My brother-in-law, David, is an avid hunter. Living in Wisconsin, he enjoys all types of hunting to include deer season. For 2016, he and his wife Jaymi provided us with a couple of tasty recipes for venison. If you’re not into venison or can’t get your hands on any, use beef!

From Jaymi and David

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 1 pound venison, cut into 2-inch cubes 1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 3⁄4 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional) 2 tablespoons water (optional)

Directions

1. Melt the bacon drippings in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the venison in small batches until nicely browned. Set aside.
2. Stir in the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Cook until the onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add the brandy, wine and bouillon. Simmer for 30 seconds to remove the alcohol flavor and dissolve the bouillon.
4. Using a spice grinder or mortar & pestle, finely grind the thyme and rosemary. This will prevent large herb pieces from detracting from the sauce.
5. Stir in the venison, pepper, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently, about 15 minutes or more until venison is cooked through and tender. Add additional water if sauce reduces too much.
6. Thicken the sauce, if needed, by dissolving the cornstarch in the water and stirring it into the sauce.

NOTE: Feel free to use beef instead of venison!

Christmas memories: Remember that Christmas when Mom and Dad put the tags on gifts but then switched them on Christmas Eve? Very sneaky. We were shaking those boxes for weeks only to find that none of our guesses were relevant anyway. Hmmph.