Venison Steak with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce (plus dessert)

Alright, deer season may be over but there is still an abundance of deer meat to be eaten. It's good to know people. Trading goose/duck for deer. I call that a good trade.

So in recent weeks there has been venison taco soup, venison lasagna, and now venison steaks. Mmmm. I must say knowing hunters is probably one of the best things in the world. Can't wait to go out and try it myself.

So Mike decided we were going to have venison steaks he had in the freezer for dinner. I was definitely OK with that. I was given the task of finding a suitable recipe for it. So I surfed the web for something that would work with our palates. Well I soon stumbled upon this beauty of a recipe, which when I told Mike what it was he gave a resounding "DONE." So to the store we went to gather the remaining ingredients we needed that aren't kept on hand due to spoilage over a specific length of time.

This is "Venison with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce." How lovely and fancy does that sound? Right?

Of course sherry makes me think of a house wife cooking with it while also drinking it. Why? No clue, probably my watching old TV shows has something to do with it, preconceptions of the 1950's I suppose. Oh well. No we did not drink the cooking sherry while cooking.

First we decided that we were going to add bacon to this recipe, one, because there was bacon to be used, and two because bacon just make everything better. And what tastes better than onions cooked in bacon fat? Butter, as the recipe suggests, doesn't taste nearly as good. So we cooked the bacon until crispy. Chopped it and set aside. We then cooked the onions in the bacon fat until just soft followed by adding in the mushrooms and bacon. Then cooked until mushrooms were soft.

Once that was done we had to flour the steaks with the seasoned flour and then sear on each side for about 7 minutes, more or less depending on the stove top.

Once the steaks were seared, butter and flour were added to the pan, to create a light roux to have the sherry and water added. Then everybody got inn the pool to be simmered until thick and delicious. I must say that the apartment started smelling pretty great at this point.

Sides were chosen to be sliced carrots that Mike added honey and a tad bit of cayenne pepper. We also served this with egg noodles, which were forgotten about until the steaks were done, hence the lack of them in the picture below.

This is a keeper recipe for sure. Of course I'm sure we will try substituting duck for venison at some point as we are still searching for a recipe that makes the duck taste better than previous recipes.

Venison Steak with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce
Prep: 20 min          Cook: 37 min

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

4 Tbsp butter, divided
1 cup chopped Vidalia onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms or baby bellas
6 (3 oz) venison tenderloin steaks

1 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup water

Directions
Combine 1/2 cup flour, sage, salt, and pepper in a resealable bag, set aside. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until almost soft. Add mushrooms, and continue cooking until soft. Remove from pan and set aside.

Turn heat to medium-high and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. Toss the venison steaks in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Sear venison in butter for 6 to 7 minutes per side and remove.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour, followed by the sherry and water. Return the vegetables and meat to the pan. Increase the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with your choice of side, such as egg noodles/rice and veggies.

To say the least this was a hit for all. Sent some off with the roomie to work and she cleaned her plate. Sounds perfect. Will definitely be making this again, much like the goose with sweet chili sauce.

So even if you have a different type of meat, don't be afraid to find new recipes to cook it. Whether it be venison, duck, or goose. Even squirrel or rabbit. Experiment, try new things, go out and cook.

Mid Month - Deer Experiments & Lemon Bars

Well it's already mid-January, can you believe it?

I can't.

Soooo, Mike has acquired ground venison from his neighbor and has played with it a bit to come up with different ways of eating it. His first was hamburger helper with venison. In my opinion that was a waste of venison but I dislike hamburger helper with a roaring passion. I would eat dirt first. Yes, I loathe hamburger helper. It was overdone and now I can't even stomach the smell.

Then he made venison lasagna, he wasn't terribly thrilled with it and said it wasn't blog worthy but to be honest - it's an experiment and yes it will need tweaking but it isn't a total bust like our Boeuf Bourguignon that we made that was absolutely disgusting and trash worthy only. I wouldn't have even fed that to the dog or raccoon's.

He made this in a traditional lasagna way. Layered with noodles, ricotta, tomato sauce and tomatoes, venison with onion and Italian seasoning, and then cheese on top. I thought it was pretty awesome myself, he wants to tweak how he made it and cover it with foil rather than leave uncovered for the whole process. It tasted good and hit the spot - considering I never eat lasagna because of how calorie dense it is, this wasn't bad for that either since venison tends to be on the lean side. It's good to have connections in the hunting world.

Tonight I'm making lemon bars for a co-worker's birthday that we are celebrating tomorrow. I have been searching for a recipe and finally decided on this. I seriously thought about just buying some because I"m feeling lazy and payday is tomorrow, BUT, in the tradition that is me when it comes to baking I tend to lean toward scratch baking rather than the "cheating" way out.

So I went to one of my trusty cookbooks, riddled with stains and spots from baking and cooking. Taste of Home - Reader's Digest 2008. So there are these deliciously simple lemon bars that are from a Melissa Mosness in Loveland Colorado. I am sooo happy she provided them. Probably one of the simplest recipes I've ever made that wasn't out of a box or pre-made.

First in this recipe, crust. Delicious shortbread style crust. Flaky and delicious. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; gradually beating in flour until blended. Then press into an 8-in square pan, or in my cake a 9 inch cake pan (for whatever reason I do not have a square pan - curious - this needs to be rectified. Then you par bake the crust for about 15 minutes in the oven.

Then while that is baking you make the filling. Which has sugar, eggs, lemon juice, flower and baking powder  How easy and simple is that. I personally have all those ingredients on hand all the time. So you beat these ingredients together until they are frothy and airy.

So then you fill the crust with filling and place back into the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the edges start to brown and the center is set.

 Then after it has cooled you dust it beautifully with powdered sugar and cut into slices, or wedges. This is supposed to make 9 servings. I cut it down to more reasonable sizes for a larger group - more snack sized than dessert sized. So this served 16 instead.

How lovely is that? And to keep your plate clean, wrap in plastic wrap so you don't have to wash it later.

Lemon Bars
Prep: 25 min     Bake: 10 min + cooling

Ingredients:
Crust
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) soft
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour (AP)

Filling
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (yes whole)
3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh or in the plastic lemon)
2 Tbsp AP flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Confectioner's Sugar for dusting

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until blended and light and fluffy; gradually beat in flour until blended.

Press into an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish (or just use what you have on hand). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, flour and baking powder until frothy. Pour over crust.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

Makes 9 servings.