# My husband got his first deer!



## snorkelinggirl (Dec 5, 2013)

Just got a call from my husband, and he excitedly told me that he got his first deer today!  It was a small spike whitetail, killed instantly by a shot through the shoulder/diaphragm area.  

Anyway, I'm pretty excited to have a chance to try out some venison recipes, especially venison sausage recipes.

I'll be looking over the deer posts for ideas, but if anyone has any favorite venison recipes I'd love to be pointed to them.

Thanks!!
Clarissa


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## driedstick (Dec 5, 2013)

Tell him congrats on his first deer


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## coffee_junkie (Dec 5, 2013)

Tell him congrats! I didn't there where white tails in that area. Lots of good sausage ideas in the sausage forum. My favorite is grilled butterfly steak (backstrap) cooked medium rare. Whatever you do don't overcook that tender and sweet meat :)

I make burger out of most of my deer. But also make a bunch of salami, I love venison cotto salami!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 5, 2013)

That's fantastic Clarissa! You'll have some good eating there! Was he hunting in Oregon, if so which unit? I used to hunt the Strawberry Mountain area for white tails with my muzzle loader, but haven't drawn a tag there in years.


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## jcurrier (Dec 5, 2013)

One thing to consider with deer meat is that you need to eat it right away.  In other words almost as you are pulling it from the grill, it just seams to melt in your mouth when straight from the fire.

Try doing french chops (like lamb) great app for when you have a fancy dinner!

Oh and congrats on the first!


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 5, 2013)

driedstick said:


> Tell him congrats on his first deer Thumbs Up



Will do!   Thanks for the good wishes! 




coffee_junkie said:


> Tell him congrats! I didn't there where white tails in that area. Lots of good sausage ideas in the sausage forum. My favorite is grilled butterfly steak (backstrap) cooked medium rare. Whatever you do don't overcook that tender and sweet meat :)
> I make burger out of most of my deer. But also make a bunch of salami, I love venison cotto salami!



Thanks, I'll tell him!  They were up in extreme NE Oregon, near the borders with Washington and Idaho.  

Thank you for the cooking tips and suggestions!  I'll definitely look up venison sausage posts and I'll look to see if you have a post out there on venison cotto salami. 



dirtsailor2003 said:


> That's fantastic Clarissa! You'll have some good eating there! Was he hunting in Oregon, if so which unit? I used to hunt the Strawberry Mountain area for white tails with my muzzle loader, but haven't drawn a tag there in years.



Hi Case,

Thanks!  My husband is really excited, and I'm super proud of him, especially because it was clean and instant for the deer.

He has been going up to the Wallowa District for muzzle loader whitetail season, somewhere north of Enterprise.  Not sure of the unit, but I can find out when he gets home and PM you.  Apparently the tags are easier to come by out there because it is so remote.  Takes a full 10 hours to get there from our house here in the valley.  




jcurrier said:


> One thing to consider with deer meat is that you need to eat it right away.  In other words almost as you are pulling it from the grill, it just seams to melt in your mouth when straight from the fire.
> 
> Try doing french chops (like lamb) great app for when you have a fancy dinner!
> 
> Oh and congrats on the first!



Thank you, I'll tell him!   Thank you very much for the cooking advice!!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 5, 2013)

That's great we hunt up there too. Rugged and beautiful country up there. I wish they'd make the white tail hunts a bit earlier, gets cold!!!!!! 

Are we going to get to see some whole deer leg smokes??? How about some venison bresaola??? Mmmmmmmm!


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## bertman (Dec 8, 2013)

Clarissa, find a copy of a book called "Cookin' Wild Game" by Teresa Marrone, through Creative Publishing International (I own a copy, but our local library has a copy, too). We have fixed only about seven or eight of the recipes inside, but have yet to have anything we were disappointed in.

I process my own deer, and always save out as much steak, stew meat, and roast as I can instead of turning everything into burger. The front of this book explains the various cuts and explains what they are good for. Smoked venison roast, if I use bacon draped on top to keep it moist, is delicious!

Tell your husband congrats on his first deer and good luck finding ways to prepare it!


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## leah elisheva (Dec 8, 2013)

That's so exciting!!!

I love venison Carpaccio and tartare (raw) and so I'm not sure that constitutes a 'recipe' per se; of cooking the deer (smiles) but I am thrilled for you, and adore all your beautiful culinary posts, and thus look forward to what you present with this!!!

Cheers! - Leah


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 8, 2013)

bertman said:


> Clarissa, find a copy of a book called "Cookin' Wild Game" by Teresa Marrone, through Creative Publishing International (I own a copy, but our local library has a copy, too). We have fixed only about seven or eight of the recipes inside, but have yet to have anything we were disappointed in.
> 
> I process my own deer, and always save out as much steak, stew meat, and roast as I can instead of turning everything into burger. The front of this book explains the various cuts and explains what they are good for. Smoked venison roast, if I use bacon draped on top to keep it moist, is delicious!
> 
> Tell your husband congrats on his first deer and good luck finding ways to prepare it!



Hi bertman,

Wow, I really appreciate you directing me to a cookbook on game meat.  My husband and I processed his deer today and I left the backstrap, sirloin, and deboned legs as roasts.  Your idea of draping bacon and smoking the roast sounds like a fantastic idea for those sirloins. I'll try and find the book you recommended at our library too.  Thanks again for your help!

Clarissa  




LeahOceanNotes said:


> That's so exciting!!!
> 
> I love venison Carpaccio and tartare (raw) and so I'm not sure that constitutes a 'recipe' per se; of cooking the deer (smiles) but I am thrilled for you, and adore all your beautiful culinary posts, and thus look forward to what you present with this!!!
> 
> Cheers! - Leah



Hi Leah!

I love beef tartare as well, but feel a little skittish about it with wild game field-dressed and processed by rank amateurs.  We had the heart tonight, though, seared rare-medium-rare and it was delicious, milder than beef heart.  I used the caper cream sauce recipe that was shared on thoseguys26's thread, and it was super tasty.  I'll be starting to cure a venison ham tomorrow. 

Hope you have a great night and week!
Clarissa


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 8, 2013)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> That's great we hunt up there too. Rugged and beautiful country up there. I wish they'd make the white tail hunts a bit earlier, gets cold!!!!!!
> 
> Are we going to get to see some whole deer leg smokes??? How about some venison bresaola??? Mmmmmmmm!



Hey Case,

Well, the deer processing took quite a while today but went well overall.  Ended up with 20+ lbs of meat from this young white tail.  I left the neck whole for braising, and left the backstrap, tenderloin, and sirloin as roasts.  I ended up deboning the legs but got a couple of nice 4 lb deboned leg roasts.  I'll be putting one in Pop's Brine tomorrow to make venison ham.  The rest of the deer went as stew meat or trim, and I'm planning some fresh sausage and maybe some cotto salami.  I might take your suggestion of bresaola and do that on one of the sirloins....or maybe wrap it in a bacon weave and smoke it....too many options!!!

Have a great night!
Clarissa


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## redheelerdog (Dec 11, 2013)

SnorkelingGirl said:


> Just got a call from my husband, and he excitedly told me that he got his first deer today! It was a small spike whitetail, killed instantly by a shot through the shoulder/diaphragm area.
> 
> Anyway, I'm pretty excited to have a chance to try out some venison recipes, especially venison sausage recipes.
> 
> ...


If you like breakfast sausage here is the best and simplest recipe you can find:  *Pops Country-Style Breakfast Sausage*

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/73350/country-style-breakfast-sausage

Works with venison too...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/135310/pops-breakfast-sausage-with-venison


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 11, 2013)

SnorkelingGirl said:


> Hey Case,
> 
> Well, the deer processing took quite a while today but went well overall.  Ended up with 20+ lbs of meat from this young white tail.  I left the neck whole for braising, and left the backstrap, tenderloin, and sirloin as roasts.  I ended up deboning the legs but got a couple of nice 4 lb deboned leg roasts.  I'll be putting one in Pop's Brine tomorrow to make venison ham.  The rest of the deer went as stew meat or trim, and I'm planning some fresh sausage and maybe some cotto salami.  I might take your suggestion of bresaola and do that on one of the sirloins....or maybe wrap it in a bacon weave and smoke it....too many options!!!
> 
> ...



Looking forward to seeing everything you cook up with this Deer!!! Should be great!!!

Bresaola should be great!


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 12, 2013)

redheelerdog said:


> If you like breakfast sausage here is the best and simplest recipe you can find:  *Pops Country-Style Breakfast Sausage*
> 
> http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/73350/country-style-breakfast-sausage
> 
> ...




Hi redheeler,

Thanks very much for pointing me toward the venison version of Pop's breakfast sausage.  Great timing to post me this, because I actually am planning on making some breakfast sausage this weekend.  I have a spicy-herby recipe that we usually use when I make pork breakfast sausage that I was going to try on the deer, but I did also want to try Pop's recipe to see which complemented the deer better.  

Thanks again!  Have a great day!
Clarissa


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 12, 2013)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> Looking forward to seeing everything you cook up with this Deer!!! Should be great!!!
> 
> Bresaola should be great!



I love eating bresaola, but I haven't made it before.  However, I'll be starting to cure one this weekend using a small beef eye-of-round roast....if it comes out well I'll try it on a deer sirloin or a piece of backstrap next.  If you have a good recipe for deer bresaola, send it my way!!

Have a great day!
Clarissa


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