Venison Four Ways at the Old Post Place

While enjoying a nice visit with Elise and Tom at Tom's old family home in West Virginia, we put together an impromptu venison tasting menu. With a decently equipped kitchen, but not much in the way of ingredients, here is what we came up with:

• Venison Puntas al la Mexicana, doctoring up some red sauce left over from breakfast pizza the day before.
• Venison kebabs, wrapped in bacon and cooked on the barbecue.
• Venison with a red wine reduction, using a bottle of wine that had been steaming in our trunk since we left San Diego.
• Orange-marinated venision, with an orange and red onion relish.

All of the dishes came out really well, particularly the orange-marinated venison that Elise put together. The citrus juice was a surprisingly good complement to the venison flavor, and the marinating gave the meat a nice, soft texture.

So, why the plethora of venison dishes? Given that this area was obviously deer country, I happened to mention in passing that it would be great if we had some. Word spread, neighbors-brother's-friend-style, and soon we had a bunch of venison on our hands:



When we thawed it, it turned out to be pre-cut in thin slices:



Here's a shot of venison prep in full force:



When not cooking and eating, the most popular activity while we were in West Virginia was Porch Sitting.



Porch Sitting is always a good way to spend time, but it is even better when your view looks like this: