GREAT OUTDOORS: Venison a versatile meat for those who tag a deer

While beef is a perfectly suitable substitute for any of the venison recipes that I use over the course of the year, anyone who successfully harvests a deer has a lot of choices on how to prepare this healthier and delicious wild game. Burger can be used for any of the ways that ground beef is utilized, such as tacos, chili, spaghetti, sloppy joes and with any of the varieties of Hamburger Helper. Deer meat is commonly made into novelty treats, such as summer sausage, landjaegers, bratwurst and others when mixed with pork and spices to get the desired products. I process my own deer into three simple cuts: roasts, steaks and burger. I meticulously trim away all fat, silver skin and tendons, leaving only clean, red muscle before wrapping, vacuum-sealing, labeling and freezing the roasts, various cuts of steaks, and burger. The roasts come from the shoulder blade and the upper portion of the rear legs. For even cooking, I typically trim off the ends so that they are roughly rectangular in shape. The backstrap (loin) and leg steaks are cut across the grain about 3/4" thick. I cut the tender, but small, backstrap steaks twice as thick so they can be doubled in size by butterflying them. The tips on both ends of the muscles that were used for roasts and steaks are collected to be used for burger, along with odd pieces of lean meat from other locations on the deer, such as the neck, lower legs (shank) and the torso. The most recent venison meal that I prepared featured leg steaks that were cut across the grain into thin strips, then fried in olive oil with sliced onions and mushrooms. I added balsamic vinegar and heated the mixture until the liquid thickened, before serving it over long-grain and wild rice. My favorite venison recipe is to combine leg steaks or roasts with carrots, parsnips, potato chunks, and quartered onions in a slow cooker. To this, I add one can each of French onion and cream of mushroom soup, and seasoned diced tomatoes. By starting it on low before leaving to hunt or fish for the day, it is a welcomed treat to smell upon my arrival home and eat without any additional preparation. With the addition of some water and cooked barley, it easily becomes a hearty soup. This season marked the second one in a row that, due to my pickiness, I went home without a deer. Similar to last year, I could have shot a deer on either of the two days that I hunted. Thursday was the first day that I could make the 2½-hour drive to the Licking County farm where I have hunted for over 30 years. Within a half-hour of setting up my ground blind, three deer worked their way from the pasture between the woods that I was watching and a neighboring subdivision that is still used as a bedding area by some of the local herd. As they wandered to within 50 yards of my position, I could see a doe and two fawns. I had no desire to tag a fawn or orphan the twins by killing their mother, so I passed. A small buck sealed my decision by chasing them away in a few minutes. When I returned Sunday, the same three deer never slowed down as they passed by while looking back. I found out the cause of their concern when multiple coyotes began yipping and howling nearby. When one of the coyotes followed the deer trail, I made a kissing sound to stop it and made the woods a little safer. I wasn't surprised that no more deer were seen the rest of the afternoon as the lingering scent of the predator remained on the trail. My focus will now turn to preparing for ice fishing, so I may have to find other recipes for "deer tag soup."