Venison eggfest recipe and cooking tips (long)

olblue · May 2001

I was surprised by how well the venison was received and even more so by how some hunters/eggers had never tried to cook it. I will post my marinade from Eggfest, but to tell you the truth I am embarrassed because is there is not much to tell, it is a marinade I use for everything for grilling and stir fry. I think the secret is in the preparation of the venison.[p]The Marinade is a the basic marinade of Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook) Soy sauce 2/3 and 1/3 Shao Hsing wine (you can substitute dry sherry) and garlic. You need only enough to cover the bottom of the pan/dish. Cover the top with plastic wrap and turn a couple times. Marinade for 6 to 16 hours. Too long in the marinade and it gets too much of a soy taste. I didn't have any fresh herbs but if you do throw those in too. Experiment and I recommend mint.. with anything...it is very good. This marinade works for everything fish chicken and red meat. Yan adds sugar, hot peppers or or corn starch if he is stir frying. I took black pepper corns, put them on a cutting board and crushed them by rolling a sauce pan over them while pressing down. [p]The Venison[p]There is a lot of myth about what is good and bad and I can't separate the truth from fiction. I know people in who say they are are the most tender it they still have spots! I've heard other people say that deer in their state taste terrible. Personally I've had many deer from South Carolina and Maryland and I can't tell the difference.[p]There is a big diference in butchers. What is called a "roast" could be just about anything, as far as I can tell, some of which has more bones and gristle than meat. A deer is much smaller than a cow and there are very few big chunks of meat to be had. The Backstrap is back muscle next to the spine. The tenderloin in deer is pretty small. Some roasts and steaks are from the hams or upper thighs, but sometimes they are cut so you have layers of fascia or gristle between the muscle.[p]If it's frozen thaw it slowly in the fridge. Trim off all the fat and fascia. This isn't pork that is going to cook for 18 hours and the fascia isn't going to melt it's going to be tough.[p]Venison and elk have fat but the meat is not marbled. The fat is said to taste bad and I cut it off. I was told years ago to wrap it in bacon and you can do that, but it will taste like bacon. Keep your bacon for breakfast. The Egg and it's moisture preserving abilities is your friend.[p]It IS lean meat and it is usually thinner than other meats you are used to cooking and cooks much faster. You can't use your searing steak temps of 700+ degrees it will burn and be well done in no time. Low and slow doesn't work either because the outside won't look cooked and brown. I cook it somewhere between 325 and 375. Temperature is not absolutely critical but cooking time varies with temperature. Game meat does not have liquid come to the top uncooked surface like beef. The top will look unchanged as the bottom turns black. [p]You have to look at it. If it's a 1/2" steak at 400 you have to look at it at 2 - 5 minutes. A roast like I cooked should be checked at 10 minutes or 15 at the latest. I would have used a polder had I remembered it and medium rare is fine in my opinion for deer or elk.[p]I like a little steak sauce with steaks because they can be a little bit dry, especially if you cook them to medium.[p]If you don't have any venison, get a leg of lamb, cut the garlic in slivers and stab the meat and insert the garlic. Marinade in the soy sauce and wine and EGG it.

Char-Woody · May 2001

And I am surprised OlBlue, that no one has responded to this magnificent piece of work. I will tell anyone, that I suspect this one is a genuine article in wild meats preparation. What a great job of inserting tips rarely seen in just a recipe.
My congratulations on a very nice piece of penmanship in authoring this one..!
Would it be possible for you to enrich our recipe archives with a recipe as you have described it?
Cheers..
C~W[p]

olblue · May 2001

Char-Woody,
Thank you for the kind words, I posted the recipe under sauces.[p]Henry

Char-Woody · May 2001

Thanks Henry, I will look for it and use it for a reference, both for myself and others..Its a keeper.
C~W[p]

Venison eggfest recipe and cooking tips (long)

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