Time for venison stir-fry

Posted by Brent on 1/06/10 • Categorized as Miscellaneous,WildBlog

A delicious, made-from-scratch venison stir-fry

As we endure the hellish season known as January, many thoughts turn to cooking….as my ample waistline will attest. Though this blog isn’t devoted to cooking, don’t hold it against us if a recipe or two sneaks into the mix.

Since the red gods smiled upon us quite brightly during the deer season, we have a plethora of venison in the freezer. In fact, even after a record-setting quantity of jerky and summer sausage given as gifts this year, we’re still not sure if we can eat all the frozen deer by next October.

That’s a great problem to have.

Anyway, the weather was lousy and we have just started our annual diet, so a low-cal and healthy meal seemed in order. While at the grocery we gathered up the necessary provisions to whip up a batch of our favorite deer stir-fry.

Here goes:

Marinating venison

1. Cut one package of deer tenderloin or roast into thin strips.

2. Add approximately a tablespoon of minced garlic to the bowl (I used dry).

3. Splash on soy sauce as if you were a disco stud preparing for a big night on the town (that means, if you don’t participate in Saturday Night Fever, use enough soy sauce that the meat is thoroughly coated but not swimming)

4. Meanwhile, cut up a double-handful of brocoli florets and toss them into a bowl. Add about a heaping handful of snow pea pods then wash and drain the conglomeration.

5. In a stir-fry pan or Wok, heat up about two tablespoons of olive oil (add a healthy dollop of seasame oil if you have any on hand. It is one of the secrets to adding a rich, smoky flavor to the dish).

raw veggies are waiting

6. Turn up the heat ALL THE WAY. You can’t make it too hot. Have the ingredients standing by in bowls because once the oil is heating, there is a fine line between smoking hot and flash fire.

7. Add the meat to the lightly smoking oil. It will sizzle and spatter. Oops! Your forearm got burned. Deal with it. Stir the meat rapidly as it heats (hence the name….wait for it…..Stir-Fry!!!!!).

8. Once the meat is thoroughly cooked (about two or three minutes if the skillet is hot enough), add the vegetables and continue stirring. I like to add sliced water chestnuts and slivered raw almonds. Some add bean sprouts or baby corn. I suppose you could add brussels sprouts if you feel the need (seek immediate psychiatric care if so).

Have everything ready before cooking

9. Once the veggies are coated with the meat gravy, pull them up the sides of the pan and cover the dish with a lid or foil. We are now steaming the vegetables for five minutes so that they are cooked but don’t become limp. I usually throw in a couple of squirts of soy sauce at this juncture.

10. Once everything seems cooked, see how much ‘gravy’ is in the bottom of the pan. If things are nearly dry, add some hot water and allow it to return to a boil. Now add about a 1/4 cup of cornstarch mixed with water and remove the pan from the heat.

11. Stir the mixture quickly as it will cook within seconds. If you did things right, you now have a rich gravy that is stirred onto the vegetables and meat. If you didn’t do things right, you either have a burn wad of cornstarch putty or a thin, gravy-like liquid in the pan. The first is bad, the second is fine if you cover up the thin flavor with more soy sauce.