Good Food Friday: Venison Stroganoff

Venison Stroganoff

We eat primarily venison, chicken, and pork. Soon we will eat primarily venison, chicken, and rabbit (all of which we can raise or hunt ourselves). If you are a reader of Nourished Kitchen, the Weston A. Price Foundation, or an advocate of traditional or real foods, you will know that on the list of Good, Better, Best: Traditional Foods for Every Budget has wild game under the best red meats you can eat. I have cooked for the last three years, substituting venison for beef. The only exception to that rule is that I like an occasional pot roast and my husband likes to get more ground from his deer. I cave to the buy one get one free sales for beef roasts about twice a year.

Here is a quick and easy recipe for venison (you can of course use beef) that is a family favorite. Don't know how to get venison if you don't hunt? Ask around! You maybe surprised at how many hunters you know who are willing to give you a venison steak or two to experiment with. You maybe hooked ever after. You can of course buy venison (which is farmed in the state of Ohio... you can't buy wild venison) or see if you can barter with someone for some venison meat. We barter hunting rights on a small two acre suburban lot in a township near by for deer meat.

Ingredients:
1 lb. venison steak, about 1/2" thick
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion (minced about a 1/2 cup)
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) condensed beef broth
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 cups hot cooked noodles (I use egg noodles for this meal)

Directions:
Cut meat into bite size pieces. Melt butter in large pan or skillet (I use cast iron). Add mushrooms and onions and cook until onion is tender, then remove them from the pan. In same pan, cook meat until light brown (for venison I still leave a tiny bit of pink because I don't want to over cook the meat). Reserve 1/3 cup of the broth, stir in remaining broth, ketchup, garlic, and salt. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Blend reserved broth with flour, stir into pan. Add mushrooms and onions back into pan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Reduce heat to low. Stir in sour cream and gently heat (don't boil). Serve over noodles.

Tops this meal takes about 30 minutes. There is rarely enough left for one person to have left overs in a family of four. Enjoy!