Venison Recipe

I adapted this recipe from my friend Nancy's brine recipe that she made for a MOPS meeting this year.

I took the thawed venison, rinsed it well, and placed it into a vacuum sealer container. This recipe will work in a bowl as well, as long as the bowl or container is large enough to fill with enough water to cover the meat. Also, make sure you have room to put it into your fridge over night or longer.

I used about 10 oz of steak meat for this recipe.

Place the following into a small glass or cup:
1 Tbsp Salt (Sea Salt is what I used)
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Pepper
2 Cloves of Minced Garlic

Add some warm water and stir until mostly dissolved. Pour the mixture over the meat and add enough water to cover the meat and cover the container with plastic wrap or a lid. If you are using a vacuum sealer, vacuum seal it.

Place into the fridge and leave there overnight. I left mine in longer, since it was harder for me to do it during the day.

Right before cooking, take the meat out of the brine and pat dry. Drain the brine, except for the pepper and garlic...save it for later... Place the meat onto a cutting board or plate and sprinkle this side with pepper and garlic powder (not garlic salt).

Take your pan and put a little bit of EVOO in it and turn it on high. Wait for the pan to get just about smokin, then place the meat, seasoned side down in the pan. Sprinkle this other side with pepper and garlic powder. By the time you are done seasoning this side, the other side will be browned. Using Tongs, flip the meat over to brown the other side. If you are making a roast, turn to brown all sides.

I have never made a roast with this recipe, but, if you have made any other kind of roast, I would assume you make it the same way.

So, both sides of the steaks are browned...now, turn the heat down to medium and add one medium onion, diced up.

When the onions get semi-transparent, add about 2.5 cups of water to make the gravy. Also, add the bits and pieces from the brine that you saved from earlier.

The water will come to a rolling boil.

Take a tablespoon or so (I am amazed I can even cook with these sort of measurements) of corn starch and place it into a glass. Add a bit of cold water so that it makes a watery mixture. Add this slowly, a little bit at a time, while stirring it. Corn starch will thicken when it gets to boiling temperature. Keep adding more mixture until it's thick enough for your family.

Check the meat...venison is best done when it is medium well.

Keep in mind that I don't add salt other than in the brine, since I add it at the table. If you cook with salt, don't salt the meat until it is browned.

We enjoy ours over smashed potatoes (boiled potatoes, smashed with a potato masher, no butter or milk added) with steamed broccoli.

I hope you like this as much as we do!

Note to Self...

Always, Always, Always make sure the toilet seat is down before you sit!

Do as I say, not as I do...

My husband and I have a very unique relationship. Unique in the way that we react to each other, ask each other questions, talk to each other, and tease each other. He pretends to be the male chauvinist, and I pretend to be the slave wife.

One of Randy's famous phrases that he uses on all of us (remember this is all in jest), is: Hey Hon (or Son, if he is talkin' to the kids), I got a job for you...(then he would say something like, go to kitchen and grab the remote for me, or run out to the truck and get me my hat, or something along those lines.)

Now understand that my husband is very polite, and has great manners, but because the two of us mesh so well with each other I instinctively just do them (with a snarled face, or a curtsy or something). More often than not, he is joking, and just wants to see if he can get me to do things. The boys, well, they just like helping.

Tonight, after dinner, Willard was offered a cookie since he finished his dinner. Randy and I normally have a glass of milk with our cookies (is that where the pounds have come from?) so he walks up to me and says:

"Hey Mom, I gotta job for you. Why don't you go to the fridgerator and get me a glass of milk."

I was a bit stunned, and tried to keep a straight face. I ducked behind my husband, got my giggling and grinning out of the way, then offered to let him dunk his cookie in our milk, since there was NO WAY I was getting up...

Kids I tell ya!

Noses Stay.

Maynard has a runny nose...allergy related.

Randy was grabbing a tissue, and asked him, "Is your nose running?"

Maynard said, "No."

Dad says, "Is it walking?"

"No."

"Is it jogging?"

"No, Dad. It isn't runeen, whauteen, or joddeen, it tays."

Noses "stay" I guess =)