Venison Wellington Recipe

January 17, 2017January 16, 2017 / Jen / 4 Comments

This past Christmas, I cooked a delicious Venison Wellington that I can’t wait to make again! It was the first Christmas I cooked the entire dinner myself and I knew I wanted to make something special. I had backstrap still in my freezer from the doe I shot the year before, just waiting for the “right” recipe to use it.

Well, this was definitely the “right” recipe and oh my goodness, was it amazing!

Click below for the recipe and tons of mouth-watering pictures to walk you through the process of making this delicious meal!

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Crab Cakes and Steak Oscar!

August 4, 2016August 4, 2016 / Jen / 6 Comments

I’m gearing up to head out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca next weekend and I can’t wait! It got me thinking about the last time I was out fishing in the San Juan islands and I realized I never posted my crab recipes from the delicious fresh crab I brought back that trip.

Crabbing is something I had never done before so it was really cool to be able to see it first hand. I learned all about pulling pots, distinguishing males from females, seeing if their shells are soft, and measuring to be sure it’s legal to keep. This guy was one of big ones they could keep (yes he’s still alive in the picture!).

Once I was home with the crab legs, I knew I needed to find some great recipes to really show off this delicious crab meat. But before I could get to cooking, I learned the not so fun task of getting all the crab meat out of the shells. It took me over an hour to do all the legs, but it was so worth it when I was left with all this gorgeous fresh crab!

Crab Cakes

Crab cakes were the first thing I wanted to make. They’re one of my favorite appetizers to order at any seafood restaurant. That being said, I’ve definitely had some crab cakes that left me wondering where all the crab meat was in between all the breading. So it was important to me that I found a recipe that really showcased the meat and didn’t use a bunch of fillers.

I found this recipe on All Recipes and followed the directions to a T. In the end, I was left with these beautiful crab cakes that everyone loved!

It’s full of crab meat and delicious seasonings. You broil them in the oven to get the nice crispy outer crust. There aren’t many fillers added, so the crab is really the star of this recipe. If you love crab and love crab cakes, definitely give this recipe a try!

Steak Oscar

Now, for the rest of the crab meat, I knew I really wanted to go all out for what I made. What better than surf and turf? And Steak Oscar was the answer! For this recipe, I looked to Ree Drummond for inspiration and loosely based my recipe off of hers, found here.

Now her recipe called for shrimp to be used on top, but I swapped that out for fresh crab meat soaked in the butter sauce. Unlike a typical bearnaise sauce used for Steak Oscar, she makes a tarragon hollandaise sauce that is so dang good you’ll want to put it on everything you cook!

For the asparagus, I coated them in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and roasted them in the oven. This is actually my favorite vegetable to eat with any meat dish. They turn out soft and crispy on the ends. The steak was grilled in a piping hot cast iron skillet to medium rare. It’s a little bit tricky to get the timing right for everything to be done at the same time (my sauce thickened up a bit) but the end result is so worth it.

This may be the nicest meal I’ve cooked so far. It’s definitely a pricey meal to put together, but the final dish rivals anything you’ll get at a nice seafood restaurant!

I served mine with roasted tri-color baby potatoes and salad. It was definitely a crowd pleaser! I can’t wait to make it again, maybe next time with a nice venison steak!

What’s your favorite way to eat fresh crab? Share below and let me know if you try either of these recipes!

Venison Bacon Burger Recipe

July 6, 2016 / Jen / 5 Comments

Summer is here and what better time to grill up some delicious venison bacon burgers! You might be wondering where the bacon is, this recipe has it inside the burger creating a great flavor!

One complaint I’ve heard about venison burgers is how dry they can be. Not this recipe! Big, juicy burgers full of flavor that go great with a beer on a beautiful summer day.

Click below to get the recipe!

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Easy Venison Chili Recipe

February 10, 2016February 10, 2016 / Jen / 6 Comments

This past weekend, I cooked up a batch of delicious and easy venison chili! With the cold winter months, nothing is better than a warm bowl of chili.

I love chili that’s simple—meat and beans. Add in peppers, corn, and celery and I feel it begins to border on becoming a stew.

This is an easy recipe with only 7 ingredients.

Country Huntress Venison Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 5
Calories: 333 per serving

What you’ll need:

1 lb of ground venison (beef or turkey could be used too)
Four 10 ounce cans of diced tomatoes and green chiles
Two 14.5 ounce cans of pinto beans (or whatever bean you like best, kidney or black beans would work well too)
One large onion (chopped)
Three cloves garlic (minced)
1-2 tablespoons Chile Powder (Depending on how much heat you like, add to your preference, I love spicy food so I use 2)
1/2 tablespoon Ground Cumin

Directions:

– Heat a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and brown one pound of ground venison

– Add in the chopped onion and minced garlic once the ground venison is browned. Cook until the onions are soft (about 5 minutes)

– Drain the liquid from the two cans of beans and rinse with water. Add those into the pot and the tomatoes with green chiles

– Add in 1-2 tablespoons of chile powder and half a tablespoon of cumin

– Mix all the ingredients together and bring to a boil

– Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for at least 20 minutes

Brown the ground venison

Add in onion and minced garlic, cook until onion is soft.

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer.

You can simmer anywhere from 20 minutes up to an hour. I think the flavors develop more the longer you let it simmer. But if you’re rushing to get dinner on the table, 20 minutes will do!

The chili definitely has a kick to it from all the chile powder. I love spicy food. If you don’t, maybe add only a tablespoon of chili powder. I’m definitely an “eyeball” the measurements cook, so feel free to change what you’d like to your preferences. This is a great base chili you can really make your own.

To top it off, I add a nice dallop of sour cream. This helps cut down the spicy heat when you’re eating it. You can also add cheese, green onion, or olives.

Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Venison Meatloaf Recipe

January 14, 2016 / Jen / 12 Comments

A few weekends ago, I made my first venison meatloaf and it turned out incredibly delicious!

I hosted a “Friendsmas” dinner with several friends and made a feast of venison meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole (my personal holiday favorite). Meatloaf was one of my grandma’s specialties and I’ve always liked it. So I was excited to try out this recipe because I hadn’t eaten it in years. It didn’t disappoint!

The feast!

To make the meatloaf, I first needed to grind up some of the venison in my freezer. This meant I got to use my new meat grinder for the first time! I took out a couple packs of stew meat to thaw out so they’d be ready to grind.

I read the manual, it seemed easy enough so I started grinding the stew meat.

I ran it through a coarse grinder plate on the first pass through. Then, I switched it to the fine grinder plate on the second.

Coarse grind

Fine grind

When it was all done, I was left with over a pound of venison! So cool and really easy to use. I can’t wait to try out the sausage stuffing setting on there.

Over a pound of ground venison!

For the meatloaf, I followed this recipe. The venison weighed out to around a pound and a quarter, so I increased all the ingredients a bit.

Egg, crushed saltine crackers, barbecue sauce, onion, sage, steak seasoning, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce

Like my grandma always said, the only way to mix meatloaf is to get in there with your hands. I combined all the ingredients together and then filled a small loaf pan. It smelled amazing, but to make it even better you add some bacon strips on top.

Mine took almost twice as long as the recipe said to cook. An instant thermometer was a life saver cooking this one! Make sure the inside temperature is at least 160 degrees. I poured over the BBQ sauce mixture and viola!

Not everyone at the party knew they were eating venison. But they all said it was one of the best meatloafs they’ve had! Definite success!

One delicious venison meatloaf dinner!

I think the next time I make it, I’d form the meat into the rectangle shape on a baking sheet. That way you put full slices of bacon over the top and sides. And the entire meatloaf will be covered in the sauce that everyone said was their favorite part. I think the sage adds a really great flavor to this recipe so don’t skip that ingredient or swap it out!

Writing this post makes me want to cook this again, it was so delicious! This meatloaf is also great the next day between two white slices of bread with mayo. But it’s not likely you’ll have leftovers!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Washington Outdoors Women – Duck Hunting 101

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 / Jen / 4 Comments

The second day of the Washington Outdoors Women workshop had us all up bright and early! Breakfast was at 7am sharp so my alarm was set for 6:15am.

Everyone woke up groggy. Our area of the cabin was next to the bathroom which meant we fell asleep to a symphony of flushing toilets, creaking doors, and muffled voices. Needless to say, it took a couple hours to fall asleep. Luckily, the excitement of the day ahead had everyone in a good mood!

Duck Hunting 101

I walked over to the Duck Hunting 101 workshop after breakfast and met our instructor. The class was set up in a “blind” with our decoys out in front. She told us to grab a bag and take a seat.

Our makeshift blind for class

The bag was full of the first round of goodies I got that weekend. Inside was a Ducks Unlimited baseball hat, a waterfowl identification guide, a couple decals, an issue of Ducks Unlimited, and information about duck hunting. It was unexpected but really awesome to receive.

We started the class by first going over a handout that covered everything in the workshop. Since I went duck hunting with my brother last Christmas, I knew a few things already.

We covered safety with firearms, staying warm, knowing the weather and area, and letting someone know your hunting plan. I’m a person who’s always cold, so it’s going to be really important for me to figure out the proper layers to stay warm.

Our instructor had a great tip in case we did get really cold while sitting out there waiting for ducks. Take two hand warmers and then place them in your pants, directly on your kidneys. It’s a point that will warm your body faster. I’m definitely trying it out!

Next, we went over shotguns. She covered proper fit which was great to learn as a woman. Since most guns are made for men, they don’t always fit the best. She recommended cutting stocks down so the gun fits perfectly to your arm length.

An incredibly useful exercise she went over was “shoot the moon.”

Teaching us to “shoot the moon”

More learning how to properly handle shotguns

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2015 Hunting Goals

February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 / Jen / 2 Comments

With one hunting season down, I have a better idea of the goals I’d like to accomplish this year.

1. Get in shape!
Hiking up steep inclines made me winded pretty quickly. After carrying my shotgun for hours, I realized how weak my arms were. I’m hoping to increase my strength and stamina by the time fall rolls around.

2. Shoot my first deer.
I’m really motivated to get a deer. It was exciting watching my brother try to get one last year, but I really want do that for myself. I want to spend as much time scouting as I can before the season starts to give it my best shot. Which leads to my next goal…

3. Hike and scout more.
I want to know the land better so I have a plan in place for when the season starts again. Plus, hiking will help with my first goal to get in shape for walking on tough terrain.

4. Go duck hunting and shoot my first duck.
My brother and I went out duck hunting last December. No ducks were flying but I still enjoyed being out. I’m hoping this year to be able to join him on more duck hunts and shoot my first duck.

5. Go upland bird hunting and shoot a bird.
My first ever hunting experience was with a friend as we went out quail hunting. It was a lot of fun, but the only quail we saw were on the road in areas we couldn’t hunt. I’m hoping to go back out with him and finally get myself a bird!

6. Go fishing more.
I don’t really care what I go fish for, I just want to spend more time out on the water relaxing and enjoying fishing.

7. Cook game recipes.
I want to learn some great recipes to make delicious meals with the game I’m able to harvest this year.

Last year, I barely got my feet wet with hunting. This year, I’m ready to dive in and reach these goals! I’m excited to look back at the end of 2015 to see everything I accomplished.