Happy Tuesday after a long weekend everyone! What a strange weekend it was, though. Well for me anyway. It was sweltering on Saturday, moderate on Sunday and downright chilly on Monday. Needless to say, with any long weekend, there was cooking to be done. So Let us start with the food that took the longest to prepare. Venison Chops.

Like I mentioned in a previous post. I want to try some foods that are a little more unconventional to some. A lot of people don’t think that there is anything other than Chicken, Beef and Pork.

So Venison, also known as Deer. I had to research how to cook deer, and what kind of preparation it requires. I also had to find someone who sold it.

I managed to find someone at the Farmer’s Market who sold. But they only had the chops, which looks like they were a rib-steak kind of cut. It was recommended that I marinate these for at least 8 hours if not 24, then cook at a higher heat until medium-rare.

I couldn’t find an image of the weather where I was on Saturday, but boy was it ever some crazy weather. Needless to say, there was no safe way to grill that evening. And even though the video shows that it was dry, shortly after, there was a downpour so hard that we could not see our car parked in the parking lot 30 feet away.

METHOD

1. In a glass bowl or dish, pour the lemon juice, olive oil, and all of the dry ingredients. Whisk them until they are well combined.
2. Submerge the chops in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, but up to 24. At 24 hours the marinade will begin to chemically cook the meat.
   

   If you prefer to have meat with no bones, it is easy to remove the fat cap and bones from the chop. You can do this before marination.

3. When you are ready to cook, brush the grill with oil, then preheat to medium-high.
4. Cook the chops for about 5 minutes and flip them, cooking for another 5 minutes. Use the touch test to see if they are ready. You want to serve them at medium-rare to get the best flavour.
   

These were surprisingly easy to cook up, even when using an unfamiliar grill and an unfamiliar food. The taste was different. Very different. I am unsure if the lemon juice added the tart tang or if that was the “gamey” taste that people say wild food has. It is definitely something I would try again, but not something that will be on our menu every week.

How do you feel about venison? Let me know about your experiences, and even your venison recipes in our Submit your own Recipe section.

Happy Grilling!