This fall, his second year of bowhunting, Adam got a small buck and a doe. We’ve been itching to try our hands at sausage-making for a long time, so we borrowed the scary-looking family heirloom equipment from Adam’s parents and got to it.

I’m not going to re-post the recipe, because we used this one verbatim for our first batches. For the second, third, and yes FOURTH batches, we varied the herbs but not the basic ratio: 4 lbs of ground venison and one lb of pork fat. The only thing we omitted was the Instacure (pink salt) after being assured by the Seward Co-op meat guys (they were very patient with me and my questions) that it was unnecessary.

Yes, that is a pound of pork fat. The same week Adam got his first deer, my family split up all the meat from two hogs which my dad had purchased for us. Nobody else wanted any of the fat so I got all the fat from both animals. Seriously, we have a ton of pork fat in our freezer, so if you live in Minneapolis and want some, I’m happy to share. We had the butcher grind up the fat for us, so it’s super easy to use.

The recipe calls for gin, so we found this locally-produced one and it was fantastic. We had no trouble finishing off that bottle in the following days.

We got quite a few packages of ground venison trimmings from the guy who cut up Adam’s deer for him, so the grinding part was done, which made the process faster. Mixing it all up took a little practice. The amount was really too much for our mixer (imagine pork fat chunks and chunks of raw venison hitting the walls of the kitchen). So we mixed it by hand. Because everything needs to be ICE COLD, mixing it with your hands kinda hurts! But Adam powered through.

Next, fry up a little patty and sample it. Delicious.

Now it was time to load Ye Olde Sausage Stuffer, with the casings (from Seward Co-op) and start making some sausage! The kids were fascinated and impressed. I was horrified and amused.

After stuffing you twist the long sausage into individual links.

Finally, you hang it to dry in a refrigerator overnight. We were lucky that our small basement refrigerator came with this wine rack built right in. We’ve never used it for wine but it works great for this!

The next day, we wrapped up packages of four links in butcher paper and froze them. We gave some to family, and have eaten plenty too. It’s delicious!

I have the book Charcuterie by Mark Ruhlman from the library right now, and it has some different venison sausage recipes that I would also like to try. Rather than pork fat, Ruhlman uses a ratio of 3 lbs ground venison to 2 lbs ground pork meat. He also hot-smokes his sausages, a process which intimidates me a little bit, honestly.

On the other hand, we’ll probably also make several more batches with this recipe, because what else are we going to do with all this pork fat? Any favorite venison sausage recipes you’d like to share?

My dad went hunting this weekend.  One long hunting story later, he had an extra turkey.  My uncle Don, who is a taxidermist, plans to mount it, but didn’t want the meat.  He saved the meat for us, and we made this most wonderful dish with it tonight.  (Is this is the most redneck post I’ve ever written?)

Wild turkey masala
Adapted from Nourishing Traditions (original recipe called for quail)

2-3 good-sized pieces of wild turkey, such as breast
1 c. plain yogurt
1 med. onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1-2 cardamom pods, crushed
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt

1. My uncle soaked the turkey meat in a salt brine overnight after cleaning the bird, but I don’t know that it’s totally necessary to do that.  At any rate, start with thawed meat.

2. Combine the yogurt and all the spices in a gallon-size bag.  Add the meat.  Marinate for 12-24 hours.  We marinated ours for nearly 24 hours.

3. If you are using a boneless piece, such as the breast, pound it so that it reaches uniform thickness.

4. Remove meat from marinade and fry in a couple tablespoons of coconut oil, butter, ghee, or some combination thereof over low-med. heat, with the cover on.  Length of time depends on what pieces you’re using.  We did breasts that had been pounded to about 3/4 in. thick, so they only needed to cook about 5 minutes on each side.

Adam didn’t pour any marinade into the pan, but he didn’t rinse the meat off either.

These turned out great.  They didn’t taste gamey at all, just moist and delicately spiced.  Someone with a very midwestern palate might call them a little bit spicy.  We served them with oven fries.

This is definitely the most highfalutin recipe Adam has ever come up with.  Here’s what you’ll need, for 4 people:

Proscuitto-topped pheasant stuffed with millet and parmesan
4 pheasant breasts (we did 2 breasts + 2 thighs and gave the thighs to the kids)
1/2 – 3/4 c. cooked millet
2 T. olive oil
4 T. butter
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
4 slices proscuitto
salt & pepper

1. Cook millet in water, remove from heat, and reserve.

2. Pound pheasant breasts flat between two pieces of plastic wrap, using a wooden meat mallet or rolling pin.

3. For each breast, peel back top layer of plastic wrap, and sprinkle on salt and pepper.  Top with about 2 T. millet, then 2 tiny pats of butter, then about 1 T. parsley.  Cover with grated parmesan and top with a slice of proscuitto.  Leave covered in plastic wrap while you finish the others.

4. In a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, melt 1 T. butter combine with 1 T. olive oil.  When the skillet is hot, carefully peel the plastic wrap from the bottom and, holding it by the top layer of plastic wrap, carefully drop it into the pan, pheasant side down.  Then quickly peel the top layer of plastic wrap from the proscuitto.  (This helps to hold it together.)  Fry for about 2-3 minutes.

5.  Carefully flip it over.  Some of the inside stuff may fall out, but just push it back in.  Cook on the proscuitto side for 1-2 minutes, then remove from pan.  Serve it proscuitto-side up, garnished with a little bit of parsley.  These are a little bit tricky, so it’s better to do them one at a time and keep first ones warm in the oven while you cook the rest.

The picture really doesn’t do this justice.  It was so good I almost cried.  Adam got his inspiration from a video of Jamie Oliver & Mark Bittman doing something similar to this with chicken breasts.  So really, you could substitute chicken or duck or some other game bird for the pheasant in this.  Adam also wants me to note that you could do all kinds of different substitutions, such as: whatever herb you like in place of parsley, or different kinds of grains (like wild rice, or quinoa).

We served it with roasted potatoes, but it is quite rich, so next time I think we’ll just do a green salad on the side.

Here is a recipe that Adam invented.  It would likely work well with any type of red meat — even tougher cuts, since you braise the meat for a while.  He used a loin venison steak.

Beer-braised venison medallions with beet greens & brown rice
Feeds 3-4
Venison – about 1 lb.
Juice of 1 orange (could sub. lemon)
1 med. onion, sliced thinly
1-2 T. butter
1-2 T. olive oil
1 c. beer
1/2 c. beef stock
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
2 bunches beet greens
1 c. brown rice

1. Cut meat into 1 in. cubes.  Marinate in orange juice for a good 1/2 hour at least (up to 2 hours).

2. Put the brown rice and 2 c. water in a small pot and cook over med. heat until it reaches a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all the water is absorbed.  Should be done at relatively the same time, if you start it at the same time that you start cooking the meat.

3. Heat butter and olive oil in a large frying pan or wok over med heat until butter is melted.  Add meat with its marinade juices and the onion, and cook until the meat is browned on the outside, about 5 min.

4. Add beer, beef stock, thyme, salt & pepper and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer, covered, until most of the liquid is gone, about 30 minutes.  Do not stir.

5. Meanwhile, wash the beet greens (sub. any dark leafy green like kale or chard if you like).  Put an inch or two of water and 1 tsp. salt in the bottom of a pot, add the greens, and cook over med.-high heat, covered, until greens are completely wilted.  About 15-20 minutes total.

To serve, place a small amount of rice on the plate.  Top with a spoonful of greens, then meat and some of its juices.  Our onions got all caramelized and this was really delicious.

Adam’s brother Nigel got a deer last weekend, and gave us a really nice piece of venison.  Here’s what we made (this is adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook):

Venison Pot Pie
1 pound lean boneless venison
2 T. oil
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup carrots, cubed
1 cup turnips, cubed
1/3 + 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp shortening or butter
1/3 cup milk

1. Cut meat into small cubes (about 1/2 in.) and brown in hot oil.

2. Add 2 c. stock, thyme, and a bit of pepper.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.  Add vegetables and simmer, another 15-30 minutes.

3. Stir together 1/2 c. stock and 1/3 c. flour and stir into meat/vegetable mixture.  Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.  Pour into a casserole dish.

4. While your stuff is simmering, make the biscuits.  Stir together 3/4 c. flour, baking powder, sugar, and a good pinch of salt.  Cut in shortening or butter until it looks crumbly.  Add milk and stir just a bit.  Drop a couple handfuls on top of the meat/vegetable mixture in the casserole.  Bake at 450 degrees F for about 12 minutes or until the biscuits get all golden.

Serves 5-6 people

Here’s a picture of it in the pot.  Adam used our enameled cast iron dutch oven for the entire process.  That thing is awesome!

Variations:  you could substitute any root vegetable for the carrots and potatoes, and/or green beans instead of peas.