Wine
Wine with Venison Steaks and Chops. We suggest a fine Pinot Noir with deer venison prime cuts such as steaks and chops. Be sure to let it breathe ten minutes in the bottle before serving and a good serving temperature is from room temp to 54 degrees F.
Wine with Venison Summer Sausage. If you are tailgating or trail riding, take along some venison summer sausage with a Boar’s Head White Cheddar Cheese (softer) or Manchaca Goat Cheese (harder) and some fresh baked Pillsbury Crusty French Bread [on the shelf with the refrigerated rolls of biscuits.] Select a polished Proseco wine which is bubbly and sharp. (It’s the wine all the Tuscan folks take with them to picnic in Italy.) Martini and Rossi Vintners make a very fine Proseco wine.
Condiments, Sauces and Accompaniments
Your imagination and taste buds are all that limit you in cooking creatively and deliciously with venison.
Let’s take a page from master chef Stephan Pyles of Stephan Pyles Restaurant in Dallas: In his cookbook, “The New Texas Cuisine,” he lists these mouthwatering recipes:
Black Buck Antelope with Smothered Onions and Sweet Potato Tamales.
Carpaccio of Black Buck antelope with Cascabel Chile Aioli.
Coriander-Cured Loin of Venison with Sweet Onion Confit and Tomatillo Fritters.
Smoked Rabbit-Black Bean Tostadas with Goat Cheese-Roast Garlic Cream
Southwestern Venison Burger
Venison Chili with Texas Goat Cheese
Venison Picadillo
Venison Steaks with Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce and Saffron-Risotto Cakes
Venison Tamales with Cranberries and Pecans
Wild Boar, Pineapple, and Tamarind Stew with Cilantro Rice Ring
Grilled Squab with Caramelized Bananas and Mango Quesadillas
Jalapeno-Stuffed Smoke Dove with Drunken Beans, Three Potato Salad, and Rosy Relish
Molasses-Grilled Quail with Horseradish-Turnip Puree and Tomatillo-Jalapeno Chutney
Pheasant Braised in Tequila with Peaches
Roast Pheasant with Oyster-Pecan Dressing
Seared Quail with Sweet Potato Pancakes, Muscat Wine, and Jicama-Orange Relish
Smoked Pheasant Salad with Jicama and Goat Cheese.
In her book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” Barbara Kingsolver suggests that the very best accompaniments are those items that live and grow together, both in the same neighborhood and/or in the same season. Perhaps this is why Turkey and Pecan Pie go so well together. That is why Venison and Stephan Pyles’ Tamales with Cranberries and Pecans go well together, or venison and sweet potatoes.
Easy Beer:
Beer from the grocery store or neighborhood liquor store is easier to come by, so let’s talk about that first:
Budweiser Select. Bud Select is a new beer from Anheuser-Busch which offers a bold taste with a full and distinct flavor that finishes clean. This clean finish makes it a natural to go with venison. Budweiser Select was developed using two-row and roasted specialty malts for a rich color. It offers excellent drinkability and a taste that does not linger.
Budweiser. We have to list Budweiser because it leads the U.S. premium beer category, outselling all other domestic premium beers combined. It has been brewed and sold since 1876, so it even came along when people were eating venison every week. We also recommend Bud Light. It contains more malt and hops by ratio of ingredients than Budweiser, which gives the brew a distinctively clean and crisp taste.
Michelob Lager. Michelob is a malty and full-bodied lager with an elegant European hop profile. This European profile goes well with stronger venisons such as Fallow and Sika. It also goes well with whitetail that has been feeding on stronger weeds or, as we say, is ‘gamier.’
Grolsch Amber Ale. Grolsch Amber Ale is a top fermented ale with a pure, rich taste. The flavor of roasted nuts and toasted grain are complemented by notes of dried fruit. For an Autumn toast to venison, it is perfect.
Samuel Adams Black Lager. This is a brewer recommendation for venison. “Samuel Adams Black Lager is a Schwarzbier, a traditional beer style of Eastern Germany. The two-row Munich, Harrington, and deep roasted Carafa malts create the layers of roasted, malty flavors in this beer. By removing the bitter husks from Carafa malt, the brew has a full-roast character, but with a smoother finish.” The hops are from the Spalt region of Bavaria and “give this brew its crisp finish.” Has the deep, ruby color of Black Lager like traditional porters and stouts but this beer is “surprisingly smooth.”
Samuel Adams Boston Lager. This is a brewer recommendation for venison. “…Offers a caramel sweetness balance by distinct citrus and piney notes….full flavored and robust.”
Fancier Beers
If you are looking to inform your liquid palate as well as your venison palate, you’ll want to research in these areas:
Jockamo IPA from Abita. On the Four-eyed Beer Geek site, this is what ‘Butch’ chose recently to serve with his venison backstrap steaks, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Four-eyed Geek has a great site with venison recipes and the beers to have with them.
On Four-eyed’s site, ‘Zythophile’ (yeh, that’s somebody who knows and loves beer!) suggested these British lagers to go with venison chili, crock-pot venison, and venison roasts:
Theakston Old Peculiar
Marston’s Owd Roger
McEwan’s Champion
Hot Apple Cider.
Sorry it isn’t a beer or wine but it sure does taste good with venison!