Looking into the Freezer

As I may have mentioned before, we have been eating out of the stored foods since the grocery shelves have been strangely and intermittantly out of some items. I decided to finally use the last venison steaks. They were delicious. There are lots of people who would never ever in a million years eat venison. These are not the same people who are vegetarian or vegan (although the vegans and vegetarians wouldn’t either). Anyway I wanted to share with you the recipe for venison steak so that if you are ever so inclined you could try it. It would of course also work with beef…

Venison Pan Steaks
Ingredients:
4 venison steaks cut 1″ thick
1 pint buttermilk
1 t. cinnamon
3 T. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1 c. beef broth
6 T. butter (yes real butter) divided
1/4 t. sugar
3 T. red wine
1/2 c. red wine
2 T. capers – rinsed
1 t. flour and 2 T. broth

Directions:
Rinse the venison and remove any “silver skin” from the meat (this is similar to preparing lamb). Place the venison steaks in deep sealable dish and pour the buttermilk until the meat is submerged completely. Cover and refridgerate overnight. Turn the steaks once about 4 hours before you will begin the meal preparation. Place 3 T. butter in a saucepan and melt. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent and slightly golden. To the onion add the broth, sugar and 3 T. red wine and cook until it is reduced by half. While the onion broth cooks, rinse the milk from the steaks and discard any remaining milk. The buttermilk removes the “gamy” taste from the meat and also tenderizes it. On a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap, sprinkle the cinnamon, pepper, garlic and onion powder and mix and spread across the surface. Gently press the steaks into the spices on each side and place them on a platter. Melt the other 3 T. butter in a skillet on medium heat. When the butter is melted and bubbling place the steaks in the skillet to cook. Cook about 4 – 6 minutes on each side (depending on how rare or well-done you like your steaks) turning only once. When the steaks are done, return them to the platter and keep them warm. Into the skillet pour the red wine and bring to a boil scraping any bits from the bottom of the skillet. Once the wine is boiling, pour the onion broth into the skillet and stir well to mix and return to a boil. Mix the flour and broth until the flour is dissolved and no lumps are present. Once the liquid in the skillet is boiling rapidly add the flour mix, stirring continuously to thicken. As soon as the liquid has thickened, turn off the heat and add the steaks back to the skillet. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and top with the capers. The entire cooking and prep time is about 30 minutes (minus the overnight soak in buttermilk).

 
The first photo shows the steaks in the skillet (there were 4) and the second shows the plated meal – we had loaded baked potatoes and Sparky added an arugula and kale salad.