Ingredients:

Venison:
1/2 cup gin
2 cups red wine
6 Tablespoons thyme
2 Tablespoons Rosemary
6 juniper berries
4 venison steaks, 1/2 pound each
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Cranberry Sauce:
2 cups cranberries
Juice and chopped zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup sugar, or more if needed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Equipment:

Large skillet
Small sauce pan

Cooking Directions for Venison:

Combine gin, wine, thyme and juniper berries in a medium shallow baking dish. Once assembled, pour into a food storage bag. Add the venison and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a large pan over high heat until almost smoking. Remove the venison from the marinade and shake off excess. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook on 1 side until golden brown. Turn over, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until medium-rare, 3 to 4 minutes.

Cooking Directions for Cranberry Sauce:

In a small saucepan combine cranberries, orange juice and zest, wine, sugar and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmering and cook until cranberries are tender, stirring occasionally. In a small cup make a slurry with cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk cornstarch mixture into cranberry sauce and cook, whisking, until sauce thickens. Taste and add more sugar, if necessary.

Ingredients:

2 pounds Venison
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cups Guinness
2 cups largely diced carrots
Sprig of fresh thyme
Chopped parsley, for garnish

Equipment:

Large skillet
6 Qt casserole or large pot with cover

Cooking Directions

Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, and cut into 2-inch cubes. Toss venison with 1 tablespoon of the oil. In a small bowl, season the flour with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Toss meat with seasoned flour.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Reduce the heat, add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the skillet, cover, and cook gently for 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a casserole and pour half of the Guinness into the skillet. Bring Guinness to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan. Pour over the meat, along with the remaining Guinness. Add the carrots and thyme. Stir and adjust seasonings. Cover the casserole and simmer over low heat, or in a 300 degree F oven until the meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours.

Add a loaf of good crusty bread with butter and a cold porter beer

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground venison
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion coarsely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper and deseeded coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves crushed
2 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
2 – 16 oz. cans of small red beans drained
2 – 24 oz. jars of salsa
1 – 28 oz. can of tomato sauce
Salt and pepper – do this to taste
3 large jalapeno peppers deseeded and finely chopped – adjust for personal taste for amount of spiciness

Equipment:

Large Skillet
6 Qt. crock pot (or large stove top pot)

Cooking Directions

In large skillet heat oil then add the venison, brown the venison – if necessary you can add some water if it begins to dry. Add garlic, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper – be careful not to let the vegetables, spices or herbs burn.

When finished, place into a 6 Qt. crock pot(if you do not have a crock pot a large stove top pot will do fine – just make sure to cook low and slow) add the salsa, red beans, tomato sauce, chopped basil, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and ground cumin.

Cook on low to medium temperature for 6 to 8 hrs, stirring occasionally.

Serve hot over a bed of rice or with crackers.

If you want, an ice cold pale ale or hearty red wine are perfect here

Ingredients:

3 pounds venison top round
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed

Equipment:

Large oven-proof skillet (I uses a cast iron skillet)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub the venison with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in an oven-proof large skillet over high heat. Sear the venison on all sides until golden brown. Transfer the venison to the oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the internal temperature of 125 to 130 degrees F. Remove from the oven and let rest, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the venison into thin slices.

This goes great with onion rings and cold beer

Venison Pot Pie

Vegetables:

2 medium turnips, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1/2 cup green peas
2 carrots cut into 3/4-inch chunks

The stew:

3 pounds venison (rump, chuck roast, top or bottom round)
4 ounces lean bacon
2 medium carrots, minced
1 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
Pinch cayenne
3 cups red wine (wine you would drink)
6 cups beef stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced

Herbs tied in cheesecloth: 3 to 4 parsley sprigs, 2 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons thyme

Equipment:

deep heavy soup pot
6 – 4 1/2 inches round pot pie pans

Cooking Directions

Procedure: Filling is made in 2 parts and then combined: the stew and the vegetables. The crust is partially baked before filling.

Cooking the vegetables: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the turnips and then the carrots until fork tender. When tender remove and immediately cool under cold running water. Add the 1/2 of peas to the boiling water for 2 minutes then drain and cool. Mix all three vegetables together.

Cooking the stew: Cut venison into 1-inch chunks and dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces and brown slowly in a deep large pot. Remove the bacon and set aside, and turn the heat to high. Brown the venison quickly in the bacon fat. Add olive oil if necessary. Remove the venison from the pot and set aside with the bacon. Add the minced carrots, onions and celery and brown on medium high heat in the remaining fat. Remove the vegetables from the pot and add to the venison and bacon. Melt the butter and add to the pot and sprinkle in the flour. Stir constantly until the flour browns. Return the bacon, venison and vegetables to the pot. Stir to coat them with the browned flour and cook for 1 minute on medium-high heat. Lower the heat, add the cayenne, wine, beef stock, the tomato paste, the garlic and the herb bouquet tied in a cheesecloth. Stir to mix well and simmer for at least 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. When
done the meat should be very tender. Skim fat if necessary. Check for seasoning, add salt pepper or herbs as desired. Remove the meat from the gravy with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove and discard the herb bouquet. Reserve the gravy in a separate container.

Crust:

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 sticks cold butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup ice water

Making the crust: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Process the flour, butter, shortening, and salt until mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water and cut until dough begins to clump. Scrape dough onto a board, divide in half and put each half in a plastic bag. Working through the bag, quickly press the dough into a ball. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. Roll 1 of the balls out to about 1/8-inch thick. Butter pans and line with the dough. Butter pieces of aluminum foil and line the crust in the pans with them so that the crust is between the pan and aluminum foil. When you bake the crust to brown it, it will keep its shape. Roll the second ball of dough out and cut to approximately 1/8-inch larger than the top of the pot pie pan.

Place the top crust circles on a cookie sheet and prick with a fork. Bake both the crust in the pan and the the tops for about 10 minutes. Crust should just start to brown.

Cooking the Pot Pie: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Warm the stew and gravy separately on the stove until they just begin to simmer. Add gravy back to the stew a little at a time until it is liquid enough but not soupy. Stir well to mix. Mix the vegetables into the stew just before you assemble the pie. Spoon the filling mixture into the partially baked pie shell. It should fill it right to the top. There may be some filling mixture left over. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust starts to look quite brown at the edges and the filling is bubbling. Allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This is great served with wild rice