Not so new, but a great lunch!

[Ebowhunter]

Last night my wife decided she would prepare my lunch for today.

She took some onions and carmelized them. Then pan fried (cast iron-medium) a piece of round steak (venison of course). Added some swiss cheese to the tortilla with the steak and onions and wrapped it up.

It spent a minute in the microwave and a minute on my plate. I did not even bother to open the jar of Sweet 'n' Hot mustard.

I WILL be having more of these!!!

[Salmonsmoker]

Ebowhunter,

That sounds like a fantastic lunch. Pan-fried steak and onions is always good, and carmalizeing the onions always adds more flavor. The rolled sandwhich is a good addition to that traditional recipe.

Judging from your other post on Steve's marinade question, I would guess that the steak was fried quickly in a very hot skillet so that the outside was seared and the inside was rare (certainly a more tender and flavorful way to cook steak.) Given that it was a round steak, I do have a question: How thick did you cut the steak?

ss

[Ebowhunter]

We butcher ourselves. Our learning curve has brought us to this point:

Neck, front legs are ground. Last year I saved the trimmed scapulas for broth.

Loins are steak. Tenderloin is grilled lightly whole.

Pectorals and abdominals are jerky.

Back legs: Roasts are separated and the rest of the quad is steak. Lower leg gets ground.

All steaks are cut approxiamately 3/4 of an inch thick. On a hot grill, cooking time is up to five minutes total.

Still struggling with ribs. I believe it is due to the fat content. So, this year the ribs will get a parboil (sp?) before they get BBQ'd.

Also, I have yet to find a heart recipe I like (I can't get my wife to eat this cut).

I am still a kid for liver (don't like it). Although, it does make a good pate.

Now, that's gooooddd eatin'.

[Salmonsmoker]

Ebowhunter,

I did some venison ribs last fall that turned out quite well. This evening I will look up how I did them, and post it in the A.M. Also, have made smoked and pickled heart meat cut into thin strips & served as an hors d'oeuver (I had to look that on up in the dictionary) along with smoked cheese on crackers. Will also look up that recipe.

We just happen to have some liver still in the freezer from last season. Do you mind sharing your recipe for Liver Pate?

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

Ebowhunter,

Last evening I went through my cooking notebook (a loose-leaf binder with dividers for various kinds of game and cooking techniques) where a complete record of my experiments allows me to not repeat mistakes and to duplicate the good stuff.

Under "BBQ Ribs, venison" there is a note: The strong flavor comes from the fat in and around the meat. Found it impossible to remove that fat prior to cooking without completely destroying the ribs.

Thus, to remove the fat, I boiled the ribs until they were about 90% done - nice and tender but still holding together. Then, I put them in BBQ sauce to marinate for 24 hours.

The next day, I put them on the grill (low heat) for 12 to 15 minutes on each side, with a liberal application of fresh BBQ Sauce.

They were good. Not excellent. I will experiment more with that this year.

Traditionally, we put the neck, ribs, and all bones into a large pressure cooker and cook the meat off the bone for soup stock.

As for heart: The heart muscle is quite tough. It can be pressure cooked and ends up very much like a roast. However, if sliced quite thin (1/8" like Deli-meat), across the grain of the meat, it can be fried.

For the appitizer that I mentioned, after slicing (again, very thin and across the grain), I put the meat into a mixture of 1 C flavored vinegar, 1 C water, 1/4 C seasoned salt. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours - stiring two or three times.

Next, pour off the brine rinse quickly under running water. Lay out the slices to air dry for about 1/2 hour on each side, then place slices in the smoker for 2 or 3 hours (cold smoke) and finally, bring the smoker temperature up to 180 for 1/2 hour.

Lastly, cut the thin slices into 1" squares and serve with smoked cheese and crackers. It makes a good party-treat, munchie food for taking on hunting and fishing outings, or for having with beer while watching the Superbowl.

ss

[Ebowhunter]

I tried the heart recipe this past weekend.

My discovery, I need to use my smoker more often. Despite the fact that I let it get to hot and ruined the meat, the recipe was awesome. I will use a little less apple vinegar next time (personal preference).

My wife was interested in the final product as it was marinating. She has always run from the idea of eating heart in the past.

Anyone have a heart I can have?

[Salmonsmoker]

Smokers are wonderful for adding flavor. The problem that most people have with smoked foods is that they judge all smoked foods by some very poor examples that they tried one time (probably much the same as why a lot of people do not like venison or other "wild game" meat.) Foods that are smoked for flavor are unique and the "smokey" flavor is deeply ingrained in our collective memory - it is a very satisfying flavor for us. The more you use your smoker, the more you will like the results.

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

Making current

Salmonsmoker