I love a good chunk of charcuterie, and this year’s wealth of venison has been crying out to be made into a sliceable terrine en gelee./aspic. The venison trotters I mention in this post are chock-ful of collagen, making them the perfect thing to help bind a chilled headcheese-style terrine. You could definitely make a…
Carnivore
Venison Trotters
Today, for your viewing pleasure, I present one of the most enjoyable culinary rabbit holes I’ve been down in a very long time. Behold the lowly deer foot, also called venison trotters or Bambi tootsies. Yes, you can eat the feet of deer, including what’s inside the hoof, and, although it might sound bizarre to…
Steamed Fish with Trotter-Mushroom Sauce
Flecked with mushroom duxelles, lemon and herbs, trotter mushroom sauce is one of the richest sauces for fish I know of. When I have trotters, the first thing I usually make are crispy-fried cakes, but this earthy, mushroomy, herby sauce lifted with lemon is a great recipe for using up leftover minced trotter (you’ll have…
Venison Trotter Cakes (Cromesquis)
What’s golden brown, crispy-fried, ooey-goey and delicious? Venison trotter cakes. Almost like a meat-filled tater tot, trotter cakes or cromesquis as they might be called are a little chef secret I’ve adapted to venison here. Most of the time you’re going to see them made with pork, which is how I was taught to make…
Dried Venison Soup with Timpsila (Bapa Wohanpi)
Venison bapa wohanpi soup is a rich stew made from all-dried ingredients that makes for a delicious, creative meal in the winter. After I cooked my venison trotters, the first thing I wanted to make was a traditional Lakota bison hoof soup, but, once I saw how much meat I got off the venison trotters,…
How to Cook Venison Ribs
There’s a lot of overlooked cuts on a deer, but ribs are probably one of the most commonly left on the carcass or tossed into the coyote pile. It’s a shame, since they can be great if they’re prepped right, but I also understand why a lot of people don’t harvest and cook venison ribs. …
Smoked Venison Neck Chili
I love a good bowl of chili, and smoked venison chili is a great one. Deer chili is probably one of the most trusty recipes a lot of people who cook game keep around as it’s a great place to toss a couple pounds of ground or stew meat: just forget about it for a…
Smoked Lamb or Venison Country Ham
Ever wondered how to make prosciutto? Or even something similar at home? It’s a great piece of pork charcuterie, but a difficult one to make well at home unless you have some serious patience. Back at Heartland restaurant in St. Paul when I worked under Chef Lenny Russo, if there was going to be prosciutto…
Smoked Venison Leg Roast
There’s not much better than a good piece of smoked meat, especially a smoked venison / deer leg roast. If you’re a long-time reader of this site you’ll know that I love charcuterie: sausages, salami, terrines and pates, as well as the cousins like whole muscle cures and brined chunks of meat like pastrami and…
Venison Fat Shmaltz
Wondering what to do with venison fat? Oh do I have a treat for you! There’s a huge misconception about venison/deer fat and it’s use in cooking. Basically, people think it tastes like chapstick, it’s gamey and horrible, too rich, or some other common unfortunate misunderstanding. If you’re here, you’re probably bambi fat-curious, so know…
Sicilian Venison Heart Sandwiches (Vastedda Palermitana)
Italian street food is truly some of the coolest out there, case in point: la Vastedda Palermitana. Also known as pani ca muesa or pane con la milza, this sandwich has a few names, all of which are probably more attractive than a descriptive English one. Why? Well, to be blunt, the Vastedda is a…
Smoked Venison Neck Pastrami
Pastrami made from venison neck was a great break from the usual pounded, stuffed roast-type recipes I typically do with my deer necks. You can slice it, you can dice it, boil it, put it on a sandwich, fry it up with eggs or stick it in your ear, it’s a great way to take…
Wild Mushroom Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Soup)
Oh this is a good one, and a recipe for chicken of the woods (or other wild mushrooms like hen of the woods) I’ve been meaning to get up for a while. Tom kha gai is a classic Thai soup typically using chicken, mushrooms, coconut milk, and a few aromatics. It’s a well known soup,…