~ For Yvonne

Yvonne posted the other day that she was challenging herself to use all the meat in her freezer. She also said that she had alot of venison. I pulled out one of my favorite wild game recipes for her to try. It is simply delicious! You can also use a boneless small sized steak in place of the venison.

First you need to make a Bordelaise sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup chopped carrots

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 tsp minced garlic

1-1/2 lb mixed mushrooms ( I used all bella mushrooms)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 cup red wine (I used Marsala)

1 qt beef stock

Heat the oil in a large pot over med-high heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery.

Cook til soft about 3 mins. Add the garlic and cook about 30 secs until aromatic. Add the mushrooms and cook til they start to give off their juices about 4 mins. Add the salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 min.

Add the wine stirring to loosen any bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook til reduced by half. Add the beef stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook til reduced by half about 1-1/2 hours.

While the bordelaise sauce is simmering mix up a creole seasoning.

2-1/2 Tbs paprika

2 Tbs salt

2 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs black pepper

1 Tbs onion powder

1 Tbs cayenne pepper (adjust if you don't care for spicy hot food)

1 Tbs oregano

1 Tbs thyme

Combine in small bowl and set aside.

I have found from cooking venison that if you get a tough animal you can marinate it overnight or longer in the fridge with milk. The acids in the milk tenderize the meat. Same goes for beef. For white meats use coca cola. Tonight I was using stag tenderloins and he is a tough old bugger. I cut 1/2 inch or more slices and marinated it 2 days in milk in the fridge. Once it was done marinating, I pounded the crap out of it to make it about 1/4 inch thick.

I used the little pokey thingy ( I think it is called a jardineere?) for this. Then I coated the pieces with my creole seasoning that I mixed up and dredged them in flour. I heated about 1/4 cup of olive oil in a pan and browned them on both sides. Doesn't take long and you don't want to overcook it. Once it was done I served it with mashed potatoes and poured the bordelaise sauce over everything. I also did glazed carrots too.

The nicest thing about cooking dinner?

Having someone wash the dishes for you!

Sorry but it has been really crazy around here. I got my husband's birthday right before Christmas, then Christmas dinner for 10 and Syrina turns 3 on New Year's Eve! So that means another party!

Looking forward to things settling down.