How many of you are lucky enough to go Caribou
hunting? Lots, I hope. Our family usually has an abundance
of wild game to choose from, and caribou is one of our favorites. It
too belongs to the venison family, and they all have their own distinct
tastes, so use what you want when you want. The rule of thumb I
use when preparing wild game is the three TTT's. Time, temperature and
technique. The first recipe I am doing for you this month was
served at a dinner party we held, when we hosted the Northeast Region editor
for Field and Stream magazine, everyone gave it a thumbs up. I
don't usually experiment with guests, but this sounded to good to pass up.
And you can't always rely on your family to be the greatest of critics.
1 good size pot roast (venison)
1/2 lb fresh cranberries
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon
3 whole cloves
2 Tbls. flour
1 cup beef broth (bullion is ok)
salt and pepper
12 small carrots
12 small onions
2 Tbls. veg. oil
3 white turnips
1- 3oz jar prepared horseradish, drained
fresh lemon juice
Cook the cranberries with the sugar in a little water
for 10 minutes. Season the flour with the salt and pepper.
Dredge the roast in the seasoned flour and then pound the flour into the
meat. Use a flat surface, such as a cleaver, or the flat side of a
meat mallet. Heat the oil in a Dutch over and brown the roast on
all sides, until well browned. Add the horseradish, cranberries,
spices and beef broth. Cover and cook gently for 2 hours, adding more
water if necessary. Toss in the onions, carrots and turnips and cover
again and cook until the vegetables are tender. Taste and add more
seasonings if necessary. Now add a few drops of fresh lemon juice,
about 1 Tbls. Let the roast sit for a few minutes before slicing.
This tastes wonderful with twice baked potatoes and keep a little
horseradish on the side, this is one condiment that people don't use often
enough. It definitely adds flavor to a lot of dishes.
How about something totally different, that once you
try it your going to love it. Venison Moussaka! I don't usually
have a lot of ground venison on hand, but I will make this dish when I have
enough. Most of our venison goes into steaks, chops, roasts, and a
minimal goes into being ground.
Slice the eggplant with the peel left on into 1 /2
inch slices. Discard the stem ends. Dredge the slices in flour
to totally coat them and fry them, several at a time in hot olive oil .
Make sure there is 1/2 inch of oil at all times in the skillet. Turn
the slices only once. Remove them after they have turned brown, keep
them warm, while finishing all the egg plant slices. Drain them well
on paper towels. Arrange about one third of the slices in 2 casserole
dishes, that have been slightly oiled. , one dish for the freezer.
It pays to plan ahead.
In the same skillet sauté the onions and garlic for
3-4 minutes. Add the meat and brown, crumbling it with a fork as it
cooks. Stir in the tomato sauce and seasonings and simmer for 10
minutes.
In a separate sauce pan melt the butter and stir in
the 6 Tbls. of flour. Gradually add the warm milk and stir over low
heat until bubbling. Beat this sauce slowly into the beaten eggs and
add salt , pepper and paprika to taste.
Build up layers, in both of the lined casseroles, fist
spooning in the meat mixture , then the egg sauce, then cheese, then crumbs,
then the eggplant slices. Divide everything so that you have 2 or 3
layers, ending with the sauce, cheese and crumbs. Bake this at 350
degrees for 30 minutes. Brown the topping under the broiler. This
should do 2 nice casseroles. This can stored in the
freezer for 2 to 3 months. This is extremely good. Any casserole
that is done up ahead of time, sure saves time when your behind, and need
something quick to fix in a pinch. When you take this out of the
freezer, heat your oven to 350 degrees, keep the aluminum foil covering the casserole
and bake for 1 hour. Longer if necessary, and brown the top under the
broiler.
A friend of mine prepared this next recipe for me
when I visited her recently. She had some very nice plump partridge
breast and wanted to try a new recipe. I had to give her rave reviews.
And in doing so, I thought my readers would like it also. So I will call
this Marion's' Specialty. We can hunt partridge for a while yet, so if
you want, try this
Marion's
Specialty
4 rectangles of puff pastry( buy it at your local
supermarket)
1 egg and1 tsp. water beaten together
6 1/2 Tbls. butter
4 shallots minced
1 onion finely chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored
Salt and fresh ground pepper
quartered and cut into 1/2 in. slices
4 partridge breasts, skinned, boned, and split
horizontally
1 lb. fresh spinach, stemed and rinsed
1 Tbl. white wine
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the puff rectangle on a baking
sheet lined with parchment. Brush the surface of each piece with
beaten egg mixture without letting the egg drip down the sides of the
pastry. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temp. to 350 degrees and
bake 25 minutes longer or until the pastry is nut brown and flaky.
While these are baking, melt 4 1/2 Tbls. of butter over medium heat. Sauté
shallots for 1 minute. Add onion and sauté 5 to 6 minutes longer or
until they are transparent. Add the apple slices and cook for 15
minutes or until very tender. Season with salt and pepper and keep
warm.
With the pastry done, split the pastries in half carefully. Pull the
top piece off the bottom piece with your fingers. Do this carefully,
you do not want to crush the pastries.
Melt remaining butter in a 12 inch. skillet and slowly sauté the partridge
breasts for 3 minutes per side. Do this very slowly, you don't want to
cook the breasts to dry. Make sure they are done before you remove
them from the skillet.
Now take the apples that you have been keeping warm and place them
over high heat and quickly add the spinach and cook just until the spinach
is limp. Season with the white wine , salt and pepper.
Place the bottom half of the pastry on a dinner plate. Top with the
chicken and spoon the spinach and apple mixture over the chicken, then top
with the juices. Lay the top piece of the pastry over it all.
This is really soooo gooood!!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Until
next month. take care.
