I know, many people leave the deer’s innards in the dust where they shot it. That’s a pity.
Fortunately, the more deer hunters I meet, the more I meet who keep the liver and heart. It warms the cockles of my heart to see that this “fifth quarter” of the animal is at least getting used by some of my fellow hunters. Hopefully, if you try some of these recipes, you will get as excited about the wobbly bits as I am.
Below is a start on my own recipes for deer offal, which is a rare item in my household because I often hunt in hot weather conditions where saving the highly perishable innards is problematic. But I do my best.
Grilled Deer Heart with Peppers
If you don’t like this recipe, you don’t like venison. Heart cutlets, seared hard and fast on the grill, then sliced thin and served with grilled peppers and onions. It’s awesome.
Tacos de Lengua
The Mexican taco truck classic, done with venison tongues. No one who likes tacos won’t like this. And everyone likes tacos.
Jaeger Schnitzel with Heart Cutlets
A German classic using deer hearts, pounded thin, seared hot and fast and served with mushroom sauce.
English Venison Meatballs
These are so damn good! A British classic they call “faggots,” these are big meatballs made with venison and liver, with a bit of oats in them, “Scarborough Faire” herbs and spices, all wrapped in caul fat or bacon. What’s not to love?
Venison Dirty Rice
Made with minced venison liver and venison heart, this is a wild game take on the classic Cajun dish. This is probably the most approachable offal dish I know. Everyone like this!
Sliced Venison Tongue Salad
As its name suggests, this is an appetizer made from braised deer tongue sliced very thin and served on a salad.
Braised Venison Tongue
Another braised venison tongue recipe, this one is also sliced thin, but served on crackers with a zippy horseradish sauce.
Simple Seared Venison Kidneys
I love kidneys. Soak them in milk overnight to cleanse them, then grill the kidneys over a hot fire and serve with salt, black pepper and lemon.
Venison Liver Creme Caramel
Yep, you heard me. It’s a savory custard that is way more wonderful than it sounds. This is a recipe you need to try to appreciate.
[…] to use as many of the organs as possible, because I am crazy like that now a days. Fortunately Hunter Angler Gardener Cook has tons of recipes for deer odd bits, and I plan to try them […]