Macaroni

Growing up, we ate this dish quite often (although not with venison), and I've always loved it. We just called it Macaroni. We knew that if Mom said she was making Macaroni for supper, it was going to be elbow macaroni with ground beef, canned tomatoes and usually cheese. It's nothing fancy but it's always delicious.

Substituting ground venison for the ground beef is also delicious.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 lbs ground venison
salt and pepper
1 onion diced
1 can sliced mushrooms
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 dried cayenne, minced
1 can diced tomatoes (I used tomatoes with herbs)
1 tsp dried thyme (I would omit next time)
1 box elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups grated old cheddar

Directions

1. Brown the ground venison in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.
   
2. Add onions and salt (and a bit more oil if necessary, depending how fatty the meat is) to the same pan and sauté until tender.
   
3. Add the garlic, mushrooms and cayenne and sauté for a couple more minutes.
   
4. Add the tomatoes, meat and any herbs you choose to use. Cover and let simmer gently.
   
5. Cook the pasta
   
6. Mix the pasta, meat mixture and cheese. Add a bit of pasta water if the cheese makes it too thick.

Mmm, Mmm, Bambi

Not much of a recipe tonight, but I ate the first of the venison from my first deer, a young doe. I pan-fried some chops, seasoned with salt and pepper, medium-rare. They were tender, delicious and very mild. The potato salad and bean salad from the deli counter at Loblaws didn't do it justice.