll be hunting. But he is willing to do things like have dinner with friends or go on vacation during hunting season.

The vacation thing is fortunate since our anniversary falls at the beginning of the season (in fact, we got married on opening day! He picked that day, not me.)

We went to the Florida Keys to celebrate our first anniversary. We went for the diving, and were pleased to learn that the Florida Key Deer reserve was only miles away from us. So, Rick got to spend our anniversary looking for deer. There is no hunting of these little cuties...we did all our shooting with the camera.

Happy Dawg

Rick and I fell in love today. Can you blame us? She's gorgeous. And sweet. And doesn't bark. And loves children and cats.

Here's what happened. I asked Rick if he wanted to go to the grocery store with me so I could get the ingredients for a venison pot pie and some venison breakfast biscuits. Since he had spent Friday night and all day yesterday hunting, he turned off the Dolphins game and came with me.

Boy, did I learn my lesson. (Just kidding...he can go to the store with me any time.)

We were cutting through the PetSmart parking lot, and saw that it was adoption day (actually, every Sunday is adoption day). Rick has been wanting a hunting dawg so he can find his deer on those rare occasions that he can't track them. We'd been looking at Bassettdoodles (because Rick has horrible dog allergies) with the thought of getting one next summer. He innocently said "let's just see if they have one." Niether of thought they would because the breed is not all that common. And sure enough, they didn't. But they had Happy, a bassett/beage mix, and she immiately stole both our hearts.

Rick has never spent time with a beagle, so he wasn't really sure whether he was allergic. So he played with her, then rubbed his eyes and we went to the grocery store to wait and see if his face would swell up. Twenty minutes later, his face was fine and we were filling out the paper work.

Happy Dawg adapted to her new home in about ten minutes, and now is acting like she's lived here forever. As expected, the two cats aren't thrilled. Oscar has been hiding in a closet all afternoon, but she did venture down to eat so she'll be fine. Sid is much braver, although still not sure about the dog. Happy likes the cats and would like to be friends. I think they'll all be fine with each other within the week.

Rick's going to take Happy Dawg hunting on Saturday. She is definitely a scent dog, but at least today she thought all scents were good ones. She'll need some training on that.

Thanks to the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation for their work. The volunteers were great and there were so many wonderful animals, and if weren't for Rick's allergies, we may have brought home more than one!

The pot pie was yummy too, altough the recipe needs a little tweaking before I'll call it ready for public consumption. I'm making the biscuits tomorrow.

Fiesta Venison Chowder

As I sit down to find a good pot pie recipe, I thought I'd post the recipe for a yummy stew I made the day.

A little side story: the meat I used came from Rick's first big buck. Since he's doing urban hunting, he focuses on does. But this buck practically came up to him and said "shoot me," so he did (he'd already tagged two does, which in our area hunters must do before they can take a buck). Unfortunately, Bucky changed his mind about being bagged right after Rick released the arrow. The result was a hit right in the old behind. Rick didn't think the shot could possibly have been fatal, but followed Bucky anyway. Apparently, he'd managed to get a artery, so Bucky came home with him.

So, we're used to does, who are just a little more tender than the old bucks. We can usually start eating the meat in two days. That is not the case with bucks. However, this chowder was still excellent, even if the meat was a little tough. We've learned our lesson!

Fiesta Venison Chowder
adapted from the Southwester Chicken Chowder recipe in "The Best Slow Cooker Recipes"

Ingredients
1 to 2 pounds venison, cubed (the amount depends on how much meat you like in your stews...we like a lot)
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups frozen corn
1 1/2 cups milk (whole milk is best, but use what you like)
1 can (11 oz) cream of chicken or cream of corn soup
1 1/2 cups mild salsa verde
juice from two limes
1 can (15 oz) mild chili beans
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

Put all ingredients EXCEPT the cheese and chips into a slow cooker. Cook on low for 1 to 2 hours, or until the meat is cooked through. Put in bowls and top with cheese and chips.

Serves...good question. I'd say 8, but I'm a girl. If you're feeding your hunter, then it probably serves 4.

A Cold Fall Morning

Fall is here in Northern Virginia, at least this morning. I had planned to stay snuggled under the covers after Rick left to hunt this morning...that's what I usually do. But this morning the bed was to chilly without him there, so I woke early.

I wasn't too bummed about being up at 5:00. I figured I could do some writing while I sipped my coffee. But the fates had other plans. Rick called at 6:15 to say his sister needed a ride to the emergency room. It took a minute to register what he was saying because 1) I was afraid he was hurt or something, and initially relieved that he was okay and 2) he was whispering so I could barely hear him. But I poured the coffee in a travel mug, pulled on some sweats, and took off for my sister-in-law's place. She did, in fact, need a ride to the hospital, and she is completely fine now. So I'm back home now getting ready to peruse some cookbooks.

Another Friday Night on the Couch

It's mid-October and do I know where my husband is? Yes indeedy. Right about now he is settling into a tree-stand and hoping to get his fourth deer of the season. If he's successful, I'll probably be in bed when he gets home. If he sees nothing, then we'll be able to catch up tonight. Since he plans on spend the entire day tomorrow in the tree, I'm selfishly hoping he gets nothing tonight.

I am yet another hunting widow. Worse, I'm the widow of a bow hunter living in an urban area that has a serious deer over-population issue. Opening day was a month earlier than last year, and closing day is so far away I'm not sure it's going to actually happen.

My motto, though, is "when life hands you venison, make venison burgers." Hunting makes my hubby very happy. Eating good food makes me very happy. Venison is very good. So, I've decided to spend this hunting season finding the best venison recipes. Yum!

If you're a hunting widow and have a recipe to share, I'd love to see it. When I come across particularly good ones, I'll post them.