Tough as leather.
#22
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: East central Illinois
If you like swiss steak you'll love this. It's best to use round(hind quarters) steak but backstraps work great as well. Thin slice about 1 1/2 to 2lbs meat about 1/3-1/2 inch thick and add tenderizing salt and pepper then pan sear it on both sides in a skillet with butter. Remove the steaks, coat them in milk and cover in flour. Throw then in a crock pot and add water but don't completely submerge the steaks. Turn that crock pot on high, add your favorite seasoning(I use rosemary, oregano, black pepper, and three bay leafs), and watch the water level. It's easy to forget about it but make sure there is water at all times. After about two to three hours when the meat is tender enough to cut with light pressure from your fork add some more flour and mix it in well to give you that gravy. Reduce to medium heat and continue to cook for another 30 mintues or so. You can also cook this with you favorite veggies, but I prefer this with mashed potatoes. My grandma showed me how to make it this way and it's by far my favorite.
#23
As tempting as it is to immediately cook some tenderloin I choose to wait and let the meat age a little. After you have butchered your deer and cleaned all the meat,if at all possible you should let it age. Meat will naturally breakdown (somewhat) if you allow it too. Most any butcher will tellyou one of the worst things you can do is immediately freeze meat, natural aging is highly recommended. I do this by deboning all roasts, and cutting the meat down as much as possible to take up as little space as possible. Put the meat into the gallon size thick ziploc and place them in the refrigerator(not the freezer)on the coldest setting. Let the meat age in your frig for a few days 3-4 or 5-6 if your frig is real cold. Then prepare it for the freezer. I use freezer paperthen aluminum foil wrapped tightly around the meat and then Iplace the wrapped meatback in the big ziplocs(rinse and wipe them out before putting the meat back in). When you are ready to cook some allow it to thaw naturally(no microwave or water soaking)which sometimes will take a day or two in the frig. Deer meat does really well with dry rub seasonings, sliced thin it can be cooked quicklyon the stovetop in a pan with extra virgin olive oil (just a couple of minutes per side on a med/hi temp). Crock-pots and oven roasting work well too but I recommend starting the meat and letting it cook for at least 3 hours then adding the veggies and continue cooking until the meat will pull apart with a fork. I frequentlyadd butter(not too much)to the meat as it roasts to keep moist or cover it with the thickest bacon I can find at the store. I know some of these tips are overkill and I could type all day on some othermore specific recipes and meat tips for you but I don't want to bore everyone.
Next backstrap you get cleanit and age it in the fridge for a few days,slice it, season it with a dry rub, then put it back in the fridge. Cook it the next day in the extra virgin olive stovetop method and let me know whatyou think.
Next backstrap you get cleanit and age it in the fridge for a few days,slice it, season it with a dry rub, then put it back in the fridge. Cook it the next day in the extra virgin olive stovetop method and let me know whatyou think.
#24
I soak the meat in water, ice, and salt for a couple of days, sometimes longer. When I cut the meat, I take almost all of the grissle (tendons, fat, etc...) out. I have never had a problem with "gamey" meat.




