Sloppy Doe's

Thankfully due to several successful hunts between myself and Ariel we have made the switch back to venison as our source of red meat again. This morning while everyone was getting ready to start the day Rebecca and I began planning tonight's dinner and Alex being the ever hungry boy that he is requested that I make Sloppy Doe's for dinner. Rebecca checked and verified I had all the ingredients necessary which made Alex very happy and made tonight's plans easier because dinner was decided upon
.

 I like to saute' diced onion, peppers and garlic to stretch the meal, add flavor and texture.

Once the veggies are cooked I add 1 pound of fresh ground venison 

(thus the reason why they are Sloppy Doe's instead of Sloppy Joe's) 

 Once the meat is browned I add tomato paste and seasonings stir together with 1 cup of water or if you have it on hand broth or stock!

Bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes

Scoop onto your favorite roll, flat bread or a large lettuce leaf and enjoy - just remember to have a napkin ready as you can see in the picture above, I always make them Extra Sloppy!

Fat Charleys

Last year I experimented with preparing venison  in several different ways and one of the favorites was venison snack sticks. Of course mine were thicker and tastier than the commercial options so rather than calling them snack sticks I decided to call them Fat Charleys because they were more filling and better for you than the ones named after some skinny guy named James! The kids were especially fond of them and Alex and I took them as our regular snack when we headed out to the hockey games which was always appreciated by most everyone around us because we were more than willing to share.

I took out a couple of packages of meat this week and when I saw the last one was ground venison I decided that I would whip up a batch tonight when I got home from work. After I finished mixing in the spices Rebecca assisted me with cranking as I fed the meat into collagen casings. I started them in the oven and finished them off in the smoker with some chucked maple. I'm sure this first batch wont last more than a day or two but thankfully we have plenty of fresh venison in the freezer so I have a feeling they will be a staple in our house once again throughout the upcoming year!