Chipotle Apple Venison Ribs

Well, it's been almost a year since I last posted anything here, so I guess it's time I got back to it. I promise you that it hasn't been a year since I last ate ;-)

My usual slow cooker rib recipe is basically onion, BBQ sauce and beer. I cook them on low for about 8 hours and then finish them off quickly on the BBQ. They turn out tender, delicious and falling off the bone. Laure made some like this last week. She made some pork and some venison but she couldn't fit them all in the slow cooker at once so some of the venison went back into the fridge. I needed to cook them but wanted to try something different, so I did. Here's my recipe from Sunday.

Ingredients
venison ribs (I had 2 nice slabs)
1 onion, sliced
6 whole garlic cloves
1/2 can chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
1 bottle BBQ sauce (I used some sauce that I bought at Ribfest last year)
apple juice (enough to cover everything in the crock pot, about 3-4 cups)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours.

I made these on a weekend and only put them on to cook around noon, so I went for 6 hours on high. If it had been a weekday, I would have done 10 hours on low. If these had been pork ribs, I would have decreased the time to probably 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. I also usually finish the ribs on the BBQ for 10 minutes just to caramelize the sauce a bit, even though the ribs are usually falling apart, but this time, I was hungry and lazy so I ate them straight out of the slow cooker. They were delicious with a nice spice but I might try the whole can of chipotles next time. I might also try less BBQ sauce and more apple juice to bring the apple flavour out a bit more.

Jamaican Rice and Beans

I BBQ'd some jerk chicken legs on Monday so I  wanted rice and beans to go with it. I don't know how Janaican this is or whatever but it's my interpretation based on variations that I've seen.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
2 cups rice (I used a Texmati mix)
3 cups chicken stock
1 cubanelle pepper, diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Sauté the onions and garlic.
   
2. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
   
3. Add the rice, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. (It probably could have used 20 minutes)
4. Add everything else, mix carefully and heat through.

It was really good but it probably could have used some fresh thyme and green onions thrown in right before serving.

Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker

OK so it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Sue me. It's not like anyone knows about this blog anyway. I got a slow cooker for Christmas and I love it. I've only used it a couple of times but I'm trying to use it more and more. The first thing I made in it was black bean chili. I made it from a mix that I bought from Chilly Chiles. Not exactly my own recipe so I won't bother posting it here. It was good but even after soaking the beans overnight and cooking the chili on low for 11 hours, the beans were still a bit too hard. They were quite edible but I would have liked them to be softer.

Anyway, this post isn't about beans. I made a pot of beef stew for our last day out at the ice shack 2 weekends ago. It turned out really well and was quite delicious if I do say so myself. It was a couple of weeks ago so I'll do my best to remember what I did. The quantities are close enough but probably not exact.

Ingredients
3 lbs stew beef
flour
salt & pepper
oil
1/2 bottle red wine (I used a part bottle of Cab-Sauv that I had in the fridge)
2 large onions, halved
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (big chunks)
6 medium carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 small potatoes, quartered
1 can plum tomatoes, roughly chopped (I do it right in the can with a pair of scissors)
1 large box beef stock
1 bottle of beer (I used Creemore Pilsner)
water ??? (I may have used a bit just to top up the liquid level)
2-3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Coat the beef in a generous layer of seasoned flour.
   
2. Brown the beef in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. I sprinkled some extra flour in with the last batch of meat just to make sure the gravy would thicken just a little bit. Add it all to the slow cooker.
   
3. Sauté the onions and garlic in the same pan and deglaze with the wine. Add this to the slow cooker.
4. Add everything else to the slow cooker and give it a mix.
5. Cook on low for 9 hours.

I transfered it to a big pot and brought it out to the ice shack. I re-heated it on the propane stove and we had it for lupper. I got a bunch of lunches out it too. Probably could have used a bit more salt, or maybe something fresh thrown in at the end.

Carmelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza with Chicken and Blue Cheese

Still using up leftovers from Sunday. Sweet. Here's a made-up variation on something I tried somewhat unsuccessfully a long time ago. This time it turned out great. And I have lunch for tomorrow too.

Ingredients
2 naan breads
1 cup leftover fried onions and mushrooms
1/2 cup diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese

Directions

1. Spread the onion and mushroom mixture on the naan breads.
   
2. Sprinkle on the chicken and pinched-off bits of cheese.
   
3. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Rice Pudding

I dove back into the Family Cookbook again tonight. I've been wanting to make rice pudding for a while now so I made extra rice on Sunday. This is a custard style rice pudding with lots of custard on top. I added a good 1/2 cup of raisins in memory of my other Grandfather.

Ingredients
1/2 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice and I used more like 1.5 cups)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar (brown)
1/4 tsp salt
vanilla
3.5 cups milk
nutmeg ( I couldn't find mine so I substituted cinnamon)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except nutmeg.
   
2. Pour in shallow baking dish and sprinkle with nutmeg.
   
3. Set in pan of hot water and bake at 300°F for 1.5 hours.
   

Venison Swiss Steak

OK. So you're probably thinking I should have called this blog "17 Million Ways to Cook Venison". That's really not the only thing I eat, really. I just happen to have quite a bit of it in my freezer and I don't have very much experience cooking with it, so I'm trying different things. Bear with me. We'll get through this together.

Over the Christmas holidays, my parents told me that they had tried my Grandmother's Swiss Steak recipe with venison round steak, and that it had been delicious. So I decided to try it for myself and I have to agree. It was delicious.

This recipe comes from my Family Cookbook (with my notes in parentheses).

Ingredients
2 lbs. round steak (2 venison round steaks)
flour (seasoned with salt & pepper)
1 Tbsp shortening (I used olive oil. This recipe's been around for a while)

1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 cup tomato juice (2 single serving cans)
1 cup tomato sauce (1 small can)
1/4 vinegar (rice vinegar)
1 Tbsp sugar (brown)
1/2 tsp dry mustard (I used probably about 1 tsp. I didn't really measure any of this stuff)
1/4 tsp chili powder (bump this way up to 2-3 tsp)
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Cut steaks into manageable pieces and pound flat with a meat mallet or the edge of a saucer.
   
2. Coat the meat with flour and brown it in the oil.
   
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for 2.5 hours. (I set the meat aside and cooked the onions for a couple of minutes, then put the meat and everything else in the pan)
   
4. 
   

I made brown rice, baked Mediterranean vegetables with a Parmesan breadcrumb topping and fried onions and mushrooms to go along with the Swiss Steak. It all turned out great, but I'll put a bit less topping on the veg next time.

Marinated Venison Chops and Roasted Potatoes

I marinated venison chops in orange juice, lime juice, peanut butter, 2 crushed cayenne peppers, salt and pepper for 6 or 7 hours, then pan fried them. They were very good but were missing something. Probably needed more spice and/or salt, or maybe less orange and more lime.

To go along with it, I made oven roasted potatoes. I tried a hybrid of some advice I recently got from a friend and a recipe I saw on Jamie Oliver At Home. I really like oven roasted potatoes:

Cut in bite-size pieces, coat lightly in oil and spices, roast in 450°F oven for 40-45 minutes, turning once or twice.

So when a friend suggested that if I parboil the potatoes first, they'll turn out extra crispy, I wanted to give it a try. I also wanted to try Jamie Olivers roasted potatoes in balsamic vinegar. He made typical roasted potatoes with onions and garlic but he added about half a bottle of balsamic vinegar and they turned out black but not burnt.

I combined my new technique with Jamie's recipe and the potatoes turned out great. The balsamic turns black and delicious. The only thing is that because of all the vinegar, the potatoes didn't really get crispy. I'll have to try again with just oil, salt and pepper.

I also had honey and orange glazed carrots. I just followed the recipe on the back of the bag of frozen carrots. They were good but could have used some ginger and maybe more pepper. They were just a bit too sweet.