Venison Barbacoa

I have had this Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook recipe for Venison Barbacoa bookmarked for awhile now, and earlier this fall I had My Charming Companion keep 3 lbs of a deer's front quarter whole specifically for this recipe. (Usually the front quarters get used for burger and sausage - so this made the butchering go faster!) I made the barbacoa this weekend, and it turned out super delicious. It's a really interesting recipe that uses a lot of cloves. Cloves?! I don't know if I've ever put more than 1/8 or 1/4 tsp of cloves in anything, and this recipe, which is decidedly not sweet (like most clove inclusive recipes) called for a full teaspoon?! And for whatever reason, it seems that the cloves are sort of what make this dish. It's really good, and I would never in a million years have guessed the spices in it.

If you don't have some venison front quarter hanging out in your freezer, 3 lbs of any tougher beef will also do (I found a list of all the larger, chewier cuts that get really tender in stew):
• Chuck, Chuck Shoulder, Chuck Roast, Chuck-Eye Roast, Top Chuck
• Bottom Round Roast, Bottom Eye Roast, Rump Roast, Eye Round Roast, Top Round, Round Tip Roast
• English Roast, Pot Roast, Stew Meat

I ended up cooking this recipe in the oven in a roasting pan covered in foil, which worked just fine. A crock pot or a big dutch oven would be ideal though. I also found that I had PLENTY of left over liquid (which got saved for a future chili), so I think you could go a little lighter on the broth. I have not tried it yet though.

This is the recipe exactly as written by Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook because for real, it was just so good (especially with avocado and some thinly sliced red cabbage)! I did keep out the garlic and was out of lime juice, so alter it as needed (but do use the cloves):

Serves 4-6
2 to 3 pounds venison, from the shoulder or legs
2 to 4 canned chipotles in adobo sauce 
1 red onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ cup lime juice
½ cup cider vinegar
1 quart beef or venison stock
1/4 cup lard
Smoked salt (optional)

1. Put everything in a slow cooker or Dutch oven and cook, covered, until the meat falls off the bone (if yours is on the bone!), which will be between 2 hours (for many domestic meats and young deer) and 6 hours if you have a very old animal. If you use a slow cooker, set it to “high.” If you use a regular pot, put it into the oven set to 300°F.
2. Pull all the meat from the bones and shred with forks or your fingers (this is the most laborious part of the whole thing) - I did this in another pan. Stir in the lard and as much smoked salt as you want. You want the lard or oil to coat the shreds of meat. Pour over some of the juices from the pot. Serve with whatever your version of tacos is (wrapped in lettuce or cabbage?) or as is.

Dinner of Champions

Well, I am feeling some MN pride for the Lynx, who won the WNBA championships in an AMAZING game last night against the Atlanta Dream. I went and watched the game at the Riverview theatre (which was showing the game for free) along with about 600 other people. It was so great, it was like being at the game but with a much smaller crowd and I could see way better, and everyone was cheering together and it just felt really exciting. The Lynx have been playing incredibly during the play-offs: amazing teamwork and lots of passing among all the players on the floor. I've really enjoyed watching them. My fave highlight (that got the cheering riverview fans to their feet) was when Janel McCarville got a steal and made a bad-ass pass to Rebekkah Brunson between her legs:

The video doesn't show it, but after the basket, there is also footage somewhere of Cheryl Reeve, the head coach, pounding on the scorers table in an excited fervor! Ah!! I'll share one more video of the Lynx - another reason why I love them: their pre-game warm-up routine. It is from the Star Tribune and it won't upload here. You can watch it from this link though.

Really, I don't have any fabulous meals to post - I just wanted to share some Lynx fandom. Tonight I'm having a venison burger with fermented pickles and tomato slices from the garden, grilled onions and mayo. This photo is actually from awhile ago: burger with raw beet, carrot and arugula salad, and I'd make that salad if I weren't feeling tuckered out. I am calling this my celebratory Lynx dinner - why not?! Yay Lynx!

Paleo Pho

Well, I ended up going up north for a super spontaneous drive last weekend, including a little hiking at gooseberry falls and some gazing at the surfers on Lake Superior. The winds were CRAZY on Saturday and the lake had some mega-waves. I guess it is pretty great surfing when the conditions are right?! The fall colors were totally stunning once I got past Two Harbors. I spent a night at my parent's cabin outside of Silver Bay, and was surround by fire-y orange trees. The misty rain weather made the colors even more vibrant. If you want to check out the fall colors, I think this week is the time to go - it was amazing. I (again!) stopped at the Northland Smokehaus for lunch, and got more corned beef to take home for dinner. Which I ate and it was as delicious as last time. Sunday was a day spent smoking lots of spice rubbed meat (mostly deer necks (3), but also a pork roast), reading, and picking and freezing tomatoes. But - this post is about the Pho I made before leaving town, at the start of the recent cold spell...

I had the recipe for Paleo Pho marked to try for awhile, and when the weather started to cool off and the forecast predicted days of rain, it seemed that pho time was here. I actually haven't had a proper bowl of pho ever, I think. I was vegetarian for so long, and most places used meat broth in their pho. When I started eating meat, it wasn't long before I also started eating paleo, and that meant no grand opportunity for the pho with meat and rice noodle experience. In any case, I'm creating my own grand opportunity - sans any memory of what it should taste like! All of the interesting spices: star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass and ginger, plus a good amount of fish sauce promise something good.

My camera is missing, so this is the photo from the original recipe!

I used some different meat than the original recipe calls for - in lieu of marrow bones, chuck roast and short ribs, I used oxtail and 4 pounds of venison stew meat. The quantity of meat came out the same, but a bit less bones and marrow-y goodness. I added in some extra broth (including some venison bone broth) so I think any difference was negligible. I found that I wanted noodles in this soup. Pho is, afterall, a noodle soup. So I tried adding wakame, and it worked out great. I'm sorry I have no photo to post, my camera is on the lamb. (Is that how you spell lamb used in that context?) Anyway - the pho was good, if a tiny bit on the fussy side. You could definitely decrease the fuss with still good results, so I encourage that (why brown the meat? just throw everything in a crock pot with some already made bone broth). Soup season is upon us! Hurray!

Berbere Meatballs

I was in a hurry the other morning to make a dinner for work (in addition to lunch, so I was making two meals to go), and decided to just throw together some meatballs. They turned out nice - I love berbere, so it was kind of a no-brainer. Berbere is that delicious Ethiopian spice blend that I used last month in a chicken dish called Doro Wat. It's typically a spicy blend of paprika or chili, cinnamon, cardomom, ginger, and fenugreek, plus a few others. My blend is on the milder side, so if you have a spicier Berbere, you may want to reduce the amount so as not to be too hot. I had some defrosted pork and venison - so I did a combo. But you could use all venison, lamb or beef too.

Berbere Meatballs
1/2 lb pork
1/2 lb venison/beef/lamb
1 t coconut flour
1 1/2 T berbere
1/2 t salt
1/4 c chopped parsley
pepper
1 egg

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, combine thoroughly with hands to get spices mixed evenly. Roll into approximately 1" balls (or a little bigger) and place on rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I ate mine with greens (arugula in this case) and onions sauteed in coconut oil with turmeric and coriander. Later I had some of these meatballs with sauteed zucchini, onions, and beet greens with similar spices. These meatballs are very tasty left over or cold. Yum!

Best Meat Rub Ever

My Charming Companion was given a hand-me-down smoker sometime recently, and last weekend was its inaugural adventure. The plan was to smoke two deer necks and some pork ribs to have copious quantities of meat to eat, freeze and share. The smoker was a big success - it's like a giant slow cooker that is outside and that imparts delicious smoky flavor not in the form of liquid smoke.  We tried two different rubs, and one of them was the clear winner: lots of paprika! The other rub was a cumin, oregano, chili powder blend that was just not as delicious. The paprika one went on one of the roasts and the ribs, much to my delight because it was so tasty.

Pre-smoked venison - this rub recipe is up front

Pork or Beef Rub
4 T sea salt
4 T paprika
2 T pepper
2 T garlic
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ground celery seed (I used celery salt and reduced the salt)
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Mix spices together thoroughly. It will make almost a cup's worth of rub, which will cover a lot of meat - you can save any extra in a jar with your other spices. You want the meat to be quite dry, so either press it with a towel, or let it sit out in the fridge uncovered for several hours to dry a bit. Sprinkle/press the rub all over the meat (no need to actually rub). Beef brisket, neck, or pork roast or ribs would all be great. *Be more sparing on ribs so that they aren't over salty.

I have never made ribs before, and there was something so delectable about eating them at home, fresh out of the smoker with some sugar free bbq sauce and homemade slaw. Who needs to go out to eat? The ribs we used were ones from the half hog Pastures a Plenty purchase - these were the one set of full ribs in the whole package. But now I want to get more because they are so incredibly delicious! All we had to do was sprinkle them with the rub, stick them in the smoker for 6 hours, and than eat them. You could do the same in an oven, slow cooking the ribs at a low temp.

Venison (or Beef) Jerky

Well, My Charming Companion and I postponed our canoe trip about a month to assure no ice and snow. The DNR had to add a whole new color category to account for this year's late ice outs in the northern part of the state! But the time is finally upon us, and I am super excited.

The one benefit to postponing the trip was that food prep got done in advance, and the food was all ready to go two weeks early - including the homemade jerky. It is surprisingly easy, so long as you have access to a nice food dehydrator and some time to be around to check on things. My Charming Companion and I had two batches of venison to use - all cuts were "big rounds" and one was from a deer that was packaged to eat "spicy" - which is code for "this one had a bit of stomach bursting, so really spice it up and definitely do not eat raw." The non-spicy batch got pepper, tamari, (I would have preferred coconut aminos, but at the time every co-op in town was out of them and had been for over a month!) and some ginger, whereas the spicy one got those things plus some onion powder, cayenne, paprika, and extra pepper. Garlic powder would be good too if you like garlic, and some people like to use apple cider for a little sweetness. The recipe is very forgiving, so you can be creative! Of course I forgot to write down the amounts of things, but use the following as a guide:

3 lbs of lean meat (venison is great for this), flank steak would be a nice cut
1/2 c. coconut aminos or tamari
2 tsp each: ginger, onion powder, cayenne, smoked paprika
1 T black pepper

Slice the meat thinly - this is much more successful if your meat is still a little bit frozen, so as it is defrosting, check on it often. You are going for about 1/4" slices, and even really skinny and small pieces will work just fine. As you slice, you also want to remove any fat from the pieces of meat. You can do this from the larger cut, but also be sure to double check the slices. Fat will not dehydrate or preserve, so you want to get all of it off.

Once everything is sliced, mix the pieces with your spices and flavoring. Let it sit in the "marinade" for at least a few hours or preferably overnight (it will be pretty dry, so marinade is a strong word). Stir or turn the meat around in the "mariande" (or spice mix) once or twice during the sit time to spread the spices out and better coat the meat. Then lay the pieces on your dehydrator trays, being careful to make one single layer. Put in your dehydrator (MCC has an Excalibur brand one that is really nice) and set to the meat setting of 145-155 degrees.

Now be prepared to settle in to a long time of meat smell. The jerky will take anywhere from 6-10 hours depending on the slices. It's like when I make bone broth in my slow cooker, and I wake up in the morning to the smell of broth permeating the kitchen. The smell of meat may permeate for the duration of the drying! You want to start checking the meat after 6 or 8 hours. You can remove pieces that are done - the really skinny, small, or super thin slices will go faster then pieces that got a little thick. The meat is done when you can squeeze each piece and it is no longer squishy - it doesn't have to be crisp, but firm. The meat will also start to crack a bit.

Voila! This now is easily packaged in bags to be lunch for several weeks. Yum.

Kitfo

I am not sure how to best convey the amazing-ness of this dish, except that it is perhaps the best thing I have eaten lately - right up there with those raw oysters, but better?! (And at home versus out at a fancy restaurant!) It combines warm, browned butter with onions and red pepper, incredible spices, and really nice raw meat. I nearly swooned while eating it, and have been plotting about when I can have it again. If you have been hesitant about raw meat before, this might be the gateway recipe!

Kitfo is a traditional ethiopian dish that is eaten at room temperature, which I enjoy SO much more than a cooler steak tartare (I had no idea until I'd had it this way). The spices and the browning butter smell incredible and waft through the kitchen: ginger and cardamom, chili and fenugreek.

I will confess that my only role in this meal was to discover Kitfo and pass along a few recipes. My Charming Companion actually cooked it, along with a really good (and super simple) cabbage side dish while I took a nap on the couch! The recipe here is a blend of several variations found from a search for kitfo recipes. Certainly any of them will be good, but below is the recipe as I ate it. Mine actually used the steak from a deer that was a really young fawn, so it was probably as tender as possibly available, which made this melt in my mouth. My Charming Companion's turmeric cabbage dish is also below. It used a bunch of green onions from the garden and went perfectly with the kitfo for a very ethiopian style dinner, sans the injera.

Kitfo
1 lb round steak
10 T (or one stick + 2 T) butter
1/3-1/2 c onions, chopped small
1/4 c red pepper, chopped small
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp chili flakes (or cayenne)
1/2 tsp fenugreek
pinch cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 T+ fresh lemon juice
2 T fresh chives, chopped
salt to taste

1. You want to serve your meat at room temperature, but it is easier to chop the meat when it is still a bit frozen. Ideally, you will chop the meat an hour or so before dinner: use a sharp knife and mince just as it is defrosting and still a little frozen. Let it sit out on the counter to fully defrost and get to room temp for dinner. If you don't have that kind of time, you can mince it at room temp and just have it be a little wily, or you can try to warm it very very slowly in a pan over low heat being careful not to cook it at all. (Some people do eat this slightly cooked, so you could do that if you prefer.)

Chopped raw steak!

2. Melt better on medium heat in a small saucepan. Once it is melted, add onion, red pepper and spices and let simmer 10-15 minutes. You want the butter to brown, basically as if you were making ghee with lots of stuff in it! Be sure to stir every so often.

Simmering spiced butter - smells SO good!

3. Add lemon juice and chives for the last couple of minutes. Stir butter mixture into your now room temp meat and serve!

Turmeric Cabbage
3 T coconut oil
1/3 head green cabbage, sliced/chopped thin
bunch of green onions, chopped
1 T turmeric
salt to taste

Melt coconut oil in large skillet. Once it is melted, add cabbage and sautee for 10 minutes on low heat. Add green onions and saute another few minutes before adding turmeric and salt. Stir to coat, and continue cooking another couple of minutes before serving.

Steak Tartare

My second "real job" (not including baby-sitting or cleaning my neighbor's house, but after being a "sandwich artist" at the local Subway) was busing tables at the Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington. I filled in at two of the three restaurants, and piled plates high on my tray and occasionally dropped them all. I learned about all kinds of french food while working there, including bouillabaise and coq au vin. I also learned about steak tartare, which I assumed was extremely fancy because it was one of the priciest items on the menu. I was fascinated by how it was served - all the ingredients looked so pretty, but also so strange to think of eating raw meat with raw egg yolk.

I have eaten raw beef before - sliced thinly and dipped in butter, but up until last weekend had not tried, or even thought much about steak tartare. But then I had some, and it was really good, and now I can't wait to try a bunch of different raw beef dishes from different cuisine traditions. Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions includes several, and she also writes a bunch in the margins about the possible health benefits of raw versus cooked meat.

Anyhow - it's a fun way to eat something familiar and have it taste totally different. Tartare is almost pate like, but more fresh and less creamy. I used Sally Fallon's recipe (which I am writing below, though I didn't have everything so mine was modified a bit). The big thing with raw meat is that it needs to be frozen for at least 14 days so that you can safely eat it. Any bacteria will be killed in that amount of time. So - if you buy some fresh meat, make sure it is grass fed and finished and from a farm you know, and freeze it for 2 weeks before you eat it! I used some of the venison burger I helped grind last fall, but you could also use nicer cuts of meat. Hilltop Family Farms at the Midtown Farmer's Market (starts tomorrow!) sells a "Gourmet burger" that uses the whole animal for the burger, not just left over bits - it would be a good tartare option. I read something that said the flavor of raw beef in tartare is superior when you mince the meat by hand (use a sharp knife on slightly still frozen meat) as opposed to grind/food process, so that might be worth an experiment!

Steak Tartare
1 pound ground sirloin or filet, frozen 14 days and thawed, ground or minced
1 medium onion, finely minced
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped (I used fresh chives from the garden instead)
3 tablespoons Dijon-type mustard
2 egg yolks
sea salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 cup small capers, drained, rinsed and dried (I didn't have those)

If you want to go the fancy Hotel Sofitel way, you can serve everything as is, without being mixed yet but in divided portions (I'd just go with extra egg yolks in that case - it will only make it more creamy). Otherwise, mix everything together and divide to serve. This stuff is on the rich side, so a pound of meat will likely yield 4 servings.

I ate mine with hard boiled eggs and sauerkraut, but it would be good with salad greens, almond crackers, fried taro (the Sofitel served it with a big side of pommes frites), or pretty much anything!

Quick Stiry-Fry (of whatever's in the fridge!)

I made an easy, tasty stir-fry the other night - primarily due to copious amounts of Red Boat fish sauce. I don't know what it is about that sauce, but it is SO good! This is all done in one pot - no fuss.

I was pretty low on groceries and needing to get some veggies. What went in this was 1/3 of a red pepper, a handful of mushrooms, sliced carrots, sliced venison and onions. Plus a bunch of thinly sliced ginger - which, in addition to the fish sauce, was key. Originally I thought about serving this all on a bed of wakame seaweed. I don't know if that would be good or not, because in the end I had plenty to eat.

For 1 serving:
1/2 lb beef/venison, sliced thin (flank works well)
1 tsp coconut aminos
1 tsp cider vinegar
splash of sesame oil

Slice beef thinly and let sit in marinade for however long you've got (10 min - 2 hours, but the whole thing about this dish is that it is fast and last minute, so don't worry)

Veggies: (whatever you have on hand)
Red/Green pepper, sliced
Mushrooms, sliced
Carrots, sliced thin
Scallions, 2" pieces
Broccoli, cut into small florets
Onions, sliced

Sauce:
1 T coconut oil
sliced fresh ginger (a lot!)
1+ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp sesame oil
1 T fish sauce (Red Boat)
1 T coconut aminos
1 tsp cider vinegar

1. In a big skillet/cast iron pan, heat coconut oil. Add onions and ginger and saute a couple of minutes. Add veggies in order of how fast they cook: carrots/broccoli will take longest, so toss them in next and cook another few minutes. Add mushrooms, peppers and/or scallions.
2. Once all the veggies are in, add in red pepper flakes, sesame oil, fish sauce, coconut aminos and vinegar. Stir occasionally.
3. When veggies are just about done (about 10 minutes total from onions going in), add the meat and any marinade drippings. Stir often to brown the meat - it will only take a few minutes.

Heap everything in a bowl, and serve!

Ground Lamb, Venison, or Beef Kebab (Kubideh)

I bought My Charming Companion some birthday kebab skewers - they are Persian style skewers that are 1" thick and VERY long, which assists in better cooking in the wood stove. The wide skewers are really useful to make Kubideh - or ground meat kebabs. I've never had them before, but the recipe in A Taste of Persia was enticing, and the photos are beautiful. It's almost like sausage - because really, it is spiced meat, but the spicing is so different, and the meat is much more lean, so it also isn't like sausage at all. I found that the kubideh mostly reminded me of gyro's - I think because of the texture, but also some similar spicing. *Note: you can also make this as meatballs and just saute them in a skillet. Super easy and delicious, without the fire!

I tried the kubideh with both venison and lamb. They were both delicious, but I found that the venison stuck much better to the skewer. You kind of need the wide skewer so that the meat has something to stick to - and even so, the lamb was falling off! I did a little research, and I think that using a food processor to make the mixture as paste-like as possible will really help (versus twice grinding it, then kneading it by hand for 15 minutes). I cannot wait for summer to have this dish with tomatoes (also roasted on the grill). I also think a mix of beef or venison with lamb would be excellent.

For meat:
1 large onion, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 pounds lean beef, venison, lamb
2 t salt
1 t freshly ground pepper
1 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t baking soda

For basting:
2 T melted butter
1/2 t fresh lime juice
1/4 t salt

*Before you start preparing the food, get your fire started/charcoal going so that everything is burned down to nice coals to cook on.
1. Puree onion and garlic in a food processor. In a large bowl, mix meat with onion puree. Add other spices, lime juice, and baking soda (this is to help tenderize the meat).
2. Working in 2-3 batches, put the meat mix in the food processor and process until a thick paste. Once all the meat has been processed, cover the paste and set aside for 15 minutes at room temperature.(If you are making meatballs, skip this step and just combine all the ingredients and shape into balls, then brown on medium-high heat on all sides.)
3. With damp hands, divide the meat paste into 12 equal sized lumps. Form each lump into a sausage shape about 5" long and mold it firmly around a flat skewer. (I watched a youtube video with a fancy technique to sort of scallop the meat on the skewer. Watch at 7:20 for that demo - he is using larger pieces of meat and is clearly quite skilled at this.)
4. For basting, combine the butter, lime juice, and salt in a small saucepan. Keep warm over very low heat.
5. When the coals are glowing, arrange the skewers 3" above the coals. You do not want the ground meat to touch the grill (though if you have a grill, this would prevent you from losing any meat should it come off the skewer). Let the kebabs cook a few seconds, just until they change color; then turn the skewers gently to color the other side of the meat. This keeps the meat from falling apart. Then turn gently one more to brown each side.

This is what I will strive for mine to look like!

6. Grill the meat for 3-5 minutes on each side, and brush it with basting mixture just before removing it from the grill (or in my case, just after taking it out of the wood stove). The total cooking time should be 6-10 minutes, and the meat should be seared on the outside, but pink on the inside. If it gets overcooked, it will become a bit rubbery, like a sausage. That is not the effect you  are going for!
7. Slide the meat off the skewers onto a plate with a fork. Sprinkle with lime juice to taste. Traditionally this is served with grilled tomatoes, saffron rice and lavash bread, but I ate it with a tahini sauce (tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, water, and salt). Any grilled veggies would be great.

Butternut Squash Khoresh

Khoresh # 2! This is another recipe from A Taste of Persia. I used venison in this one too, and it tasted great. This recipe is a little on the sweet side - something I am less used to in meat dishes, and it is also a bit more broth-y than other stews. The broth was delicious though.

I am posting the original recipe below, however I changed the recipe some: I used way less prunes (maybe 5 of them) and 1/2 c. of apple cider in place of sugar; I used 2 c. chicken broth in lieu of water; and I added an extra 1/2 lb of meat. I found it plenty sweet and will maybe forgo the apple cider all together next time. The prunes break down, and I found that even the handful of them (chopped up) gave a really nice hint of dried plum flavor without the extra fructose. 

Butternut Squash Khoresh
5 T ghee, butter or coconut oil
2 small onions peeled and thinly sliced
1 lb. skinless boneless chicken or meat (lamb, venison, beef) cut into thin strips
1 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1 t cinnamon
1 1/2 c pitted prunes
2 lbs butternut squash
4 T sugar
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/4 t saffron threads dissolved in 1 T hot water (opt)

1. In a medium pot, heat 3 T butter/ghee over medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the meat and stir-fry 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally until browned. Add salt, cinnamon, prunes, pepper, and 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, peel the squash and cut into 2-inch cubes. In a large skillet, heat 2 T butter/ghee over medium heat. Add the squash and stir-fry for 10 minutes, until all sides are golden brown.
3. Add sugar, lime juice, saffron water, and butternut squash cubes to the meat. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes over low heat.
4. Taste the khoresh and adjust the seasoning for salt and lime juice. Serve!

Roadkill + My last kabocha squash

Well, I've been sort of hoarding my supply of kabocha squash over the past couple of months, but I finally ate the last one this weekend, with lots of steak. Yum.

These steaks are backstrap, from the roadkill deer My Charming Companion named "Nice Guy" after the really nice guy who pulled over when he saw My Charming Companion by the side of the road. (All of the deer get named so as to know what one is eating, and to help remember the circumstances of that specific deer.) Their conversation then went like this:

Nice Guy: (very casual-like) "What are you going to do with that, use the hide?"
MCC: "Oh, no. I am going to eat it."
NG: (smiling now) "Oh, Yeah. I eat them too."
And then Nice Guy helped get the deer into the truck.

I have been along for some deer acquisition, and it seems common for roadkill eaters to sort of wait to reveal that yes, they do indeed eat it. One state trooper who was issuing us a permit asked "Are you bringing that home for your dogs or something?" and when we said, no - it is for us, he said "I eat them too! Sometimes I bring a cooler in my car so if I am working I can at least get the backstrap." And then all kinds of cameraderie ensues. It is quite fun, and definitely a contrast to the response of non-roadkill eaters, who tend to get a sort of confused, avert the gaze look.

Anyway, the backstrap was delicious cooked in a cast iron skillet until medium rare, then eaten with with butter and fleur de sel. I also made my 2012 fave fall winter recipe: Roasted squash with date relish and pumpkin seeds. Though in this case I used a few dried cherries in place of the dates, and just cut up the squash in small bite sized pieces to roast it for ease of prep.

Venison Kebabs (grilled on the wood stove)

I am a person who is a bit too lazy to get the grill going in the summer. Or maybe who has too little patience. In any case, I seem to have sort of missed the memo on the deliciousness of wood fired/grilled meat. So, note to self: Meat roasted on coals is delectable. It is especially so when you have a wood stove, or can go to someone else's house with a wood stove who will let you lay some skewers over some coals. This method aids in dealing with any lack of ambition issues to start a grill or some such, because likely the wood stove is already going!

The main thing to be mindful about is to make sure that you put some logs on the fire a few hours before dinner time. You want a bed of red coals - so adjust the flue as necessary to get the right amount of air to speed up or slow down the burning. You'll also want a metal narrow pan, or fireproof something, to go inside the stove to rest the skewer tips on (it's in the back of the photo below). The handles will stick out of the stove and can rest on a spare log of wood. This will hold the meat just over the coals (1/2"-1" above), and it seems a smart idea to try the set up before hot coals are going just to make sure it works.

My kebab meat was a nice bit of rear quarter cut up into 2" pieces that were coated in olive oil and a bit of salt. The roasting goes really fast, and it is best if you pay close attention, so it's a good idea to make your dipping sauce and any other veggies in advance. I love the roasted meat with a tahini sauce. Once your meat is skewered and your coals are ready, set the kebabs on your pan/log set-up and roast each side of the kebab for 2-3 minutes, for a total roast time of about 8-11 minutes, depending on your coals, how close the meat is to them, etc. Watch them closely so they don't burn, you could jsut continually turn them too like a spit roast. Once they are a bit charred, but not too dark, remove them from the coals and let them rest for a couple of minutes. The sear is SO delicious! Serve with tahini sauce and veggies.

Tahini Sauce = tahini, lemon juice, water, olive oil and salt. I start with a good scoop of tahini and a glug of each of the liquids, then stir. It will become thinner and smooth. Taste and adjust with more water and olive oil to thin it out.

Paleo Venison-Braised Burritos

Last year my friend Conrad made me a fajita dinner where he used Cabbage leaves as the taco shell. Up until that time, I had tried to use lettuce leaves as the "tortilla" - or I just made a big taco salad of sorts. Cabbage leaf as tortilla = Fantastic.

I also wanted to try a recipe from Nom Nom Palo for Oven-Braised Mexican Beef - which is a slow-cooked (3 hours) recipe that includes some salsa, chicken broth, chili powder, onions, etc. The meat turned out very tasty, though I wanted even more spice. I'll make this again, but will really amp up the spices - I found that I wanted more of a mole sauce with chocolate and chipotle. (I ended up sprinkling unsweetened chocolate powder on there, which added a nice touch.) I wondered if people make beef mole sauce, and it turns out they do, though of course chicken is most common. Until I get to my own beef mole, here is her recipe that I used (which is very easy) with slight modifications:

Oven-Braised Mexican Beef (or Venison):

Nom Nom Paleo's lovely photo

2½ pounds boneless beef short ribs, brisket, or stew meat cut into 1½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon chipotle
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil or fat of choice
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (optional)
2 T unsweetened chocolate powder, or 2 oz. 80% chocolate
½ cup roasted salsa (I used my homemade salsa and then added some liquid smoke)
½ cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon gf fish sauce (I used some anchovy paste)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees; position oven rack in bottom 1/3 of oven.
2. In a large bowl blend beef, spices, and salt. Stir to cover meat evenly.
3. In a large casserole dish, melt fat and add onions. When translucent, add tomato paste, garlic, and chocolate. Stir and cook for 30 seconds to coat onions. Add beef, salsa, stock and fish sauce/anchovy paste. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover and place in oven for 3 hours or until beef is tender. Taste for seasoning and adjust in needed.

I served mine with some sauteed peppers, more salsa, and lettuce, all wrapped in steamed red cabbage leaves. To steam the cabbage leaves, it works best to put the whole cabbage head in a large steamer pot. Cut out the core first, and then set the cabbage core side down in the steamer. After 15 minutes, the outer layers should easily peel off. Continue steaming to get more layers, and stop whenever you have enough. You can lay the fixings inside and wrap it up, or you can do a tight roll. Photo here is the looser variety (with a different filling, but you get the idea!) *You can do this with raw cabbage too, it just tears as it comes off of the cabbage.

Deer Offal

I have been meaning to write for some time about my appreciation for roadkill deer (and also for My Charming Companion who it seems cannot leave the twin cities metro without coming across one). Now seems to be a nice time - stemming from an amazing dinner last weekend that came to being entirely because there was very little defrosted meat, but there was a fresh deer.  Though the deer still needed to be butchered, the organs were out and ready to go - hence an amazing meal of offal (organ meat) plus a wee bit of kebab.

Offal seems to be pretty popular among foodies and paleo folk (at least according to my internet perusing), but I am still in the experimental phase of offal-eating. Other than occasional chicken liver (in the form of pate), I've only tried a bit of venison brain and eaten heart ground up with burger meat.

Last weekend, though, I had offal trifecta: deer brain, liver, and lung. It felt really fancy - like I should also have been having some bone marrow or something served at some expensive restaurant in a city larger than Minneapolis. The whole meal was delicious, beginning with fried brain and fried liver and bacon, and then a creamy soup of lung and mushrooms, followed by the mini kebabs. (It felt a little like Fogo de Chao gone wild...haha!)

Brain is super delicate - and it is pretty difficult to remove (so I hear, I have not attempted this yet). To prepare it, poach the brain first. Dry it off, then dust it in flour before frying it in coconut oil. It turns out coconut flour does not crisp up in this scenario. It certainly isn't bad, but a GF flour mix, or rice flour will give you the crispy texture on the outside, whereas the coconut flour is more of a "coating" of browned flour. The brain is really tasty - it has a very soft texture, and tastes creamy.

The liver was sliced and tossed in a bit of coconut flour, which worked great here. The slices were fried and then served with bacon pieces - and this was DELICIOUS, probably due to the young tender fawn that the liver came from. Really. I may have shied away from deer liver before, but no more.

Finally the lung. I had never really thought of lung as edible before, but nothing surprises me much anymore. (My Charming Companion is anxiously awaiting enough deer testicles to comprise a serving portion. If testicles, why not lung?!) The lung was much more reddish and red-meat looking than I thought. I imagined it to be pale for some reason. The lungs need to get pounded to remove all the air pockets, and also require some trimming of the trachea and some bigger air vessels. Once that is done, the lung gets poached, and then it is ready to add to whatever dish. We had it in a soup that was chicken stock, portobella mushrooms, some wine, and cream. And a little lemon and salt and pepper. The lung tastes remarkably like a denser mushroom, and it was nice in the soup.

And I guess that doesn't leave much else for deer offal. Kidneys (I have not tried them yet), and the aforementioned testicles...hmmm.

*I realize that I don't give you enough information here to actually make these dishes (or about how to extract them, etc), so if you want to know that, you will have to call My Charming Companion to walk you through it.

Mish Mash and Paleo Meatloaf

Well, I seem to not be posting my meals lately, though I am eating lots of delicious recipes from last year, including coconut kale, bohemian brussels sprouts, lots of roasted delicata squash from my garden, and various venison steaks.

I did make this crock pot meatloaf last week...mostly because I had one of those weeks where I was not home long enough to cook but needed many meals, and why not let it all cook while I am away?! I love crock pots. It tasted great - it looked slightly strange because you get some excess liquid - but no problem.

The recipe I followed/modified is here from a blog called PaleoPot. All of the recipes are for a crock pot - so clever! And I thought the tomato topping was one of my fave paleo ketchup sort of substitutes. It was super easy and really good.

Meatloaf:
2 pounds of lean ground meat
2 eggs, beaten.
4 ounces of bacon, crisped and chopped.
1/2 of a med white onion, small dice.
2 stacks of celery, sliced thinly or chopped
1/2 small green pepper, small dice
2 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of thyme
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1 small can of tomato paste (can also use 1/4 cup of tomato sauce)
2 to 3 tbsp of dijon mustard
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
salt to taste

1. Chop up your bacon and cook until brown and crispy.
2. In a large bowl combine your ground meat, beaten eggs, bacon, veggies and seasonings. Mix everything together by hand, forming a loaf. Place your loaf in your slow cooker and press it down so that the top is flat and you have about of inch of space between the loaf and the sides of the slow cooker. (this is where all that liquid fills in later.)
3. Mix your tomato sauce ingredients together and spoon them over the loaf. Use a spoon or a knife to frost the loaf’s top as evenly as possible. (I did this later after the loaf was done because I ran out of time in the morning - still was great!)
4. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

*This also reheats super well and was good cold.

Beef (or Venison) Stew

Summer and hot kitchens = the joy of crock pot cooking. I tried making stew with an actual recipe recently, and it turned out really delicious. The recipe is slightly modified from Paleo Comfort Foods (which I now returned to the library, so I guess that wraps up the recipes I have posted from there).  It's a slightly higher maintenance stew recipe than my usual (little more than me putting stew meat, tomatoes, broth, wine and carrots in a pot and cooking for a long time) - though it seems like the increased prep worked in equal ratio to increased enjoyment! So I determine it was worth it.

Mmm...this photo (not mine) is sans green beans.

4 anchovies (or anchovy paste)
1 T tomato paste
2 T coconut oil
3-4 lbs chuck roast, cubed
3-4 pieces thick bacon, cut in small pieces
2 large onions, chopped
4 med. carrots, cut in 1" pieces
fresh tomatoes (however many you want!)
2 c. red wine
3 c. chicken broth
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 c. green beans (optional)

1. Mash anchovies and stir together with tomato paste; set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over med-high heat. Working in batches, add meat and brown 5-6 minutes on each side and flip with tongs. Set aside.
3. Fry bacon in same dutch oven pan.
4. Add onions and stir to get any bits off the bottom of the pan. Add in tomato/anchovy mix.
5. Stir in wine and cook until it is reduced some.
6. Add broth, tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
7. Transfer to crock pot and add meat and carrots to the whole thing. Turn crock pot on high for 4 hours. (If this is not summer and you want things to move faster, you can also cover the dutch oven pot and put in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hours.)
8. Add green beans in at the end, and cook with the stew for 5-10 minutes.

Paleo meatballs

I totally stole her photo because I am still without camera.

I made meatballs for the first time this week. It was an exciting event - inspired somewhat by a dinner months ago at Crystal and Venessa's. Venessa had made these stunning meatballs that were totally scrumptious. I perused recipes for awhile, and settled on one that I give a definitive five stars. The spicing is like no other pasta I have had - kind of sweet, but not, and full of cumin?!  It also was a terrifically low stress way to do meatballs because you brown them a little and then finish them off in the sauce. So they look good all surrounded by the tomato sauce, even if you maybe made some lop-sided ones that crumbled a little and are not so spherical.

The original recipe, called "Not your typical grandma's paleo meatballs" from a blog called "Caveman Strong" recommends that you serve the meatballs and sauce on steamed kale or spinach. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I had no cilantro and minimal parsley, and I had chopped tomatoes rather than "crushed" ones. Also, the sauce will look pretty liquid-like when you add the meatballs, but don't worry because it will cook down and thicken up over the 15 minutes that the meatballs cook. I ate mine over grated raw zucchini, but I'll totally try it on some greens too. Really - these spices are SO good together!

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

This recipe came to fruition because of too much salt in mashed cauliflower. I was whipping up the steamed cauliflower and I poured in a heap of salt. Bummer. I mean, I'm kind of a salt fiend, but these were pretty inedible. I thought they might be salvageable mixed with other stuff to temper the saltiness - and so I made shepherd's pie. Which really, what is shepherd's pie? Meat and veggies covered with mashed potatoes, right? I think the only time I ever ate it was while on a bike trip in Baltimore where the houseful of folks made a big vegetarian version. I can't remember if there was fake meat or just veggies, but I remember I liked it. Although, really, what didn't I like while on a bike trip?

In any case, I really don't have much to compare this to, but it reminded me of two things: 1) making and cooking "hobo dinners" while camping as a kid (cut up various veggies and wrap them up in tin foil with bits of burger to cook in the fire) and 2) eating at my grandma's when she served hamburger gravy on mashed potatoes. Her recipe came from the public school's cafeteria cookbook (chow mein was another of her favorites) - back when cafeteria's actually cooked food with real ingredients and thus USED cookbooks. Not that their recipe's were particularly healthful - but there were actual ingredients. (As a tangent, my mom just told me about a woman in apple valley or some suburb who has lead this effort to overhaul 5 school kitchens so that the school's can serve healthy, actual food. Apparently school cafeteria's are currently equipped only to reheat food, and if given raw meat they have no way to actually cook it. ?!)

Anyway, there is something pretty comforting to me about having hamburger and mashed potatoes together...it's such a midwestern-hotdish sort of thing. The recipe I used is here, and she uses what is probably standard to shepherd's pie: carrots and celery to accompany said cauliflower, onion and burger - with some broth. Because I was in a last minute situation, I used cabbage in lieu of carrots/celery. I halved the recipe and did not use bacon - only a pound of burger. I also threw in a little wine with the broth - don't know if it made much difference, but I think it could only be for the better if it did!

I'd totally make this again - maybe in the fall with brussels sprouts in there too. And call it shepherd's hotdish. or something.

Homemade Sausage

*To the veggies/vegan leaning folks on WFDM - I hope you aren't sicked out by some meat processing photos.
I learned a bunch of new things about sausage: you can use the meat without casing and eat it like a breakfast patty, in sauce or on pizza, OR you can put the filling in the casing, giving you brats or italian sausage or whatever. The casings for these came from Kramarczuk's in Northeast. If you want to make sausage but not worry about meat grinders or casings, you can make these sausages with a food processor. Make extra and freeze patties until you want to eat them.

The first recipe is from Savoring the Seasons (Lucia's cookbook), and is called "Uncle Byron's Game Sausage." It is sweeter, with fresh parsley and onions, and not as spicy as the second one, which we'll just call "Sage Sausage" due to the predominant sage flavor (along with a random selection of spices from the spice drawer). I used a venison/bacon combo in these because My Charming Companion has an abundant supply of venison, but certainly pork is more traditional.

Uncle Byron's Game Sausage *makes 4 pounds
3 lbs venison/game meat
1 lb bacon
2 c. peeled, finely chopped onions
1 red bell pepper, seeded, deveined, finely chopped
1 c. finely chopped parsley
2 T. finely chopped garlic
2 T. seeded, finely chopped fresh hot chili peppers
2 t. crushed, dried hot pepper
2 t. dried thyme
1/4 c. fennel seed
1/2 t. allspice
1 T. salt
Coarsely grind meat, bacon, and onion in a food processor or meat grinder. Turn into a bowl and mix together remaining ingredients, using your hands if needed, until the seasonings/flavors are evenly distributed. To cook: shape into patties and saute or grill until middle is not pink or crumble a large portion into a skillet and cook.

Sage Sausage
6 lbs venison
2 lbs bacon
3 T. sage
2 T. salt
2 t. pepper
1/4 c. fennel seed
3 heads garlic, finely chopped
2 T. paprika
1 t. cayenne
1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. coriander
Prepare same as above!