"Wild Stuff"

This past November we were fortunate to harvest a deer. This is one of natures finest creations. Over the years we have enjoyed many a dinner, and these are a few of our favorites.

As you can see, venison is very lean meat. This is one of the reasons it must be cooked quickly, and on the medium side.

In this dish I have dropped the thinly sliced venison into a skillet with olive oil and a bit of butter. It's then fried for but a few minutes on each side and then plated to enjoy. I season the venison with only salt and pepper, and only when it's in the plate.

Venison is a lean meat that cannot take long cooking times. There are some exceptions such as stews, and ground venison.

Stuffed green peppers. The filling is venison that I grind, white rice, some whole wheat bread crumbs, grated cheese, and seasonings. Placed in a baking dish with tomato sauce and baked for about an hour and enjoyed.

In future posts I'll share with you some other wonderful venison dishes.

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Whitetail Morning

Down the hill through the forest lies a stream that holds wild brook trout. But on this day brook trout were not the quarry. This day was reserved for the opening day of deer season in Connecticut. On this morning my son Alan and myself found ourselves in the dark cold woods at 5:30 am. We have hunted deer together for twenty plus years and opening day always holds special meaning. As daylight started to pierce the the woods shots could be heard cracking through the woods, perhaps some hunter has filled their tag.

We had sat quietly for several hours with not a sign of a whitetail. It was them when I observed a bit of orange in the distance, it was my son moving. Suddenly the crack of his 30/30 sounded. I waited for a few minutes, then started to work my way toward him. As I got close to him he said he was not sure of success. So we both started to search for signs of a hit. It did not take long, and a trail was seen. A second later a wonderful whitetail was found. My son tagged his deer, and we both dragged it to a spot where it could be field dressed. This day was one of those that will be always remembered.

A Remington model 700, 243. This gun has earned its place in my gun cabinet. It has markings of the so many wonderful days spent in the deer woods.

That night we pulled the tenderloins from the deer and a very special and delicious meal was enjoyed by two hunters.

Today I'll process the rest of the deer, wrap and freeze some. We will share a number of days in the deer woods over the next weeks, and hopefully as wonderful.

Venison tenderloin quickly sauteed in olive oil and butter.

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