Lean venison dish all about preparation
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Sondra Cline stirs ingredients as she prepares her Venison Pepper Steak and Rice recipe.
Some might call Sondra Cline one very self-sufficient woman. She hunts, she plants, she builds, all while holding down a full-time job as a banker.
But this south Rankin County resident, who with her family-built home in the woods, doesn't stop there.
To borrow a '70s jingle, she can bring home the venison and cook it up in a pan.
In fact, that's what she's doing this fall morning, standing in her rustic kitchen wearing a camo T-shirt while preparing three dishes with venison she harvested.
Talk wanders from her husband (at deer camp helping a friend), to her parents (they planted a feeding plot the day before), to how to cook venison (bleeding and marinating are very important).
Sondra started hunting deer when she was 18. Now she prefers hunting with primitive weapons and early this week was anticipating the opening of bow season.
One recipe, venison pepper steak and rice, she came up with herself.
One, the venison wraps, came from a deer camp, and one, fried venison, "anybody and everybody does that," she said.
"This just happens to be my version."
Cooking started early for this woman. At 4 or 5 she was helping in the kitchen. And, by 8 was preparing some meals.
In a family with a dairy farm, everybody worked.
"When my mother got married, she couldn't cook anything," Sondra said. "My daddy had to teach her how to cook. She swore none of her children - girl or boys - would grow up and not know how to cook."
Later, her parents confirm that.
In fact, Bobbye Raymond said they made a game of it.
Each child had to cook. Each "would fix something and the others had to guess what ingredient they put in. For years, she wouldn't tell me why her cornbread was better than mine," Bobbye said.
Sondra smiles but says nothing.
Her dad, Ole, brags on her, too, as he munches on the venison wraps and fried steak.
Those early experiences gave her a free hand to experiment, Sondra said. Experimentation birthed the pepper steak recipe.
"The most popular thing people do with deer meat is fry it," she said. "I thought, I bet you could do something healthier with this, so I just came up with it."
She has a few tips.
Fry it in an iron skillet.
"In this house, if it's not cooked in an iron skillet or on the grill, it's not cooked," she said.
"The other thing I've learned about cooking venison, is if you cut it smaller, it cooks more tender."
But this hunter starts at the beginning. Venison must be field dressed properly to taste good.
To get rid of the gamey taste, she said, bleed it before freezing or before cooking. "I've found the best way is to soak it in cold water," she said. Change the water often.
Marinade is essential, she said. "Lots of people have secrets about their marinade," she said. "Some marinade it in milk, saying the purpose is the enzymes in milk help tenderize the meat."
"I use Italian salad dressing or Worcestershire sauce and seasonings," she said. "Tony C's. We use a lot of Tony Chachere's in our deer meat recipes."
But, she warned, be careful since Tony Chachere's has a lot of salt.
So taste as you go to be sure you don't have too much.
"Garlic is very important when you're cooking deer meat," she said.
"Because garlic - garlic powder, not garlic salt - sweetens your meat."
Now she's testing the hot grease, a good half-inch of it in another iron skillet. Holding a pinch of the batter flour in her fingers she drops it into the heating grease. Not hot enough yet.
It's on to the pepper steak sauce.
She grabs a measuring cup, adds corn starch, sugar and Worcestershire sauce, then cold water.
"You have to use cold water because if you use hot water, it's going to get lumpy. Cold water won't make your cornstarch lumpy." The cornstarch gravy replaces the standard hot grease and flour versions.
She dumps it in the pan with the pepper steak, stirs, adds water and stirs again. The rice is done, brown rice to make the meal healthier.
Now the grease is hot and she places small pieces of deer steak in it, juggling them as the grease bubbles up to make room for more.
Then it's back to the pepper steak. "You have to watch that cornstarch or it'll stick on you," she said.
Now the fried steak is done, crispy brown on both sides. She removes it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Soon she's filling a plate with rice, spooning the pepper steak over it and adding a few pieces of fried steak for visitors to try.
Venison Pepper Steak and Rice
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds marinated venison loin, no more than 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Marinade:
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning to taste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Gravy:
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup cold water
Directions:
Marinate venison overnight or at least eight hours in Worcestershire sauce and Tony Chachere's.
Combine 1/2 of the onions, peppers and garlic with marinated loin and brown in olive oil in an iron skillet. Cook on high heat, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes or until meat begins to get tender.
Reduce heat and add remaining peppers and onions. Add 1/4 cup water and continue stirring regularly until liquid cooks out and peppers and onions are soft.
Combine Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, corn starch and cold water. Stir briskly and add to meat in the skillet, stirring it in. Add water as needed to reach desired thickness, stirring constantly on low heat. Cook at least three minutes. Serve over rice.
Country Fried Venison
Ingredients:
1 pound marinated sliced venison loin
Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Batter:
1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups self-rising flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Canola oil for frying
Directions:
Marinate venison at least four hours in Italian salad dressing (enough to cover meat), Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder.
Combine batter ingredients, roll meat in batter and fry until golden brown.
Venison Wraps
Ingredients:
1 pound marinated venison loin, sliced no thicker than one-fourth inch
1 package cream cheese
Pickled jalapeno slices
1 pound bacon
Toothpicks
Directions:
Marinate sliced venison in Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and Tony Chachere's overnight or at least eight hours. Meat should be in strips about 1-inch wide by 1/4 inch thick by 2-inches long.
To make wraps: Lay a slice of bacon on flat surface. Top with slice of venison, one jalapeno slice and one-half teaspoon of cream cheese. Roll up and pierce with a toothpick. Those who do not like jalapeno might try a slice of onion or olives.
Cool on grill until bacon crisps.
