A recipe contributed to the Outdoor News Taste of the Wild by Harvesting Nature’s John Vile, this venison sausage requires basic equipment including a meat grinder, a sausage stuffer and a smoker. John recommends using real hog casings for this sausage, which incorporates ancho chile peppers and spices for sausage smoked over hickory or apple chips.
Technically, a true Shepherd’s pie is supposed to contain lamb meat, while cottage pie generally uses another meat (e.g., beef). But venison is very lean and similar to lamb in several ways, so I’m stealing the name. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can tweak the ingredients based on your family’s preferences, and it turns out great with nearly any combination (we’ve tried many). You can add or subtract vegetables, mix beef and venison together, and use real mashed potatoes or instant versions – it all works.
This venison recipe is easy to assemble, and is a great comfort food dish for the table. Make a big batch and if there are any leftovers, you’ll find this Venison Spaghetti Pie also reheats well – making it convenient for the approaching spring season when we all want to spend more time outdoors, and less time in the kitchen.
As featured in the Outdoor News Taste of the Wild, this venison recipe was shared by Chef Justin Townsend of Harvesting Nature. This meal is also a one pan meal, minus the pasta or starch. I use a stainless-steel pan or pot for the recipe because it gives the steaks a great crispy brown crust. You can use a non-stick pan but you will not get the steaks as brown. Don’t worry about the flour sticking to the pan/pot because you are going to deglaze the pan with the stock and wine while making the sauce. This method captures all those delicious brown bits you get from browning the meat. Enjoy this meal over pasta, creamy polenta, cheese grits, or mashed potatoes for a great dinner any day of the week.
This recipe, and 99 other big game recipes and 43 side dishes, is from Slice of the Wild, Eileen Clarke’s bullet-to-fork big game cookbook. Eileen considers the most crucial part of making your game tender and tasty, starts with the shot.
Besides the love for the hunt and family, there’s no better reward than the venison. Growing up, my mom would always boil her deer’s heart and cut it up for us with a little salt sprinkle and we loved the taste of it. When I harvested my first deer, though, I wanted to try something different than how I had grown up eating it.
A 50/50 venison pork blend flavored with ground Juniper berries builds a definitive meatball that is bathed in spicy-sweet BBQ sauce where fresh cherries add color and balance in this recipe courtesy of Jon Wipfli’s VENISON cookbook.
A feast for the eyes, and the taste buds, this elk burger is crowned with crispy homemade onion straws that balance the creamy infusion of blue-cheese butter added during the last minutes of grilling. You can add some crisp Romaine lettuce and mayo to the bun, or season your burger with a pepper-blend just before grilling if you prefer. Note…
Copyright image_Justin Townsend_Harvesting NatureStep aside chicken and waffles, you’ve got competition with this hearty venison dish from chef Justin Townsend. The recipe calls for Drop Tine Chili Seasoning by Tacticalories Seasoning Company. Justin recommends it because he feels it is a quality seasoning that brings great flavor to a pot of chili. When he tested it out, Justin noted, “The…
This recipe from the pages of Outdoor News was featured during the height of the COVID-19 quarantines, when people were digging deep into the pantry to see what they could use for casseroles featuring their stash of venison in the freezer. This recipe makes a large pan, but the great part is that you’ll love the leftovers. Save this recipe for the days when we get back to potlucks and tailgate parties!
Utilizing a variety of game meat to fill a crust for a savory meat pie, this recipe taps venison and ruffed grouse, but you can use pheasants, ducks, cottontails/hares, squirrels, wild boar, and even pigeons.
There’s something about spending time outdoors and walking into the house to smell the aroma of a delicious stew simmering in the slow cooker. This venison shank stew recipe by Ryan Lisson will be sure to hit the spot, whether you’re battling cabin fever, or spending time enjoying spring weather across the northland.
There are various spinoffs from the traditional Cornish pasties, including empanadas infused with spices, and a similar dish called a hand pie that uses salted fish as the main filling. This basic recipe that was featured in the Outdoor News Taste of the Wild, is a mainstay of many homes across the Great Lakes states, relying on ground venison, potatoes and vegetables.
With a foundation of venison, this recipe by Eileen Clarke builds flavor with Cognac instead of wine, and by brining the wild game meat overnight. It makes this wild Stroganoff amazingly tender and flavorful.
In this recipe, Chef Justin Townsend pairs the two preparations methods of crafting homemade venison jerky against each other using the same recipe. One using a smoker, the other using a dehydrator, comparing time, texture, and overall flavor of both. After he passed the pieces out to some work colleagues for a blind comparison, you may be surprised by the top choice.
Birria is a Mexican dish from the state of Jalisco. The dish is a spicy stew, traditionally made from goat meat. However this version is a recipe that appeared in the Outdoor News Taste of the Wild feature was adapted by Chef Ara Zada with an optional slowcooker method.
As seen in the Outdoor News Taste of the Wild cooking feature, this recipe has a robust chimichurri sauce that is a flavorful accompaniment to your wild venison that is bright in color and profile, with flavors dominated by the garlic and cilantro. You can adjust the intensity according to your personal heat index by removing the seeds in the peppers.
With hunting season just around the corner, and many people testing new recipes in their smokers, we thought you would enjoy this recipe shared by Kory Slye of Harvesting Nature. You will need a meat injector to prepare the roast, and Kory suggests using apple wood in the smoking process.
Slice of the Wild is one of several quality cookbooks written by Eileen Clarke.This Bologna Jerky recipe is from Eileen Clarke’s newest wild game cookbook, available Christmas 2019. Tentatively titled The Wild Jerky Handbook, there are more than 100 recipes for deer, elk, waterfowl, moose, bear, wild pig, turkey, antelope—using everything from whiskey and beer to herbs and smoke, Dr…
This recipe is from Eileen Clarke’s bullet-to-fork wild game cookbook titled “Slice of the Wild”, where there are several other seasoned butter combos that are just as easy and tasty as the Spicy Jalapeno Garlic Butter featured in this recipe.
Copyright protected image_iStockIt’s the time of year when you’re likely spending more time outside and having a meal that doesn’t require a lot of babysitting once you’ve got it in the pot is a great way to use that game meat you’ve got stashed in the freezer from last fall. Plus, thanks to a nice depth that comes from the…
Osso Bucco is Italian and quite simply means “bone with a hole”, there are some recipes for Osso Bucco that use other cuts of meat but a truly authentic osso bucco is made with a cross cut piece of shank that is about 3 inches thick. This recipe by Jamie Carlson of Modern Carnivore includes tips for getting the right cut from your venison.
When the hunt is over and it’s time to butcher, save yourself some time and aggravation by keeping your venison shoulders bone-in. Cross cutting a shoulder with a band saw, a meat saw, a hack saw or even a sawzall will give you bone-in chuck steaks that, with a few hours in a braise, turn from tough chunks destined for…
A hearty stew with some crusty bread is hard to beat in the deep of winter. This recipe by Tim Kraskey has a depth of flavor that stems from the process of cooking down a reduction of red wine and rich port at the front end of the preparation. An ideal use of your elk, moose, venison or even caribou meat.
Photo by Justin Townsend/Harvesting NatureWant to show off your wild game cooking skills without the fear of ruining your hard-earned venison? Try this taco recipe shared by chef Justin Townsend. It’s a great way to use just about any cut of venison, because you are cooking the meat hot and fast. Justin recommends using a cast iron skillet, but suggested…
If you’ve got chunks of wild game meat that you’ve been avoiding because they are rather less desirable cuts, instead of paying someone to make them into sausage, try brining them with this tested recipe courtesy of wild game cookbook author Eileen Clarke.
Shop our online store for products and gear: Print of the Year, Outdoor News History Book, Outdoor News Clothing and more!
