Venison pie | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook venison so it's tender? ›

Whenever I pull a package of venison from the freezer, I always make a point to remember to match the method to the meat. That means cooking tender cuts like steaks and chops with high heat, fast and dry, such as grilling or pan-frying.

Marinades are one of my favorite ways to tenderize venison. For an excellent marinade, you will need an acid (wine, vinegar, lemon juice, or lime), an oil (I prefer olive oil), and herbs and spices of your choice.

Large cuts of venison taste best when pot-roasted for several hours. If you have access to a crock pot, use any recipe for beef pot roast and you'll be pleasantly surprised. However, instead of cooking for two to four hours, venison may require substantially longer cooking time for the meat to become tender.

Many cooks swear by a method of soaking the meat in saltwater overnight, then in milk to draw out the gamy flavor.

1. Deer Camp Wild Game Seasoning. The hunt for the best venison seasoning is over. This robust blend features classic deer seasonings like sugar, garlic and paprika, with added earthiness from fennel and herbs to elevate your venison without overpowering it.

Soaking deer meat, also known as venison, before cooking is a common practice to help remove any excess blood, reduce gamey flavors, and tenderize the meat. Here are a few methods you can use to soak deer meat before cooking: Saltwater Brine:Mix water with salt to create a brine solution.

Marinades and spices: A number of marinades and spices can be used to cover up “gamey” flavors, but they can also be used to tenderize and enhance the flavor of venison. The University of Minnesota Extension suggests using a high-acid liquid — lemon juice, tomato juice, vinegar or wine — to soften muscle fibers.

Venison: Red wines with earthy or smoky flavors big enough for the meat's taste and richness (Mourvèdre, Syrah, Pinot Noir) and strong beer (Porter, Belgian Strong Ale, Double Stout). (Elk pairs similarly.)

The distinct game flavor of either birds or animals will be milder after soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in either a salt or vinegar solution. 2. Vinegar solution - 1 cup per quart of cold water. Use enough solution to cover the game completely.

What fruit pairs with venison? ›

The gamey flavor of venison is a good match for flavors like apples, cherries, raspberries, cranberries, citrus fruits, peaches, pears, raisins, pomegranates, and dates. Try Venison and Cherry Pâté en Croûte, which uses both dried cherries and cherry liqueur.

Marinades tenderize (soften muscle fibers) and enhance the flavor of venison. Marinades can add fat and calories to this lean cut of meat. Always be marinate meats in the refrigerator. Always include a high-acid liquid like lemon or tomato juice, vinegar or wine to soften the muscle fibers.

Actually, because of how lean the meat is, it's actually PREFERRED to eat deer meat medium rare. There's really very little fat in venison, so it's a pretty tricky meat to cook quickly. Most wild game cooks recommend medium-rare because if too much moisture is cooked out of the meat, it'll become tough and chewy.

Venison silver skin, fat, ligaments, and other undesirable parts of a deer that aren't muscle don't taste very good. Deer fat is generally bitter, unlike beef fat. This is probably the number one reason why folks think venison, particularly ground venison, tastes gamey.

Loosen with 2 good lugs of olive oil. Pat the venison dry with some kitchen paper, and rub the oil mixture all over it. Sear the meat in a hot pan on all sides – roughly 6 minutes for medium rare, 7-8 minutes for medium, and you'd have to be a nutter if you wanted to cook it for any longer than that!

You can cook tender cuts on the stovetop, in a cast iron skillet (my favorite) with a few tablespoons of oil (such as duck fat, avocado oil or clarified butter, just NOT olive oil), we always enjoy grilling venison (or you can use a cast iron pan ON the grill, even better), or in the oven.

Soaking: The most common soaking liquids are buttermilk, saltwater, white milk, vinegar, lemon juice and lime juice. While some hunters swear by certain soaking methods to take the “gamey” flavor away or bleed the meat after processing, others don't find it all that helpful.