Big Game Recipes

venison roast

Fig-Glazed Roast

I usually keep a jar of balsamic vinegar-infused figs on hand. The mildly sweet figs pair well with the not-so-acidic vinegar. Add a sprig or two of fresh sage or rosemary and a few garlic cloves, and it’s an instant pan sauce. This balsamic-fig combo is one you’ll want to use again and again on…

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Texas-Style Hindquarter Oven Venison Roast

Blasphemy! Making a “Texas-style” hindquarter venison roast indoors just ain’t right. Here’s the deal. Not everyone owns an outdoor cooker. Others can’t get past the snow bank to even find the barbecue, but they’d still like to turn a big deer roast into something that’s long on flavor and eats like a pot roast. Plus,…

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venison steak with raspberry sauce

Raspberry Vinaigrette Marinade and Sauce

If you’re short on time and looking for an easy and super-delicious marinade and sauce, this one fits the bill. Soak venison steaks for an hour or so before slapping on a white-hot grill. The sugary raspberry preserves will give the grilled meat crispy, caramelized edges. For extra flavor, baste with vinaigrette while grilling, and…

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grilled steak medallion

Mockstrap

I often have people mistake my stuffed venison hindquarter cuts for backstraps. If you treat them right, they can be just as tender, especially if they’re removed from a young doe. The first step is to separate each muscle from the hindquarter. Using a sharp boning knife, work along the sinew that separates the muscle…

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venison with blackberry sauce

Blackberry Chipotle Sauce

Sweet, sour and spicy — a great combination for any dark-fleshed game, like venison. Just how spicy will be determined by how much chipotle pepper you add to the sauce. You can buy chipotle peppers in a can. They’re hot, but not quite as hot as the adobo sauce they’re packed in. You can also…

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fish with orange sauce

Three Simple Wild Game Grilling Sauces

You’ve got to love it when you stumble upon a recipe that only needs a handful of ingredients, is simple to prepare and, best, tastes great. Chances are good that you won’t bother with a three-page recipe with a long list of obscure ingredients that you can’t even pronounce. Here are some easy sauces that’ll…

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black bean salsa

Two Great Salsas

A departure from traditional tomato salsas, these are two of my favorite grilled venison toppers. After preparing the salsas, let them stand at room temperature for an hour to blend flavors and give them a chance to warm up. Putting cold salsa on a hot venison steak or fish just doesn’t make good sense. Black…

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compound butter

One Great Venison Steak

It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but I have had well-meaning folks bring me bone-in, gristly deer steaks that are about a foot in diameter. Some misguided soul has taken a deer hindquarter or, even worse, shoulder roast, and cut it into steaks with a band saw. If all you plan to do is cut…

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cuts of venison deer

No Problemo Shoulder Roast

I’d like to get back the hours spent excising usable pieces of stew meat from deer shoulders. It’s work best left to those who do it for a living. I’d rather spend my time doing something, anything, else. Fortunately, there’s a way to remove the meat from a bone-in deer shoulder that requires minimal knife…

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