Pressure Cooker Venison Grand Marnier

This recipe originally came from the book "301 Venison Recipes - The Ultimate Deer Hunter's Cookbook".  It's a sweeter twist on classic beef tips and gravy, and one the family really enjoyed. It called for marinating the venison for at least 4-5 hours or overnight.  I didn't plan well enough in advance for that, so I decided to convert the original into a pressure cooker recipe. 

I used venison stew meat, dehydrated minced onions, and a can of mushrooms, so there was no chopping involved.  Feel free to use fresh onion and mushrooms, but be sure to add the mushrooms in before pressure cooking instead of after.  And as always, feel free to use beef instead of venison if you like.

I had this recipe done, start to finish, in about half an hour.  I also made a second batch, uncooked, to freeze.  When I'm ready to serve, I can dump it into the pressure cooker (thawed and frozen) and have dinner ready in a jiffy.

Pressure Cooker Venison Grand Marnier

6 ounces Grand Marnier (or any orange liqueur - I used Triple Sec because we had some)
6 ounces orange juice concentrate
6 ounces white wine
2 cups beef stock
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
Pinch of ground rosemary
1 to 1-1/2 pounds venison, cut into thin strips or chunks (I used stew meat in about 1" cubes)
1 can mushroom pieces, or 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped or quartered
6 Tablespoons butter
6 Tablespoons flour
browning sauce, such as Kitchen Bouquet
Salt and pepper to taste

Place rack in pressure cooker, and add first 8 ingredients, plus mushrooms if you are using fresh.  Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, then attach pressure cooker lid.

When there is steady stream of steam emitting from pressure cooker vent, place weight on vent.  When cooker begins hissing and weight rocks gently, begin timing an cook for 20 minutes.  These directions are for my particular pressure cooker - for optimal safety, always follow the manufacturers directions for you own cooker.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pan and whisk in flour.  Cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes to create a roux.

After 20 minutes, quickly reduce pressure by placing cooker in sink and running cold water over it.  When there is no longer pressure, carefully remove lid and return cooker to stove top.

The broth may have foamed.  If so, either scrape the bits off the sides and out of the cooker, or down into the broth (I prefer down and in, because there is a lot of flavor in those bits).  Bring broth to a gentle boil.

Whisk in roux a spoonful at a time until lump free and as thick as desired.  Whisk in small amounts of browning sauce until desired rich color is achieved.

Serve over rice, pasta or homemade noodles.

Makes about 4 servings.

Italian Venison (or Beef) Steak

I was hoping to come up with something clever, witty, and generally brilliant today, so here....have a recipe.

I found this recipe in a cookbook called "301 Venison Recipes - The Ultimate Deer Hunter's Cookbook". If you don't eat venison, use beef (or pork or chicken).  This recipe is similar to Veal Parmesan and was great served over a bed of spaghetti.  Kat asked me to put it on "the make it again list".  Most cuts of venison will work, since the meat is tenderized, but if you have backstrap or tenderloin, I'd recommend using those.

Italian Venison Steak

4 venison cubed steaks or tenderized round steaks (about 2 pounds)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup flour or crushed crackers (I used whole wheat flour seasoned with salt and pepper)
1 egg, beaten
1 jar (26 ounces) pasta sauce (I used our home-canned sauce)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used provolone with just a bit of Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Slowly heat oil in large oven-proof skillet.  Dip steaks in egg, then in flour mixture.  Brown on both sides in hot oil.  Drain oil from pan; return steaks to pan.  Spoon pasta sauce over steaks.  Bake, covered, for 45 minutes (use foil if your skillet has no lid).  Top with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes to melt.  Makes 4 servings.

I'm a Winner!

I just wanted to take time out of my busy day of doing stuff to thank Alea at Premeditated Leftovers for the wonderful cookbook called $5 Dinner Mom One-Dish Dinners Cookbook by Erin Chase.

I was so happy to win this book in a giveaway she hosted earlier this month.  I haven't had a chance to make any of the recipes, but I've had a great time looking through the book and planning what to make soon.

Please take a little time to visit Premeditated Leftovers, and while you're at it, check out $5 Dinners, too!

Book Review: Small Batch Baking

This is one of the small gifts I bought for myself at Christmas time.

We're a family of two adults and one child.  We love our salty snacks and treats, but we have a hard time eating our way through a full-sized cake or pie and we never eat all of a batch of cornbread.   We have better luck with cookies, but sometimes even they go stale before we eat them all.

I've tried freezing baked goods, but they end up forgotten for months, then finally thrown out or composted.

I guess it's a good problem to have, as far as problems go, but we do like a baked treat once in a while and I hate wasting food.  That's why I thought I'd try small batch baking.

This is a nicely designed book.  The recipes are categorized by type and are simple to make in most cases.  Any special pans needed -- such as small pie pans or cake rings -- are described near the front of the book.  The recipes range from simple cornbread muffins and buttermilk biscuits to more elaborate cheesecakes, souffles and pavlovas.  Most recipes make 2 or 3 servings.

The only bad thing I can say about the book is that there are no photographs.  In order to keep myself from going wild with cookbooks, I usually insist they have photos before I buy them.  I made an exception in this case because I knew the book would be so useful to us.

So far, I've tried the recipes for "Old Fashioned Cornbread" (a wonderful flour-less version with molasses that I will post tomorrow), "Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Squares" and "Blueberry Upside Down Cake".  All were very good and I'm looking forward to trying more recipes.  With more than 450 pages in the book, there are plenty of them to try.

If you're like us and have a small family, or a small appetite for sweets, this is the book for you.  If you have a larger family or one that loves sweets, this is still the book for you.  After all, who says you can't sample more than one small batch recipe at a time?

Disclaimer:  I was not paid or compensated for this review.  It's just my own opinion of a book I recently purchased for myself.

Book Review: Knack Healthy Snacks for Kids

I recently read a book called Healthy Snacks for Kids by Amy Wilensky.  It's part of the Knack - Make It Easy series of books.

This is a cookbook, but it also offers tips, ideas and nutritional information.  I don't always believe everything I read about nutrition in the mainstream media, but most of the author's advice seemed solid to me.  I did find her tone just a little off-putting and it seems like she mentions Greek yogurt at least once in every 2-page spread. That's ok. I like Greek yogurt,...and don't have to like the author to like the book.

I'm trying to let go of some of my cookbooks, not bring more in, so I'll probably just return this to the library and not order a copy for myself.  It's tempting, though.  I found a lot of great new ideas for snacks -- and lunches -- not just for Kat, but for the whole family.  The book has lots and lots of pictures, which is a must for a cookbook to catch my eye these days.

Overall, I think this would be a good addition to anyone's cookbook collection, but especially for those who have kids.