Venison meatballs and andouille

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luv2eat

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 3, 2012
12
11
Millersvill, MD
So, still new to the forum and hoping I am posting this in the correct area... I am sure the moderator will assist if I am incorrect :) at any rate I am posting a couple recent projects I worked as I am processing portions of venison I harvested this season.

First - meatballs.  I used a generic meatball recipe, some eggs, bread crumbs and spices, but then wanted to smoke them for additional flavor.  I smoked them at under 150 for about 1.5 hours and then finished in the oven with a homemade mango-habanero sauce.

The ground meat with spice mixture ready to mix:

9474e454_meatballmixture.jpg


35650a45_meatballsmixed.jpg


And meatballs after through some applewood smoke:

a38b8842_meatballsaftersmoke.jpg


And for tonight's project I mixed up 7.5 lbs venison and 2.5 lbs bacon with spices recommended by a cajun chef for andouille.  Lots of cracked black pepper, cayenne and garlic.  Hoping it at least looks good however end result, due to the spic make up I will use it mainly as the cajun chef stated, to spice up cajun dishes.  Historically I have used another andouille recipe which I can't find at this time and that would be the primary meat in my dish. then again, I am not an "experienced" cajun cook so this may be the right mixture.  Side note, I often leave some sausage aside and my boy and I will eat as burgers on grill or as in this case, smoked :)

The andouille mixed up and getting ready to case:

1dc4b711_andouillemixture.jpg


The sausage then cased and linked out in about 10" links, medium hog casing:

b5a9d545_andouillelinks.jpg


Some leftover and as stated before, gotta do something with it other than case another 3-4 ft :)

9db52802_extraandouille.jpg


and finally, the finished links and some burgers (we already ate a couple before I remembered to get a pic!)  Please note that there is a glare on the links, they are actually dark like the burgers, true to proper andouille:

b847b69d_andouillefinished.jpg


aa6cc872_andouilleburgers.jpg


Final note - I can provide the recipes I used though for the meatballs you can use any recpie, smoking time and wood I though most important.  For the andouille, I would rather find my original recipe and post than this recipe even though this turned out good.  The recipe called for smoking it at 175-200 for 4-5 hours however as venison requires less heat and cooks quicker I went for 150 for about 2-3 hours and then went to 175+ for what ended up less than an hour before they were 170 inside.  Still trying to decide on dish for tomorrow evenings meetup, jambalaya or red beans and rice... if someone has compelling recipe for either by tomorrow, I welcome it :)
 
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I'm an avid hunter and I harvested 2 deer this year so I have a freezer full. If its not to much to ask I would like to know a little more about those venison meatballs. Besides eggs and bread crumbs what kind of spices did you put into that mixture?
 
Looks great luv2eat... I sure would love to eat some of that........................
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Joe
 
All, sorry for the delayed response.  I was out of state a few days, trying to hunt pigs in GA.  No luck there but had a good time.  For the meatballs, I served them in a mango-habanero sauce so wanted to keep the meat closer to germane.  would've spiced more if they were without the sause, probably would;ve added sage, thyme and some parmesan or romano cheese.  Here is the recipe and where I looked it up (first time making them):
[h3]Ingredients:[/h3]
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
[h3]Preparation:[/h3]
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine egg, water, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper and combine. Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine. Form into meatballs about 1" in diameter and place on a broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until meatballs are no longer pink in center. Cool and freeze, or when baked, use in your favorite recipe.

POST EDIT - please note the cooking instructions are in the start of the thread...

Taken from URL: http://busycooks.about.com/od/groundbeefrecipes/r/easymeatballs.htm

And for the andouille, I typically use a recipe from my mixer bible but can't find it :( so I tried a recipe from a cajun chef online as follows:

Ingredients
1 tbsp dry thyme2 tbsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp salt1/4 cup cracked black pepper
1/2 cup chopped garlic1/2 pound pork fat
5 pounds pork butt6 ft beef middle casing
 
Directions
Cube pork butt into one and a half inch cubes. Using a meat grinder with four one quarter inch holes in the grinding plate, grind pork and pork fat. If you do not have a grinding plate this size, I suggest hand cutting pork butt into one quarter inch square pieces.

Place ground pork in large mixing bowl and blend in all remaining ingredients. Once well blended, stuff meat into casings in one foot links, using the sausage attachment on your meat grinder. Tie both ends of the sausage securely using a heavy gauge twine.

In your homestyle smoker, smoke andouille at 175-200°F for approximately four to five hours using pecan or hickory wood. The andouille may then be frozen and used for seasoning gumbos, white or red beans, pastas or grilling as an hors d'oeuvre.

Recipe by:
Chef John Folse
Louisiana's Premier Products
2517 South Philippe Avenue
Gonzales, LA 70737
(504) 644-6000
Taken from URL: http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/recipes/cajun/andouille-sausage/532.rcr

Feedback on this though (from both my son and I), was a bit over board on garlic, and I love garlic.  If I can find my mixer bible, I will post that recipe - it is so far my fav.  I still have probably 2 deer left in my freezer out of 5 this year.  Lots of jerky and sausage was made and shared before I found this forum.  Oh well, better late than never.  And in enough time to try someone else's tri-tip recipe, smoking one of those will be a first for me.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys.  I can say that this site will challenge my girlish figure.  Wait, never mind, my gender already does that.  Needles to say I haven't seen anything on here yet that I don't want to eat!
 
I’ve got a few free long weekends for hunting trips this year. I butcher my own deer and would like to check in with you professionals (of which I am not) and see what your favorite recipes are. Whitetail deer, specifically, if that matters. Thanks!
Orig poster has not been around since 2016. There is a sub-forum for wild game that has had several good venison threads lately. Go check those out.
 
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