Vaunted Venison

With winter here in earnest, Mirror readers recently submitted savory venison recipes they say are sure to please the palate and warm the soul.

Judy Edwards' Venison Jerky is a prime example.

"The grandkids call me and say, 'I got a deer, when are you makin' the jerky,'" Edwards, 65, of Williamsburg said. "I've tried several different recipes for deer jerky, but this is the best one. And it's because of the flavor - it's not a real spicy jerky, it just has a really good flavor. When relatives come to visit, it doesn't last too long."

Edwards said she dries her meat in a dehydrator.

"It dries really good, and it keeps well, too," she said. "We usually have a couiple batches per month for the first couple months after deer season."

Venison Jerky

3/4 pound venison roast (slice in thin strips)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Accent seasoning

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

2/3 garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2/3 teaspoon pepper

Layer venison strips crisscross in flat glass or plastic container.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients into a sauce. Add sauce to each layer of venison. Refrigerate overnight. Next day, remove meat from sauce, place in a dehydrator and process until dried. Discard sauce. Do not reuse.

"I slice the meat a little bit less than 1/4 of an inch," Edwards said. "But be careful when you're slicing, so you don't cut your fingers. If this meat is partially frozen, it will slice better. It's easy to make."

Whether you bag your deer meat in a field or at the the frozen meat market, how it's prepared and cooked makes all the difference.

"If it's fixed right, it tastes like beef," Bill Freidenbloom, 78, of Altoona said. "A lot of people think wild meat is really strong, but it doesn't have to be if you mix the ingredients right. We use a red wine in our deer steak. When you cook it like that, it takes the alcohol out of the wine and gives the meat a really sweet flavor."

Breaded Venison

and Wine

4 to 8 venison round steaks

1 egg (beaten)

1 cup cracker crumbs

1/2 cup flour

Salt

Pepper

4 tablespoons cooking oil

1 onion (chopped)

1 can mushrooms (drained)

1 cup red wine

Dip steak in egg and roll in mixture of cracker crumbs, flour, salt and pepper to taste. Brown steak in oil. Place in baking dish and cover with onions, mushrooms and wine. Cover. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 1/2 hours.

"I can't remember where I got the original recipe, but it's quite good," Freidenbloom said. "We've been making it for a long time. And we use it for regular steaks, too."

Margaret Malovich, 86, of Bellwood submitted what she called a "delicious and flavorful" vension deer steak concoction.

"It's like fried chicken steak. I used to make it for my husband and the kids, when they still lived at home," she said. "It's easy to make. We'd put scalloped potatoes on it and a vegetable - it made for a great dinner. You can eat it in a sandwich, but it's much better hot off the skillet."

Venison Steak

1/2 inch venison steak (flatten to 1/4 inch)

2 cups saltines crushed finely (no cracker meal)

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

5 tablespoons oil for frying

Place saltines in shallow bowl. Whisk milk, eggs, salt and pepper together in shallow bowl. Coat venison with saltines. Dip venison in egg mix, then in saltines again. Fry in large skillet of oil (medium heat) 2 to 3 minutes on both sides. Serve hot.

"This recipe is great for a quick meal," she said. "But remember, it's better right out of the pan, served with scalloped potatoes and your vegetable of choice. Deer meat has a different taste to it - you can't compare it to any other kind of meat - but once you accept it, it's delicious."

Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.