By Ryan Newhouse
As hunting season progresses, and I feel ever so much closer to bringing home a nice plump deer or elk, I’ve been trying to go through my stash of canned venison from last year. Hands-down, my favorite dish to prepare with canned venison stew chunks (which fall apart at the touch of a fork) is “Sloppy Does.”
So, dust off a quart jar of a previous season’s deer or elk and be ready to eat in five minutes. This is a great go-to for quick dinners or one-pot campsite grub.
If you don’t have any canned venison hanging around, ground beef or venison browned in a pan would also work well.
Sloppy Does
Ingredients:
1/4 pound bacon, chopped in small pieces
1 quart venison stew meat
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 T ground cumin
1/4 t chili powder
2 T minced garlic
1 T prepared Dijon mustard
1/2 c ketchup
14 oz can of diced or stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a large cast iron skillet , cook bacon pieces until crispy. Drain a little of the grease (not too much!), and then add chopped onions and cook over medium heat until they’re almost clear.
In a blender, add everything else except the venison and blend until smooth.
Drain some of the water from the jar of venison, and add meat to bacon/onion mix. Heat thoroughly, until all liquids are gone and meat just starts to look “dry.” Now add the sauce from the blender, a little at a time, until you get the “sloppiness” you desire and heat through.
Garnish with grilled onions (optional) and serve on warm burger buns with your favorite sides and beverage.
Ryan Newhouse has spent the last decade hunting, fishing and camping in the mountains of western Montana. This recipe originally appeared on his blog, cookedanimals.com.
