Cooking and recipes

[sgt_zim]

I'm sure I'm not the only guy in here who enjoys, as Heinlein put it, "cooking a tasty meal," especially of the wild game variety.

I recently adapted one of Lally Brennan's recipes for veal Oscar to venison backstrap. I'm trying hard not to dislocate my shoulder from patting myself on the back for it, but I've gotta say, it really was one of the most spectacular meals I've ever prepared, and it just wasn't difficult at all. The only complex bit to it is the Hollandaise, but you can buy Hollandaise powder at the grocery if it's beyond your kin.

I'll post the recipe if there's any interest in it.

 

[VertigoBE]

This could be a good new thread, with proven easy recipes for wild game, that anyone can prepare.

One of my favourite quotes by the way:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”​

― Robert A. Heinlein

 

[Jfet]

write a sonnet

How good does this sonnet thing have to be?

 

[sgt_zim]

Sounds like a plan.

Consider this one "tips and tricks."

"Browning" - best done on medium high heat. This is not "graying," but "browning" meat. Any meat, when you begin to brown it, will start losing water. If you don't have much cooking experience, it's tempting to call it "browned" once it is cooked through, but brown is brown. It won't really begin to brown until all of the water rendered from the meat has been boiled off. I have a pair of 10 qt cast iron Dutch ovens, and there's really only room to brown about 1.5# of meat at a time. If you're doing a recipe with more meat than that, be patient and do the browning in batches. Doesn't matter if the meat is cubed or ground. You will need to stir the meat around every 30 - 60 seconds to insure even browning. Otherwise, you're going to scorch the stuff on the bottom.

Conversions (for our European brothers)
1 teaspoon - can be abbreviated lower case "t" or "tsp," is the equivalent of 5mL.
1 tablespoon - abbreviated TBS or just capital "T", is the equivalent of 15 mL
1 ounce (this is fluid ounces, not weight) - abbreviated "oz," this is 30 mL
1 cup - abbreviated "C", this is 250 mL
1 pound (16 averdupois ounces) - can be abbreviated with the "#" symbol or "lbs", close enough to a half kilo that it'll do.

The only time you'll see "ounces" as a weight is in reference to the meat itself. Every other time you see the word "ounces," it will be for some volume of liquid or seasoning like salt, oregano, fat, etc.

"Simmer" - cooking (usually a soup or stew) on low heat for an extended period of time. Most stock pots and cast iron Dutch ovens will retain a lot of heat, so even setting the burner back down (after achieving rolling boil, see below) to low heat, you're still going to get a little boiling action.

Rapid boil/rolling boil - just like it sounds. Bubbles coming up from the bottom of the pot is boiling, but that isn't a rolling boil. You'll know a rolling boil when you see it. If you have to ask yourself "Is that a rolling boil yet?", it isn't yet a rolling boil.

Cooking oils (fats) - I'm totally not kidding when I say this. Throw most of your cooking oils in the garbage. Canola, soy, corn, vegetable, whatever - that crap is poison. For cooking on high heat, use lard (rendered pig fat or bacon grease) or tallow (rendered beef fat). Butter will work, just remember it'll scorch if exposed to high heat for very long. Ghee is also a good choice - you can make your own by melting butter then skimming off the solids. For low heat. coconut oil is a good choice, as are olive oil and avocado oil. Unfortunately, at least here in the US, olive oil and avocado oil are often cut with canola or other crappy oils, so make sure you're buying pure olive/avocado.

You can buy great tubs of bacon grease or tallow from Amazon. Tallow and lard will both keep nearly indefinitely at room temp without oxidizing (become rancid; if you've never smelled rancid oil, well, like a rolling boil, you'll know it when you smell it because it will make you gag). Lard, however, is very soft at room temp. For some things, this isn't a big deal. I usually keep my lard in the refrigerator. Tallow will get quite hard if refrigerated, so I leave it in the pantry.

As mentioned, animal fats (lard and tallow) are shelf-stable nearly indefinitely. While butter isn't shelf stable at room temp indefinitely, it is stable for a long time if refrigerated. Together, these are known as saturated fats. For the most part, they are 100% interchangeable with each other. If you want lard but can only get tallow, that will work. If a recipe calls for 2 oz of butter, you can substitute 2 oz of lard or tallow.

Olive, avocado, and coconut oil (mono-unsaturated fats) are shelf stable for quite a long time, though they will eventually oxidize. Coconut has a higher smoke point than olive/avocado oil, but all 3 of them are best suited when cooking temps are low. As with the saturated fats, these 3 are all 1 : 1 substitutable for each other.

A final note on fats, specifically butter. The only time to use salted butter is when the recipe calls for it. Unless otherwise noted, "butter" in a recipe means unsalted butter.

 

[flying sailor]

I will give this a try using Bison. Any preferences on the cut I should use?

 

[sgt_zim]

I will give this a try using Bison. Any preferences on the cut I should use?

For the Veal Oscar? Any segment of the backstrap or tenderloin you prefer would work, I imagine. There is little difference between the shoulder portion and the hip portion on a white tail backstrap, so I would use anything from the entire length.

I will post the recipe shortly.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I'm interested. Just did a venison roast in the crock pot two days ago but I've got plenty of backstraps and tenderloins for this recipe. For browning the roast before the crockpot, I use ghee.

 

[Flipper Dude]

Who doesn’t like a nice backstrap?

 

[Tra3]

@Flipper Dude that is an amazing photo. I can taste that from here. Grill only? or did you also use the oven?

A secret I learned when I cooked in restaurants as a teenager. Butter! A pat of butter on top of a steak will melt down and smooth out the flavors. It is a good trick when serving venison to someone for the first time.

 

[Flipper Dude]

@Flipper Dude that is an amazing photo. I can taste that from here. Grill only? or did you also use the oven?

A secret I learned when I cooked in restaurants as a teenager. Butter! A pat of butter on top of a steak will melt down and smooth out the flavors. It is a good trick when serving venison to someone for the first time

Cast iron skillet only. Basted with butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary in the last minute of cooking.

That’s actually 2 different backstrap cooks, but that’s generally how I do my venison

 

[PerH]

https://youtube.com/@townsends?si=2D5nY1zooIOlwnnZ

One excellent channel I wish I knew about much earlier

 

[sgt_zim]

Backstrap Marcelle

the recipe calls for 8 x 3oz veal cutlets. you will regret not doubling the recipe.

1. about 1.5# of back strap. I cut mine into about 1" thick medallions, then hammer them down to about 1/8" to 1/4" (3 - 5 mm, give or take) with the coarse side of a meat mallet.
2. a cup or two of flour
3. 3 Tbs butter (or more)
4. 1/2 C finely sliced green onions
5. 2 medium shallots, finely chopped
6. 1 C fresh lump crab meat
7. 2 tsp Worcestershire sause
8. 1 C Hollandaise sauce

salt and pepper the flour, dredge the flattened backstrap medallions in the flour

melt the butter in a skillet, when bubbling, sauté the venison until golden brown on both sides

set the cooked venison aside and keep warm

to the remaining butter (you can add more if you need to), add the green onions, shallots, crabmeat, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, stirring for a minute or 2

top the warm venison with the crab meat mixture, top that with Hollandaise.

If you already know how to make Hollandaise, there are dozens of good recipes on the internet. If you don't, just buy the powdered stuff at the grocery store.

Oven-roasted potatoes are a good side for this, asparagus cooked to a style of your choosing is also good.

Any aged, heavy wine, red or white, will pair nicely with this. So a 2 yo merlot or cab is less than ideal, but a 4 or 5 yo (or older) San Giovese or similar would. Ultimately, whatever is going to make your taste buds sing is a nice pairing.

This is Lally Brennan's (of Commander's Palace in New Orleans) recipe.

 

[flying sailor]

Backstrap Marcelle

the recipe calls for 8 x 3oz veal cutlets. you will regret not doubling the recipe.

1. about 1.5# of back strap. I cut mine into about 1" thick medallions, then hammer them down to about 1/8" to 1/4" (3 - 5 mm, give or take) with the coarse side of a meat mallet.
2. a cup or two of flour
3. 3 Tbs butter (or more)
4. 1/2 C finely sliced green onions
5. 2 medium shallots, finely chopped
6. 1 C fresh lump crab meat
7. 2 tsp Worcestershire sause
8. 1 C Hollandaise sauce

salt and pepper the flour, dredge the flattened backstrap medallions in the flour

melt the butter in a skillet, when bubbling, sauté the venison until golden brown on both sides

set the cooked venison aside and keep warm

to the remaining butter (you can add more if you need to), add the green onions, shallots, crabmeat, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, stirring for a minute or 2

top the warm venison with the crab meat mixture, top that with Hollandaise.

If you already know how to make Hollandaise, there are dozens of good recipes on the internet. If you don't, just buy the powdered stuff at the grocery store.

Oven-roasted potatoes are a good side for this, asparagus cooked to a style of your choosing is also good.

Any aged, heavy wine, red or white, will pair nicely with this. So a 2 yo merlot or cab is less than ideal, but a 4 or 5 yo (or older) San Giovese or similar would. Ultimately, whatever is going to make your taste buds sing is a nice pairing.

This is Lally Brennan's (of Commander's Palace in New Orleans) recipe.

Aw jeez, only just had hot dogs for a quick lunch!