| Venison is meat from deer, as mostly everyone | | | | from the heat. Slice the cooked meat against the grain. |
| knows, but it is also meat from elk, antelope, moose, | | | | Cooking less tender cuts of venison should be done in |
| reindeer, and caribou. Currently, white-tail deer is the | | | | moisture, either by stewing or braising. Make sure and |
| most hunted and most served type of venison in the | | | | allow more time for cooking than you normally would |
| United States. | | | | for beef or another meat. |
| What is found most often in markets is South Texas | | | | If the venison you are about to prepare comes frozen, |
| antelope, which is native to the Himalayan foothills. | | | | thaw it in red wine or buttermilk, whichever one works |
| These antelope were brought to Texas a few | | | | best with the recipe you will be using. These liquids help |
| decades ago, and now live on the range land of the | | | | take some of the "gameyness" out of meat, giving it a |
| largest ranch in the country, the King Ranch in South | | | | less-harsh taste. |
| Texas. Large herds are regularly harvested from the | | | | Most hunters will grind all of their venison, except for |
| ranch. They produce a very lean meat that tastes a | | | | maybe the backstrap and the round steak (hams), into |
| little like veal. | | | | sausage, hamburger, or chili meat. This is because the |
| Venison has very little fat, so it is necessary to make | | | | other cuts of meat tend to be a little stringy or too |
| some simple adjustments to the way you normally | | | | tough to cook whole. |
| cook beef, pork, or other various types of domestic | | | | When cooking a ground venison patty, brown it quickly |
| meats. | | | | in a frying pan over high heat, then reduce the heat to |
| When you are broiling or grilling a choice cut of tender | | | | low. Add a little red wine or beef stock to the pan, and |
| venison, such as a backstrap, cook the meat rapidly, | | | | cook, covered, until the venison burger is rare to |
| using a higher heat, then you would normally do with | | | | medium. |
| beef. What you want to accomplish is to sear the | | | | Do not leave cooked venison exposed to the air for |
| outside of the venison, while keeping the inside rare or | | | | long periods of time. If you will not be serving it right |
| medium rare. Baste the surface regularly while cooking, | | | | away, wrap it up in foil until just before serving. Then |
| and let it rest for about 5 minutes after you take it | | | | slice it right before serving. |