Triple Onion Slow Cooker Shredded Venison Sandwiches

You guys.

The other day I was watching Brayden and he was playing with some toys on the floor beside me, and I did what has become so second nature to me, which is to grab my phone and check into Facebook to see what people were having for lunch, and find out just who had a *terrible* sick headache, and who was just "SOOOOO over it all, DEEEEEE-LETE" and who had posted a really sarcastic yet extremely funny e-card, and who was just so ticked off at this administration, and who was trying to get a million likes so world hunger would magically end, and who felt like they needed to be at the beach instead of at their desk, and who had just liked the Oscar Mayer Weiner page, and lots of other really important stuff.

But in the background I could hear a tiny voice.  I think it was saying "Look, Lolli, look!"  but I was pretty engrossed in the doin's and happenin's of the social scene.  The little voice continued to call out to me.  But the little voice was hard to hear over the noise of my Facebook feed.  That sweet, little voice almost seemed annoying because it kept calling my name while I was feasting on the mundane details of other people's lives.

Fortunately for me, the little voice kept on, because that is what three year old voices usually do, and I eventually looked up and saw a very excited little boy who was proudly spinning a top over and over and trying to get his distracted grandmother to join in on all the top spinning fun.

(And please, no one needs to judge me at this point, because trust me, I judged myself.  Very harshly I might add.  *EPIC GRANDMA FAIL*)

And God suddenly and sharply showed me that if I didn't turn from my bad habit, the most profound memory my grandson would have of his grandmother might be that she was always looking down at her phone and didn't have time for him.

I was convicted.  And I felt sick.

SO, I said all that to say this.  Social media is not wrong.  In fact, it can be quite useful.  It has opened up a world of people to me in a good way and for that I am grateful.  But, and this is a GINORMOUS BUT, if not properly managed, social media is like a black hole that will swallow you and your relationships up.  And that is truth, my friends.
 
So we had a little teachable moment that day, only I was not the teacher.   I was the student.  And I have a gazillion more things to say about this subject, but I realize this is a food blog, and you're probably not here to hear me wax eloquent on relationships and how to be a good grandmother.

One more thing.  I recently came across this blog post and excellent campaign.  Why don't you think about joining it?  

Okay,  The sandwich.  I loved this sandwich and so did my hubby.  Super easy.  Tasty.  Cheap.  Fast.  And it's done in the slow cooker because who wants to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking when we can sit on the floor and spin tops with our grandchildren?

Here are my notes:

--Yes, I am lazy/ busy and I sometimes often do not take the extra step to caramelize a piece of meat before putting it in the slow cooker.  But you could if you wanted  to.  But that would mean an extra skillet to wash.  Just sayin'.

--I LOVED the crunchy French's onions on this.  It's like putting potato chips on your sandwich--it just works.

--You could put two onions in.  You could increase the Worcestershire sauce.  It's up to you.

--Now, I did not weigh out my meat but I estimated it to be about 3 pounds.  With one cup of water added, there was not a whole lot of liquid.  In fact, it was perfect and I hardly had to use a slotted spoon to put the meat in the bun.  But it you have a smaller amount of meat, yours might me more liquid-y.

--I used pepper jack slices, but any kind of melting cheese would work.

--These are best eaten immediately for the crunch factor, but I reheated one that I had made the day before and wrapped up and it was still delicious.  Delicious, I say!

--Don't skimp on a low quality bun--go for a good one.  And don't skimp on toasting the buns on a griddle.  It adds a lot to the sandwich, I promise.

Triple Onion Slow Cooker Shredded Venison Sandwiches

Printable Recipe

2-3 pounds venison roast or ham

1 cup water

1 beef bouillon cube

1 packet dry French onion soup mix

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 large onion, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and coarse ground pepper to taste

To assemble sandwiches:

Good quality rolls or buns

Butter

Slices of pepper jack or provolone cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

French Fried onions

Place first 6 ingredients in a slow cooker, then season with salt and pepper.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meat is very tender and shreds easily, stirring once after it has been cooking a couple of hours.  Remove meat from slow cooker and shred.  Place back in slow cooker and stir.

To assemble sandwiches, split rolls, then spread cut sides with butter.  Place on a hot griddle, butter side down and grill until golden brown and toasted.  Using a slotted spoon, spoon some meat on the bottom half of each bun, then place a slice of cheese on top.  Sprinkle generously with the French fried onions.  Place buns tops on, and eat immediately.

Swiss-Style Venison Steaks

Who needs toys when you have FOUR HUGE PILES OF RED CLAY DIRT and a Lolli who will let you get as dirty as you want?

What about that landing, huh?  Is he awesome or what?

Little boys are da bomb.

And I'll tell you what else is da bomb--this recipe. 

I had in my mind to make a smothered steak dish using deer instead of beef, so I scoured the Internet for a recipe, but after reading them, I realized that none of them were what I had in mind.  (That sounded like I read ALL of them, didn't it?  I did not.) Many of them were calling for cream of mushroom soup, and I was envisioning something tomato based, so I Googled Swiss Steak and that rang the bell in my head.  I went with Alton Brown's recipe (the Worcestershire sauce was what tipped the scale in his favor), adapting it to fit my needs, and can I tell you?  I will definitely be making this again.  The deer turned out tender and the rice soaked up all the rich gravy.  Loved. 

Here are my notes:

-I added in the part about marinating the deer in Italian dressing.  This is completely optional, but I think it enhances the flavor, as well as tenderizes.  I love to keep bottles of Italian dressing around for an all-purpose marinade.

-It's really important to tenderize the deer.  Put it between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound it until it's about 1/4-inch thick.

-I used a deer ham.  (Or maybe it's a roast?  I am not good with deer parts.)  It turned out nice and tender because it was slow cooked in the oven. 

-I served this over brown rice, but noodles or mashed potatoes would be great also.

-The pictures are not much to look at, but the flavor was great.

-I would have loved to throw some chopped, fresh parsley on each serving, but I didn't have any.

 Swiss-Style Venison Steaks

(Adapted from Alton Brown)

Printable Recipe

2 pounds venison ham, backstrap or tenderloin, sliced into 3/4 inch slices against the grain

1/2 cup bottled Italian dressing

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 large onion, shopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups beef broth

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Tenderize the deer by pounding it flat with a meat tenderizer between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  Place the meat in a zip lock freezer bag with Italian dressing; seal bag and marinate overnight.

Place the flour into a pie plate. Dredge the pieces of meat on both sides in the flour mixture.

Add enough oil to just cover the bottom of a 4 to 5-quart Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the steaks to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Cook in batches until golden brown on both sides, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a plate and repeat until all of the steaks have been browned.

Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and celery to the pot and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes, paprika, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Return the meat to the pot, submerging it in the liquid. Cover the pot and place it in the oven on the middle rack. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.  Serve over rice or noodles.

Cheesy Venison Soft Tacos and Crispy Quesadillas

See this man?  He hunts deer and stuff.

Which means I cook deer and stuff.

And he hunts with a flintlock muzzleloader, but that information isn't really necessary to know for the remainder of this post.

Another piece of information that is completely unnecessary is that the day I made this picture, I laid in the grass in the woods because I was trying to act like a real photographer, and everybody knows that real photographers always lie in the grass to get the best shots.

What I didn't know was that the grass was filled with chiggers.  I found that out the next day.

Just for the record, I'm completely scabbed over.

Now for the recipe.

Deer meat can be kind of dry, so one of my favorite ways to cook it is in a crock pot with some type of gravy or sauce to give it moisture, which is exactly what I do here.  In fact, if you didn't know, you might not be able to tell this from beef.  

This shredded venison meat is a life saver when I don't have time to cook or I'm busy with other projects and I don't want to cook.  (Like when my hubby asks me to photograph him in the deep woods.) These tacos are a little bit different from the ones I posted here.  I usually make a big batch, then fill tortillas with the meat and some cheese, wrap them in deli wrap paper, and put them in the fridge.  Whenever we get hungry, we pop one or six into the microwave and they come out all melted and gooey.  They're packed with protein, very filling, and everybody loves them.  I also use this meat to make cheesy venison quesadillas.  Exact same ingredients, just cooked on a griddle with a little butter for a crispy outside.  They're not very photogenic, but they're delicious, cheap, easy, and convenient.  You could totally dress this meal up with beans and Mexican rice.

Some notes:

-I used Colby jack and regular sharp cheddar cheese, but monterey jack is also delicious.  Any melting cheese you like will probably do nicely.

-Seasonings can be adjusted to taste , of course.



-I usually don't sear my meat in a skillet first, because that just gives me another pan to wash.  It works turns out fine just putting the meat in a crock pot with all the other ingredients.  Less work, less clean up.  But you can sear if you want.  I have nothing against a good caramelization on a piece of meat.  I'm just lazy.

-I usually use the tougher ham or shoulder meat for this, because I like to save the tenderloin and backstrap for other methods of cooking. 

-This would be a good time to sing the praises of these wax paper sheets:

I get them at Sam's Club in bulk and I can't live without them.  I use them for a number of things.

I wrap my soft tacos in them and they go directly to the microwave with no problem.  I wrap sandwiches in them.  They allow the sandwich to breathe and not get soggy, while keeping them fresh.  So much better than those little sandwich baggies.  I cut circles out of them and line my cake pans, then spray with non-stick cooking spray.  I never have a cake to stick, ever.  I keep a box by the microwave and cover food with them for a splatter guard.  I line baking sheets with them when I'm dipping candy in chocolate to place the candy on.  Or, you can line baking sheets with them and baking cookies on them.  The list goes on and on.  They last a really long time, too.  I don't think I buy them more than once a year and I use them all the time.

-I wouldn't be concerned with slightly over-filling your quesadilla.  The cheese and meat that hangs out will get crispy on the griddle and it's delicious.  I like a little over hang.

Shredded Venison Taco Meat

Printable Recipe

1(15-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup water

1 beef bouillon cube

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 pounds venison (ham, roast, shoulder) 

Combine first 8 ingredients in a crock pot, then add venison.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.  When meat is cooked through, remove from pot and set aside until it’s cool enough to touch.  Shred the meat with fingers or two forks, then add back to the juices in the crock pot and stir.  Use a slotted spoon to fill flour tortillas for tacos or quesadillas.