I always say that if you are going to eat meat, you better be wiling to kill it yourself.
Wait no. I don’t say that. I mean, in an ideal world, sure, but I have neither the time nor the desire to do such things. But I appreciate the sentiment and I understand the point that people who espouse that statement are trying to convey.
Luckily for me, I have a dad and two brothers who do like meat and are willing to kill it themselves. More importantly, they are willing to share said meat with me.
Two years ago, the men in the family lucked out showcased their mad hunting skills and all got deer. By the time I heard and put in a request for some venison steaks, they had already sent the meat to the butcher to be processed into summer sausage and hot sticks.
Yeah, three deer worth of processed spiced meat. Crazy men.
I swear we must not be related.
Clearly, they are though. (Yes, my brothers are identical twins. Very much so.)
This year, two of the three got deer. I won’t say which one didn’t get one, but his named rhymes with hen and starts with a B. And he doesn’t read this blog, so he’ll never know that I am publically mocking him right now. Unless my dad tells him.
[Hi Dad? You should definitely tell rhymes-with-hen about this!]
By the time I heard, again, the deer had already been sent to be processed, but this time, my dad had saved me a nice backstrap!
I’ve eaten venison, so I know I love the stufff, but I’d never cooked it. Pinterest and google to the rescue!
Guys, there are SO MANY great looking recipes out there with venison that I really couldn’t pick one. So I didn’t. I picked a few and, per my usual cooking style, took the parts from each that sounded good. And I made my own venison stew, Wisconsin-style.
Cranberry-Maple Venison Stew
- venison , cut into 2-inch cubes, all silver skin removed (I used a whole backstrap, maybe a pound?)
- 1 can (16 ounces) beef broth4 ounces red wine1 large onion, large dice4 stalks celery, medium dice1 can (14 ounce) diced tomatoes
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, medium dice
16 ounces mushrooms (a big container), quartered (I used about 1/2 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms)
6 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
3 sprigs rosemary, plucked from stem and minced (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tablespoons hot sauce (optional, but not really)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
salt and pepper, to taste
Put everything in the crockpot and add more water or beef broth if needed. You want the liquid to be about an inch below the stew. Set to low for 7-8 hours
You can really use any veggies you want, these were just the ones I had at home. Carrots would be great too, and regular potatoes if you don’t like sweet. Don’t skip the wine, either. I didn’t use it at first but then added it later – much better!
The best part of this meal was that it was almost free! Check out this price breakdown (which I only did for curiosity sake and will probably never do again, but..cool, right?)
- Venison: Free (from the deer that my dad or brother shot)
- Onion: $0.50
- Celery: $0.40
- Tomatoes: Free (from my parents garden)
- Sweet potato: Free (my sister left these at my parents’ house and they won’t eat them, so I took them!)
- Shiitake: Free (Thanks Marx foods!!)
- Cranberries: $0.85
- Rosemary: Essentially free (from my CSA)
- Spices (includingbroth powder), worchestershire, and sriracha: maybe $0.25 total
- Wine: $0.50 (I used 3-buch Chuck)
- TOTAL: $2.25 for the WHOLE RECIPE!!! or only $0.45 per HUGE serving!!
My brother is making the soup today, and has promised to report back on it. But really? Ho can you go wrong with these ingredients, right?
This makes so much food that I gave some leftovers to a friend. You see, back when I first got the vension, I invited her and her boyfriend to come help me eat it. But then the holidays got in the way and we were busy and blahblahblah. But then I couldn’t wait anymore.
So I felt obligated to share the love. And love it, she did.
Have you ever gone hunting? How do you feel about the “you must kill it to eat it sentiment”?
I took hunter’s safety when I was 12 and went hunting once. It was SO INCREDIBLY boring, I’ve had no desire to go since. I don’t think I could ever shoot an animal anyway. Does that make me a hypocrite?
Venison. Such a midwest thing! Wow…the memories of growing up and men sitting in tree stands all weekend. Life is a bit different out here. They grab their surf boards!
wow- this looks so good. I am definitely going to try it when I get back to my kitchen! (Although I don’t have any venison so maybe beef…) I wish it were easier to get venison down in Knoxville- (you’d think it would be right?)
I’ve never been hunting..only fishing which I love. I don’t think that you are a hypocrite- because when you think about it, when we were hunter gatherers we had diverse roles within our family structure. I would share my meat with you and maybe you would share the roots you gathered right?
My dad and brother hunt – and so does my 11 yr old niece. She killed a turkey last year.
I would be way too bored.
I’m sharing this clip of 2 characters from the new MTV show that takes place in WV. They brought jared venison for Jimmy Fallon – made with moonshine. I don’t think that recipe is on Pinterest
#i0,p36,d1
gimme gimme!!!! we just got some venison from our neighbors. He went hunting this past weekend. Oh man, i;m making this. I’ve been hunting once. It was cold and boring but i do like being out in nature.
And you can’t talk I heard….so I doubt I’d last…unless maybe there was wine…but then there’d be talking for sure.
lol.
that looks so savory and delish! i think you’d really like elk too
obviously if someone kills it for me, i’d eat it but i can imagine it would be more satisfying to break it down and use whatever you can. but then again, i just like knowing how things work in general so if hunting didn’t involve me shooting a gun and cold weather then i’d be game (pun not intended).
I think I’ll pass on the hunting for meat myself . . . but I would love to try making this stew! I wonder where I can get my hands on some good venison? I’ve never actually looked. But what’s weird is that just a few days ago, Bob and I were talking about wanting venison, and how it’s been too long (maybe a few years?) since we’ve had it.
OK…so I first read (and continued to think this until paragraph 3) that the sentiment was “if you’re goingto eat meat you better be willing to kill yourself” and I was like…what the fuhuh?
I’ve never heard that before and wait that is just too radical and why and what and huh?
AND THEN…”and why does Katie appreciate the sentiment, am I missing something, does that mean what I think it does? Wait a second…maybe she is joking….”
And then I figured it out. um….That’s my story.
(#thatakwardmoment)
As for me, no “musts” about it but I really do feel like I should at least be able to kill what I eat which is why I really want to try fishing and lobster diving again since I now eat fish …and much of the reason why I can’t get down with poultry or meat.
BTW –
I like the way you eat meat from my stalkings of you via the internet- you still eat a plant based, healthy diet and meat is more like an occasional affair or condiment. Not like the typical SAD way of meat consumption.
PS- For some reason “wisconsin style” equates in my head to with cheese lol.
I’m a west coaster all the way – some hunting out here, but it isn’t major – so I’ve never had venison! I think it’s great that they get their own meat, but processing it? Boys, boys, boys!
I think the sentiment that omnivores should be able to kill their own meat is akin to being told if you are going to wear clothes you should be able to make them yourself or if you are going to drive a car you should be able to produce the gasoline yourself. Do vegetarians all know how to make their own tofu? Not everyone has the time, interest, skills, etc. But I think everyone should be aware of the ethical issues behind their choices. If you are going to eat meat you should know about how that animal lived and died. I do think hunting is an ethical way of obtaining meat.
I have no desire to hunt. I really dislike the taste of moose (although I did have an elk burger at Mary Anne’s and I think it was the most delicious meat burger I’ve ever eaten!) I don’t think I could find any pleasure in going out and deliberately seeking out a random wild creature to kill. Yet I could see myself raising chickens or pigs with the knowledge that they are destined to be killed and eaten someday. I would give them a good life. But I would have to get someone else to kill them.
I am laughing out loud at Missy’s reply above. I tried bison this summer while in Montana and found it to be very tasty but disguised as a burger what wouldn’t be tasty!!!
I just had venison the first time last year in the form of sausage from a friend in northern MN.
I have this desire to bow hunt. Guns terrify me but I live the “idea” of hunting my own food. It may or may not be bc of the hunger games.