On The Menu

I've heard that an open bottle of wine doesn't have a very long shelf life.  Especially when you over indulged with the first bottle and thought a second bottle would be a good idea.  Turns out the next day... it wasn't such a good idea.  I keep mine corked and in the fridge and usually don't finish a bottle in a glass but prefer to use wine in recipes.  I will never get tired of the way cooking with wine makes my house smell.  Lucky for me The Pioneer Woman just happened to post a recipe on facebook from 2009 for short ribs that uses two cups of dry red wine.  Bingo!  A use for the rest that second bottle cause I shore ain't gonna touch it otherwise for a while!  I seriously just spelled the same way that I talk.  I love it! Here's a pic and a link to her recipe and a few more.  The chicken with tomatoes and garlic is absolutely one of my favorite recipes to make.  I have thighs in the fridge right now for this very reason.

Braised Short Ribs

Photo and recipe credit: ThePioneerWoman.com      

and my favorite.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic

Photo and recipe credit: ThePioneerWoman.com      

Burgundy Mushrooms

Photo and recipe credit: ThePioneerWoman.com      

And here's a fantastic recipe using white wine that I've made a bunch.

Lemon Chicken Cutlets

Photo and recipe credit: marthastewart.com                        

And now a few of my own.

Rabbit in Mustard Sauce

Venison Minute Steaks

A Quick Marinade

A Recipe

This recipe is from my own stash.  I made it up from my fondness of deer meat and my double fondness of the luscious aroma of wine floating in the house when I'm cooking.  Even the next day it is wonderful.  I was craving this dish on Monday so I decided to make it Tuesday night.  Thinking I had all of the ingredients, forgetting about the mushrooms and onions totally, and at a complete loss of directions as I could not find the recipe I had written anywhere.  Nor was I convinced that I had ever written it down.  I logged on and looked all through my blog just knowing I had posted it sometime.  Finding nothing here, I looked back through my dove hunt magazines with no luck.  I though about a blog that I had begun for my father-in-law's farm, that didn't last... the blog not the farm, but couldn't remember any log in information.  I decided to wing it and was not as pleased with the results as I would have liked.  My craving was some what satisfied I guess.  The deer meat was gone anyway when we were done.  So today I researched into the blog from 2010 once more with better luck.  I found my recipe and am now sharing it with you.  I am also printing it out for my cookbook and will most certainly have record of it here now.  Yay!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  It is one of my specialties that Shaun says is "cruise boat worthy."I think it makes the house smell like you just walked in to the Melting Pot.  And now that I have found it Look Out!  It will probably be on the menu for next week too!

Venison Stroganoff

Today I have a fantastic recipe for you.  This is a supper for those gals who love their deer meat and love to pat the man (or woman) on the back that got up early during deer season and brought it on home to you.  Unless you shot it yourself... in that case.. You do it girl!  Even if you don't eat deer meat you can use beef or turkey and I promise you will still love how easy it is and how much you will love to hear the other eaters at your table say "oh... oh... thank you!"  Just please don't pour the boiling water from the noodles on your hand like I did this evening!  That web part in the middle of your fingers is tender I tell ya! 

I typed up this recipe and loaded it like a picture so you should be able to right click and print it with ease.  I like it like that... easy.  This recipe feeds my man and I with a serving left over for lunch the next day.  I also slap up some green beans and bread to go with.  Make it easy on yourself now!

Now a note on deer meat.  There are a lot of sceptics on venison out there.  That it has too much of a gamey taste, and that can happen.  For instance if you shoot a buck in rut or a deer in mid run when all the blood is flowing into the muscles and all, that can give it a stronger taste.  But a good doe with a little fat on her, you can't beat that one bit!  And I always say, if you don't like deer meat, then it ain't been cooked right!  Do not be afraid of deer meat.  I will admit, when I first began cooking with venison I over seasoned thinking it wouldn't taste right.  But some years later now I want the taste up front and center of a good deer.  And deer meat is good for you!  I promise, unless some little woodland elf has been shooting steroids into deer while they sleep, there are no man made hormones or anything like that AND they have less fat than beef or turkey.  Just try it or get over it already!  You will fall in love and become very sad when the freezer is empty and deer season seems so far away.

 

 

P.S. Happy Birthday Mama and Tracy!

3/23

Yes... one of my sisters was born on my Mom's birthday!  She got the boobie prize that year!

Love you both! XOXO

 

 

******Recipe Correction******

I noticed this morning that I put 3/4 Chardonnay!  That's funny. 

I meant 3/4 cup not 3/4 of the bottle of wine!  I am sure it would still turn out well... a little runny unless you really let it cook down.

A Quick Marinade

So, Sunday when we got home from church we laid out some venison steaks from the deep freeze to allow them to thaw in the sink in time for supper. Long about four o'clock I got the steaks apart, which were still a tad frozen in the middle, and put them in a cold water salt bath to get any excess blood out. This also takes the "strong" taste out if there is any. While they were soaking I realized that I was out of our normal "go-to" marinade that we like to use. It's a store bought bottle brand that I can usually mix a little water with and get two, maybe three soakings out of.

Now, I've been highly addicted to a couple of sets of The French Chef with Julia Child over the last month that I rented from the library. J.C. drops mention of wine in every show that she does. From using it in dishes to what wines for with the dish that she made. Well.. maybe not the baking, Queen of Sheba cake episode... I'll have to watch it again and see.

Needless to say.. she got me thinking. I drained and rinsed the steaks and put them back in the bowl. I added a generous helping of red wine to the bowl and sprinkled the tops of the steaks with fresh cracked black pepper. YUM. After allowing the steaks to rest for a good half hour, I flipped them over and peppered that side of the steaks. At this point I felt like they were missing something. I wanted a bit of bold taste outside of the red wine and pepper. I looked in the refrigerator and pulled out the Worcestershire sauce, poured in a tablespoon or two and swished it a tad to blend. After about another half hour the grill was hot and the steaks went on. Shaun took it from there. I did tell him it was OK to add a touch of seasoning, McCormick's Garlic and Onion medley, to each side. He likes to chef it up when he's at one with the gas grill.

When the first bite of these steaks went into my mouth I knew I had done something right that day. I absolutely love the smell in my house when I have included wine in a recipe. This marinade didn't exactly fragrance the entire house but it was fantastic. Juicy, elegant, magnificent.