Deer Meal #1: The Deerburger Steak

I know you’re all anxiously awaiting a venison update, and I’ve now got one to share.  About two weeks ago, we got our deer.  I bet she was pretty, but, when she arrived to us (and by arrived, I mean that I picked her up under an overpass in nowhere Mississippi around 7PM—I think this makes the experience so much better), she had already been processed and came in vacuum-packed packages of ground meat, steak, roast, and cured sausage.  I quickly thawed out one package of the ground meat (probably about 1.5 lbs. or so) and proceeded to make “hamburger” steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli, some of my all-time favorites for home cooking.

It was awesome.  In fact, all who fear venison for its “gamey” flavor should give this meal a try.  I could tell a difference, which is of course good because it is in fact a different animal than the cow, but, overall, it was like eating hamburger steak.

Deer steak:

Mix 1-1.5 lbs. of ground deer with ½ onion, chopped, and 2-3 chopped garlic cloves.  Add a couple tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (the best stuff ever), some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Add a teaspoon or so of soy sauce.  Once mixed, divide into patties that are reasonable in size, my batch made eight.  Put about 2-3 tbsp. olive oil in the bottom of a cast-iron skillet and proceed to pan fry.

My first meat meal of the year sure was delicious.  And I felt good about myself for eating local, too.  Score.  Double score.  Here are some leftovers:

We're cookin' with gas now, baby.

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