Mostly Archery with dustyvarmint » Recipes

Venison Taco Salad

dustyvarmint — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:00:50 +0000

It’s pot luck season – a perfectly excellent reason to break out the venison for this tasty recipe.

Venison Taco Salad

Note: This recipe is pretty loosely formed. Whether you add jalapenos, subtract onions or forget an ingredient it doesn’t matter – just make it up as you go along.

One batch chilled venison taco meat – here is my recipe.

16 oz bottle Wish Bone salad dressing

2 bags romaine lettuce

16 oz shredded cheddar cheese

2-3 diced tomatoes – I like Roma

2.25 – 3.8 oz can sliced black olives

1 bunch sliced green onions

1 bag Doritos

Mix everything together. The Doritos and cheese will become soft and gooey if you make this too far ahead so I wait to mix them in if it will be awhile. Otherwise, eat up and relive harvesting that buck or doe!

happy hunting, dv

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Slick Trick Burgers

dustyvarmint — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:32:55 +0000

By Jerry Long, May 17, 2010

Venison. Bacon. What can be better than that?

This recipe came from Gary at Slick Trick, a company that produces outstanding broadheads with excellent customer service. Slick Trick broadheads are tough, produce excellent wounds with the resultant bloodtrail and are economical in that they can typically be used over and over again after sharpening.

Slick Trick Burgers

1 lb ground venison
1 lb minced bacon

Mix venison and bacon. Form patties (anything less than one-third pound is a crime). Cook on grill. Serve with your favorite condiments.

happy hunting, dv

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dustyvarmint’s Taco Seasoning

dustyvarmint — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:19:35 +0000

By Jerry Long, April 5, 2010

This week I share my favorite taco seasoning recipe.

For a small-carcassed dude I can put the smack-down on some tacos so the majority of my venison ends up as seasoned meat for this tasty staple. Since I despise dehydrated minced onion and dehydrated minced garlic this recipe is well-suited since I control what goes in it. And, it’s the base for at least two other recipes that’ll come up in the future.

dustyvarmint’s Taco Seasoning

1 T flour
1 t chili powder
1 t paprika
¾ t salt
¾ t onion powder
½ t cumin
¼ t cayenne pepper (optional)
¼ t garlic powder
¼ t sugar
1/8 t ground oregano
1 lb ground meat of choice
2/3 c water or beef or chicken bouillon

1. Combine all ingredients except meat and liquid. Set aside.

2. Brown meat. Drain or don’t drain depending on choice of meat and personal taste.

3. Add seasonings and liquid to meat combining well.

4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Make some FAT tacos – I don’t have to tell you how to do that.

happy hunting, dv

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Bringin’ Home the… Venison Breakfast Sausage

dustyvarmint — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:44:38 +0000

Having used up all my feral hog sausage it was time to explore the freezer…

Earlier this year I used my last sacred package of feral hog breakfast sausage from P&P Deer Processing in Coalgate, OK. It was celebratory and mournful all at once. We connected with P&P from nearby Shiloh Ranch Hunting Camp where we hunted the tusky varmints for a couple of years. Other pursuits have diverted us, but my preference for the tasty sausage has not diminished. I like to pre-cook and freeze a pound of patties on Sunday and eat them throughout the week for breakfast. With a little 2007 and quite a bit of 2008 venison as well as a little javelina meat from this year’s Texas adventure, Boar Attack – Anatomy Of A Hog Shot Gone Wrong, in the freezer I thought it was time to give breakfast sausage making a try.

I’ve made ground meat jerky and snack sticks for years so I didn’t think it would be much of a stretch into breakfast sausage. The directions on the LEM brand seasoning package called for cutting the venison with at least 20% pork so I asked mrs. dustyvarmint to pick up a slightly larger than one pound, well-marbled roast from the store. One could probably not mix in the pork or other fat, but the end product would be very, very dry. Since grinding slightly frozen meat helps to maintain lower processing temperatures and helps produce a better final product I froze the roast. Later I pulled out the roast and slightly more than four pounds of venison from the freezer and let them partially thaw in the refrigerator. I sliced them up into large strips for grinding and mixed the pork with the venison.

Pork and venison, LEM brand sausage seasoning and ground meat packaging tubes.

Next, I ground the meat up making sure the venison and pork were well mixed. Following the package directions, one teaspoon of seasoning was mixed with one ounce of cold water for every pound of meat. Hands are really the best tool for mixing here, but boy does that get cold!

The pork and venison ground. (Sssshhh, don’t tell mrs. dustyvarmint her nice bamboo cutting board is being used as a riser for the grinder!)

I really like slicing up patties from partially thawed tubes of the sausage as shown below. Not totally necessary, but very handy. They go right in the skillet after that. I was worried that my stuffer’s largest tube wouldn’t be big enough to fill the packages properly, but that turned out to be unfounded. The first package turned out at about one-and-one-half pounds, but I got the hang of it after that. The results are pictured below.

Stuffing the sausage packages.

Finished sausage packages.

I couldn’t help myself, but to give it a try, so I waited just long enough for one package to partially freeze, sliced it up and put a fire under it. It turned out quite… tasty. A little crushed red pepper would probably be a good addition, but the test batch is out of the way. While I prefer my chili, taco and burger grind to be really fine I think a slightly chunkier texture would be more appropriate for this sausage.

When coupled with mrs. dustyvarmint’s drop biscuits the sausage was quite tasty…

Clean Up

All the grinder and stuffer components as well as the knives, cutting boards and other accessories get a nice hot water and soap bath as well as a chlorine dip after use. Hopefully, that’ll keep the varmints (not the dusty ones) out.

Equipment Used

mrs. dustyvarmint has been very kind to me with processing equipment over time. Both the grinder and stuffer came from Gander Mountain on Black Friday sales – about $100 between the two. The grinder has processed many deer, hogs and other wild game as well as domestic critters from time to time. The stuffer produces snack sticks and other kinds of sausage as well as handling the packaging this time. The meat tubs are actually dish pans, under $5 from Target, that fit in my refrigerator better than commercial versions.

happy hunting, dv

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dustyvarmint’s Best Black Bean Huntin’ Chili

dustyvarmint — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:52:09 +0000

It’s award winning! Ok, it only won a second place four-pack of microbrew beer and a set of glasses at my sister-in-law’s annual chili party, but it is much requested. The thing that surprises me most is that the majority of the attendees are not hunters or outdoor’s persons. Never-the-less it is very popular.

dustyvarmint’s Best Black Bean Huntin’ Chili

1 lb wild game roast
1/2 T onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1 T chili powder
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t oregano
cayenne to taste (optional)
2 cans black beans
1 15-16 oz can tomato sauce

Mix all ingredients in crock pot. Cook for 8-10 hours. Remove roast. Place in plastic bag, whack with tenderizer mallet, shred with forks, return to crock pot. Let heat through or until you can’t stand to wait anymore. Serve with crackers and cheese or your favorite condiments.

I have made this recipe with pronghorn, venison, beef, feral hog and javelina; sometimes ground, but mostly roasts.