Venison Recipes and Tips

You know you've all opened the freezer and drawn a blank on what to cook with all your delicious venison, so send us your favorite venison recipes and help each other out. Spread the word to the non-hunters in your household who we know often end up with the cooking duties! Maybe he or she will be more apt to encourage your hunting habit if you can share all these tasty options! :)

From the simplest to the most complex, all recipes are welcome. Be sure to email us with your own ideas (or ones borrowed from a favorite cookbook or friend). Remember, the clearer the instructions, the better.

Taco Soup with Cordray Farms ground beef

Brown a pack of Cordray Farms beef hamburger or venison and drain. Add all other ingredients and simmer on the stove about an hour and a half or in a crock pot about 4 hours. 1 can of niblet corn 2 cans of stewed tomatoes 2 cans of stewed tomatoes with green chiles 1 small onion, chopped 1 packet of taco seasoning mix Optional: Add another packet of taco seasoning for spicier soup Add 1 can of kidney beans or pinto beans Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and Fritos scoops from the kitchen of Ellen Haynes

Flank Steak Pinwheels

Tonight we did Pinwheel Steaks! To be honest, I had never eaten a Pinwheel Steak, or even heard of them, for that matter. Always up for a challenge, I set out to find out how to cook them! After a little digging, though, I came across a recipe on the Eating Well site that sounded good. The trick with this cut of meat is getting it cooked to your liking. My family prefers our meat well done, which is a little hard to do since it's wound around itself. If you prefer your meat not so rare, cook it slowly on a lower heat so it has time to cook all the way through without burning on the outside. I served these with baked sweet potatoes and a garden salad.

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 cups boiling water

1 package Cordray's Pinwheel Steaks

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tbs light herbed cheese spread, such as Boursin (I used an herbed cream cheese)]

1 cup baby spinach

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Bamboo skewers or toothpicks

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat grill to high.

2. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; pour boiling water over them and let steep until

     softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and chop.

3. Mix garlic with cheese spread.

4. Unroll one pinwheel steak and spread cheese mixture down the length of the strip. Top

    with the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Starting at one edge of a long side, roll the

    steak back up tightly, tucking in the filling as you go.

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the outside of the steak roll.

6. Secure the loose end of the steak roll with a skewer or toothpick.

7. Grill one side then flip gently with a spatula to the other side. Cook 3-4 minutes per side

     for medium-rare or more for your taste.

**Some filling may slide out as it's cooking- that's ok. Either remove skewers before serving or warn your diners!

Adapted from www.eatingwell.com

These look very pretty and like they took a long time to prepare, but they were actually fairly easy. My husband and I enjoyed branching out and trying something new. The kids weren't quite sure about the sun-dried tomatoes! The baby loved the cooked cheese mixture on his little bites of steak. =) If you have any other delicious Pinwheel Steak recipes, please share!   Happy Cooking, Ellen

Ellen cooks Pot Roast

When my six year old, Carson, began asking, "Mom, is it time for you to cook some more meat yet?", I figured we needed to try out our next recipe!

Tonight's dinner was the classic Pot Roast with Vegetables. We did ours in the crock pot and it was fabulous! You know how food tastes much better if you didn't cook it? Well, the crock pot is kind of like that for me... get it started in the morning and then magically supper is ready at dinner time! I also learned a couple things today: 1) I need a bigger crock pot. It was definitely full to capacity with the generous 3.8 pound rump roast we had in it; and 2) Pot Roast has to be one of the best comfort foods around. As I worked around the house today, the aroma from the kitchen kept tempting me to go take a peek. Pot Roast reminds me of my great-grandmother, Hattie Mae, who always fixed the best roast dinner for Sunday lunch! As we all sat down to the table tonight, there were many "ooohs" and "yums" being said before we even tasted the delicious beef and vegetables! The meat was so tender and flavorful! My husband plans to use leftovers for sandwiches this week.

One thing I wanted to mention was that I tend to substitute in recipes... a lot. Sometimes it's because I don't have the exact ingredients I need (we live in a very small town with no quick way to run to the grocery store) and sometimes it's because I think something else might taste better! So, feel free to add your own personal twist when using these recipes. You know what your family likes. Besides, you've already done the important part...started with a great cut of meat. We're not gravy people, but feel free to use the juices left over in the crock pot to make the gravy for your roast. Here's the recipe we used- enjoy!

Savory Pot Roast with Vegetables

INGREDIENTS

Cordray's beef rump roast, +/- 3 pounds
6 potatoes
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 yellow onion
2 stalks celery
3 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup water
minced garlic
salt, ground pepper, additional spices to taste

Directions

Cut up potatoes, onions, and celery in to fairly large chunks and place in a slow cooker. Put roast on top of vegetables. Place 3 bouillon cubes on top of roast and cover with water.

2. Replace lid and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or High for 4 to 5 hours (check your crock pot against these times, as it may cook faster or slower).

Cordray Farms Full Cut Sirloin Steaks

Tonight's cut of meat was Sirloin Steak! The first thing we noticed was how the Cordray Farms Sirloin cut we received was far bigger than the biggest steaks I've seen at the grocery store. It was enormous! =) I was having difficulty deciding which recipe to use, until I had a thought. I have been amazed at how different (better!) the Cordray beef tastes from what I was previously buying at the store. It is also much more tender. So, I thought it would be interesting to just do something simple. I didn't want to cover up the taste of the meat with a lot of added ingredients, so the only ingredient we used was Worcestershire sauce. I marinated the steak for an hour or so and then my husband put it on the grill until it was cooked medium well. We did add a little garlic butter (minced garlic added to melted butter) to one of the steaks to try as we had heard it recommended. The result was by far, the best tasting, and most tender steak we've ever eaten. This was a steak that had been frozen, also! I actually preferred the Sirloin without the butter because it was so good by itself. There are so many ways to marinade and flavor a steak, but sometimes simpler is better!

Happy cooking,

Ellen

Cordray Farms Beef Patties

We fired up the grill again tonight for some hamburgers. The way Cordray's has the patties pre-made and individually frozen in a package of 6 was such a time-saver this evening! We grilled the burgers just how they came out of the package. They stayed pretty close to their original size, making a good-size meal out of each one. Since the burgers were sized so generously, the package of 6 burgers fed my family with some to spare. We served them as cheddar cheese burgers with a little mesquite bbq sauce on top. Delicious!

(2 cans) Hot n’ Sweet Peppers (can be found in the pickle/canned pepper section of the grocery store)

Wash and remove seeds from the bell peppers. Slice the bell peppers into thin strips.

Drain the juice from the can of hot n’ sweet peppers. Combine bell peppers and hot n’ sweet peppers.

Place a combination of the peppers into the center of a piece of cubed steak. Fold the meat so that the peppers are completely covered by the meat (you are essentially stuffing the cube steak with peppers by wrapping the meat around the peppers). Wrap the pepper stuffed cubed steak with a piece of bacon and secure it together with a toothpick.

Place each piece of wrapped meat into a sealable container. Cover the meat with the Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce. Let the mixture marinate for up to 3 hours.

Cook the strips of meat on low in a pan with enough water (or beef broth) to prevent the meat from burning. The meat can be cooked quickly if you do not have much time, but the slower and longer you cook the meat, the more tender it will become.

Once the meat has cooked through, drain any excess water that did not get absorbed when cooking the meat, then put the meat back in the pan. Add both cans of cream of mushroom soup, the cream of chicken soup, and beef broth into the pan with the meat. Once you have everything mixed, let the mixture heat and combine for at least 15 minutes.

After the mixture has been heated throughout, take the pot off of the heat. Mix in the sour cream. (If you mix the sour cream in while being heated, it might curdle.)

Let the mixture heat up and it is ready to be served! Our family favorite is to serve it over egg noodles, but you can put it on top of the noodle of your choice.

- The contents of this recipe tend to get salty quick when mixed together, so make sure you do not add any salt! You can add pepper to taste.

- This recipe is more of a dump and pour type recipe, not a recipe where you need to follow the precise amount of each ingredient. So once it is all combined, add more of whichever flavor you feel it needs!

Venison Loin wrapped in bacon

Venison Loin
1 pound bacon
Italian dressing
Worcestershire sauce
Toothpicks

Slice tenderloin into ½” thick pieces. Make sure each piece is approximately the same size to ensure even grilling. Place pieces in a sealable container.

Pour a generous amount of Italian dressing over the venison. Add dashes of Worcestershire sauce also. Close container and shake the mixture until the venison is coated.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

After marinating the meat, wrap each piece of venison with ½ of a slice of bacon. Secure bacon with toothpick. The bacon should cover about ½-¾ of the meat surface.

Grill the pieces until the desired temperature of the meat 160 degrees) is reached and bacon is crispy.

HELPFUL TIPS:

Soak toothpicks in water before using them… this will prevent the toothpicks from burning while grilling the meat!

Although this recipe is designed for venison, it works well with beef as well as other wild game animals – such as, quail, pheasant, and dove!

From Kristin Kierspe's kitchen (Kenneth's fiance)

Montreal Steak seasoning Syrup Worchestershire sauce Brown Sugar Garlic (salt, powder, or fresh)

Poke holes with fork into meat. Add as much of each ingredient as you would like. I usually sprinkle all dry products onto venison and then pour syrup on venison just to cover it and fill bottom of pan with worchestershire sauce. Let soak for a couple of hours then turn steak over and let set for a couple of hours. I usually turn a couple of times if I start early enough in the day. Cook as desired. From the kitchen of Sonja Southwick (Horsham, PA)

Combine spices and garlic in bowl. Thoroughly rub meat with spice mixture and allow to sit for 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 420 degrees. In an oven-safe skillet, heat olive oil medium hot (until it just begins to smoke). Sear the meat in skillet for about 1.5 to 2 minutes per side. This will lock in the juices and flavor. After searing on all sides, place skillet in preheated oven for about 4-6 minutes for medium rare. Slice into 1/4-inch medallions and enjoy.

Place the roast in a crockpot and add the above ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours. The sauce makes a great gravy for mashed potatoes and the leftovers are wonderful! (This recipe is also great with cubesteak instead of a roast - just shorten the cooking time.)

From the kitchen of Michelle and Jeff DiMaio (daughter and son-in-law of Michael).

1 bottle Progresso red wine vinegar with garlic (found on salad dressing isle)

Marinade venison steaks in the above ingredients overnight and cook on the grill the next day. Poor the leftover marinade on the steaks when you first put them on the grill. (This recipe can be used for tenderloin kabobs as well if you cut them into 1-2 inch pieces and place them in a tin foil packet for grilling).