Salmonsmoker
07-21-2000, 08:06 PM
Hey. Here it is, Friday - and a nice cool evening: a good time for a backyard dinner at the fire circle.
I've been giving some thought to what to cook over the campfire. Venison - of course. What we seem to have a lot of in our freezer is Round Roast - not the most tender cut. However, here's a technique that makes round into finger-licking finger food.
Start with an eye of the round (or whatever cut you have - we freeze all of our vension in whole-muscle pieces, not steaks. It's faster at processing time and you can always cut them into steaks later, while still partially frozen). While it is still frozen, cut it into slices that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Arrange the slices on a large platter so they can thaw, and go start a fire.
If you lay down a layer of charcoal briquets first, then lay in your fire, you will have usable coals in about 15 min.
Rake the coals to one side of your fire-pit (the cooking area) and put more wood on the fire to keep making cooking-coals and to maintain the campfire atmosphere.
Hang a dutch oven over the coals and let it get hot.
Take the sliced meat, some flour, seasoning salt, a large plastic bag, a cutting board, and a meat hammer - out to your fire.
Put one cup of flour in the plastic bag and add one tablespoon of seasoning and shake well. Then sprinkle some of the mixture on the cutting board, being generous with it. Place a slice of meat on the floured part of the board. Add more flour on top of the meat and hammer it with the toothed side of the hammer (the edge of a saucer will also suffice for this part of the operation, it's just a lot more work).
You will have to turn the meat over and recoat it with flour and pound it in several times. The idea is to pound the flour into the meat and flatten the slice out to about 1/16 inch or a little thinner. This also tenderizes the cut.
By now the dutch oven will be hot. Pour in some olive oil (enough to cover the bottom) and let it get very hot (almost smoking).
Next....place the pounded steak into the hot dutch oven and let it sizzle for a minute or two. As soon as it is browned, turn it over and cook the other side. As it is cooking, pound more of the pieces and add them to the dutch oven, without letting the oil cool off.
With this amount of cooking, your 1/16 inch thick floured and pounded steak will be crisp and crunchy and delicious. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy.
Now - repeat the process with the rest of the slices.
Whenever we fix venison in this manner, it is always gone as fast as it comes off the fire.
Let me know what you think.
Salmonsmoker
I've been giving some thought to what to cook over the campfire. Venison - of course. What we seem to have a lot of in our freezer is Round Roast - not the most tender cut. However, here's a technique that makes round into finger-licking finger food.
Start with an eye of the round (or whatever cut you have - we freeze all of our vension in whole-muscle pieces, not steaks. It's faster at processing time and you can always cut them into steaks later, while still partially frozen). While it is still frozen, cut it into slices that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Arrange the slices on a large platter so they can thaw, and go start a fire.
If you lay down a layer of charcoal briquets first, then lay in your fire, you will have usable coals in about 15 min.
Rake the coals to one side of your fire-pit (the cooking area) and put more wood on the fire to keep making cooking-coals and to maintain the campfire atmosphere.
Hang a dutch oven over the coals and let it get hot.
Take the sliced meat, some flour, seasoning salt, a large plastic bag, a cutting board, and a meat hammer - out to your fire.
Put one cup of flour in the plastic bag and add one tablespoon of seasoning and shake well. Then sprinkle some of the mixture on the cutting board, being generous with it. Place a slice of meat on the floured part of the board. Add more flour on top of the meat and hammer it with the toothed side of the hammer (the edge of a saucer will also suffice for this part of the operation, it's just a lot more work).
You will have to turn the meat over and recoat it with flour and pound it in several times. The idea is to pound the flour into the meat and flatten the slice out to about 1/16 inch or a little thinner. This also tenderizes the cut.
By now the dutch oven will be hot. Pour in some olive oil (enough to cover the bottom) and let it get very hot (almost smoking).
Next....place the pounded steak into the hot dutch oven and let it sizzle for a minute or two. As soon as it is browned, turn it over and cook the other side. As it is cooking, pound more of the pieces and add them to the dutch oven, without letting the oil cool off.
With this amount of cooking, your 1/16 inch thick floured and pounded steak will be crisp and crunchy and delicious. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy.
Now - repeat the process with the rest of the slices.
Whenever we fix venison in this manner, it is always gone as fast as it comes off the fire.
Let me know what you think.
Salmonsmoker