2009.01.07
Irish pubs and venison
Sounds like a perfect combination to me, but these are actually two separate topics.
First, Roanoke Times business reporter Jenny Kincaid Boone has the scoop on the former Kara O'Caen's, now the former Gunther O'Darby's (it closed in late December) on Jefferson Street in downtown Roanoke. Apparently, the owners of Cornerstone are planning to open a new Irish pub there called Flanary's (named after Cornerstone co-owner Mike Flanary). Go over to Jenny's blog for more info.
Next up, if you read today's Front Burner column about venison, you know that I'm eager to hear from anyone who has a great venison recipe. If you have one to share, please post it here for all to enjoy!
My husband made a great dish from venison. You would never know it was deer and not fillet. He got it from allrecipes.com. I highly recommend it!!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Venison-Backstrap/Detail.aspx
Grilled Vension Backstrap
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds venison backstrap (tenderloin), cut into 2 inch chunks
1 quart apple cider
1 1/2 pounds thick sliced bacon
2 (12 ounce) bottles barbecue sauce, your choice
DIRECTIONS
Place chunks of venison into a shallow baking dish, and pour enough apple cider in to cover them. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove, and pat dry. Discard apple cider, and return venison to the dish. Pour barbeque sauce over the chunks, cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 more hours.
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Charcoal is best, but if you must, use gas. Remove meat from the refrigerator, and let stand for 30 minutes, or until no longer chilled. Wrap each chunk of venison in a slice of bacon, and secure with toothpicks.
Brush the grill grate with olive oil when hot, and place venison pieces on the grill so they are not touching. The bacon will kick up some flames, so be ready. Grill, turning occasionally, until the bacon becomes slightly burnt, 15 to 20 minutes. The slower, the better. Dig in, and prepare to want more!
Comment by Dana — January 7, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Venison Roast in crock pot. Add potatoes, baby carrots, dry onion soup mix, 2 TBSP Worchestire, 1/2 cup red wine. Cook on low for 8 hrs. Always before cooking any cut of venison (except burger) soak overnight in 1/4 to 1/2 c white vinegar and equal amt of water. Rinse well and cook as you would beef. I ALWAYS have venison in my freezer!
Comment by Tami — January 7, 2009 @ 12:16 pm
Sounds promising. I hope the owners of "little corned beef" (tounge in cheek) stay true to the Irish pub theme while not turning the place into another sports bar or sterile generic environment like the other "Irish" bar in Roanoke. Also, it would be refreshing if they took a risk and offered something other than the usual macros, Guinness and Harp on tap.
Comment by Tullamore — January 7, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
If the Cornerstone folks are running it, I hope their standards are higher for the pub than they are for Cornerstone. That place is filthy and the service is terrible. I feel like I'm eating a meal in a frat house when I get dragged over there.
Comment by seth — January 7, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
It may not be that unusual, but we share our venison with our non-deer eating friends by making barbecue from roasts and other cuts. (We made this with homemade cole slaw for our group's NYE get-together!) We soak in milk, as your mentioned in your article, and then roast in a crock pot all day in beef broth and add an au jus packet from the spice/gravy section. We've used Stubbs and Sweet Baby Ray's sauces for our "pulled venison" recipie. It's been a hit so far!
Comment by Natasha — January 7, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
You're a little too SW VA to call it 'venison' ain't ya?
Mine is simple. Tenderize deer tenderloin with a mallet, lightly flour it, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and fry in hot olive oil. Yum.
Hey...i said it was simple.
Comment by Rich — January 7, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
In college, we had forest rec and tech students and hotel mgt. and chef training students. Add the Adirondacks as the backdrop and you have some very good venison cooked on warm plates and over open fires.
My favorite recipe had to be venison stewed in spaghetti sauce.
Mmmmm...
Comment by Amy Hanek — January 7, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to why Irish Pubs have never taken off in Roanoke. I haven't been very impressed by Annie Moore's, and if Cornerstone is any indication as to what Flanary's will be like I don't expect much
Comment by Heather — January 8, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Clarks Sausage & Pork Outlet
4800 Nc Highway 133
Rocky Point, NC 28457
910-675-0358
Saw their truck when I was returning to Raleigh from Wilimington yesterday, 1/7/09 and it listed dressing deer, a long with the regular beef and pork! Don't know that folks up in the Roanoke area would bring a deer this far to have it dressed, but I thought it would be a great way to get deer meat ready for the table...rather than leaving them to rot in the woods. They might also have a treasure trove of ways to fix venison. Do you know of any place like it in the deer hunting areas around Roanoke?
Comment by Sue Bush — January 8, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Hey Lindsey,
I love to serve(and eat!) venison with sweet potatoes, red cabbage, apples and cranberries, so I would probably do something like pan-seared venison medallions with cranberry-bourbon compote, sweet potato spoonbread and braised red cabbage with apples. I love to use junniper berries, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice berries to marinate venison.
Comment by Mark Crim — January 8, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Copy of my post to Jenny's blog:
This is great news!
I think that those of us who enjoyed, and very much miss, the old Kara O'Caens are excited and hopeful that Flanary's will be similar in feel, in ambience, and have similar food. I miss the Shepard's pie and the very authentically presented Guinness beer (ice cold and improperly poured Guinness is not acceptable).
Sorry, but Annie Moore's is a very, very poor attempt at an Irish Pub. It has about as much feel of a real pub as a McDonald's, and the food doesn't make it. Also, this is the U.S., so I hope Flanary's doesn't get too fake and keep Soccer on the TVs since almost no is interested (this is the only exception I allow for in an authentic pub) and it adds nothing to the pub feel.
ShutEyeThinkin
Comment by ShutEyeThinkin — January 8, 2009 @ 11:28 am
These are some wonderful venison recipes. Thank you guys so much for sharing. I can't wait to try something different. Natasha, we have also discovered how delicious a pulled venison BBQ can be. We put ours in the crockpot with Stubb's sauce and a large sweet onion, cut up into strips. Once it is tender enough, I pull it apart with a fork.
In a pinch, I have also made BBQ with my pressure cooker. But I pressure cook the meat and onion with a bit of water or stock, then pull it apart and stir in the sauce and let it simmer a little bit longer before eating.
I share the same hopes for Flanary's Irish Pub that some of you have expressed. I believe Gunther O'Darby's lasted as long as it did because it retained the feel of Cara O'Kaen's. So I hope the new owners don't try to brighten it up and change it too much. Pubs should be cozy and a little dark inside, and the beer has to be very good and it doesn't hurt to have some quality Irish fare on the menu, either. I know a lot of folks are still missing Cara's shepherd pie.
Maybe Flanary is watching this blog. Since he has never even returned a phone call of mine, though, I don't have a lot of hope.
Comment by lindseynair — January 8, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
I agree with the others regarding Cornerstone. Just go into the mens restroom (the standard tell-tell for how a place is managed) and it's nasty. The bartenders remind me of the ones you run into in tourist traps.
Several things that Irish Pubs here in Roanoke should not do, IMO, is have Irish bands, bagpipers, and non-stop soccer on TV. Other than those, Irish music on the sound system is ok, authentic Irish food is good, properly-handled beer is good. ESPN is more appropriate fine for an Irish pub in America. There is a limit to how authentic a place can get before it's becomes a turn-off. When at Annie Moore's, they always have the soccer on, and almost without exception, no one is paying attention. Being Americans, we like close-to-authentic, but not 100%. That's just how we are, folks.
Comment by ShutEyeThinkin — January 8, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
Sue, Hubby took his deer to Overstreet's Foods on Eastern Ave here in Roanoke, they cut and wrapped it according to what we wanted (steaks, roasts, burger, left the tenderloin whole). They keep different hours during the hunting season to accomodate the hunters. He took it there early on a Sunday morning and they called us back 2 1/2 hours later to come get it! It was well worth the $60 charge for them to do it.
Lindsey, I've made BBQ the same way in the crockpot. I have also used the canned deer meat when I wanted quick BBQ, just heated it, added sauce, heated a little more and it was ready to eat. Might have to do this soon.
Comment by Kathy — January 8, 2009 @ 1:29 pm
My dad was the deer hunter and deer chef in our family, but one time he trusted me to cook a roast.
I mixed together a package of onion soup mix, a can of beef broth, a cup of red wine and added a little flour to it. I poured that over the roast and cooked it in the oven, 350 for an hour maybe two. It was a few years ago, so I can't remember exactly how long. I do remember it was delicious. The flour thickened it up like gravy and it was wonderful.
The way he usually fixed it was to put sliced up green peppers and onions in a baking dish along with mushrooms. Then he would put strips of bacon on the roast and cooked it low and slow. I loved the tenderloin cut into chunks and dredged in seasoned flour and fried. Yummm!
Comment by Debbie — January 8, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Position the loin as though your were slicing up a
cucumber. You want to slice the loin in slices about
the thickness of thick bologna.
black pepper
onion salt
garlic salt
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
stick of butter
a beer approximate 42 degrees
Heat a med. size frying pan or skillet to med/high. The next set of event are going to happen sorta quickly, you have to
be ready to cook until the all the meat is cooked. No running around doing other stuff.
Drop a Tbsp of butter in the pan and coat the pan (make sure it is sizzling before you place the thin slices of meat in)
now layer the pan with slices of tender loin. Take the time to lay each peace out flat.
Now apply, (pepper ,generously), onion salt, garlic salt, and a couple splashes of worcestershire. done? flip the meat
apply the above spices to this side. You want to really brown the meat like a grilled cheese sand.
Comment by Bob — January 9, 2009 @ 7:39 am
I used to work at the British Pub and Restaurant in Epcot at Disney World (over a decade ago) and I have to agree with an earlier comment about ambience.
So many little pubs, chains and independently owned, have this clean, cookie-cutter feel. The draw for many Americans is that they've wandered into a hole in the wall for an authentic vacation from the norm - and even America.
Homemade steak and kidney pies, scotch eggs, shepard's pie, fish and chips, and bangers and mash are all great menu items. Warm Guiness and Bass are necessities. Worn wooden floors, tables and bar are a plus. And don't forget to bring the lights down a little. Small paned glass windows really add to that ambience too.
And for anyone interested in opening this style restaurant and bar, remember that you should decide what part of U.K. you are representing. England, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each country has it's own food, drink and traditions. If you're representing them all, include them all.
Even at Disney, the Rose and Crown pub kept a tradtitional feel inside its restaurant. And the bar made more money than any other food and beverage establishment at Disney World, per square foot. Back when I worked there anyway.
Comment by Amy Hanek — January 10, 2009 @ 11:04 am
Right now I have my chili I make cooking in the crock pot that I used deer instead of hamburger. First time trying this so I hope it turns out well. It's always good the normal way. One pound of beef, one can of kidney beans, one can of diced tomatoes and a pack of seasoning. Mmmmm mmm good. Will have to try some of these recipes here as I have another pack of deer to cook up. Rich I think I'm going to try yours first. Bob yous sounds good but I shouldn't have all that salt. I have never soaked my deer and most I talk to don't. I just rinse it off with water. Is it better to and what is the best method. Also how do you make gravy out of what left behind in the pan?
Comment by Mike D — January 10, 2009 @ 11:51 pm
FRIED DEER LIVER. Liver coated with flour, meal, salt, pepper and a smidgen of Essence of Emeril then fried in bacon drippings. Sweet onions fried separately in bacon drippings and kept warm separately from liver till time to eat so onions would not moisten crispness of liver. After the liver is sliced I marinated it in beer 3-4 hours before frying. Folks who enjoy liver of any kind really go for the deer liver. I have a couple of friends who look forward to their annual "deer liver treat". Many hunters throw the liver away when field dressing the animal. I carry a zip lock bag with me and retrieve the liver as quick as possible, clean it make ready to freeze it or have a meal with it fresh. I enjoy the fried liver without the onions. Might add I like to use Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Comment by White Gold Winger — January 12, 2009 @ 9:52 am
Venison is very good, but it has to be cooked right. Here are some facts that you may or may not know about venison. 1. Deer that have been chased before before being harvested have very tough meat. I've had venison before that was impossible to chew up. 2. Younger deer (and females) have more tender meat. 3. If a buck deer is not properly cleaned and dressed, fluid from different glands can get on the meat, making it not taste right. 4. The very best scenario: 1-shot kill, not being run, young deer, cleaned properly. Then, keeping the meat on ice for 48 hours will cause excess blood to leach out and cause a better tasting venison. It helps to butcher/slice it properly also. The rest is up to the preparer. There are several ways to season/cook venison, but if you start with the better meat (as above) your chances of great-tasting venison is very good.
Comment by Electric Smoker Shop.com — February 25, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
Hey ESS, thanks for reading and commenting. Hadn't heard about #1. Does that count out driving deer? The others I believe I've heard before and they're very good points. All hunters are interested in a trophy buck, but the good ones value a doe for providing food. I've also heard that venison should be aged about 2 weeks in refrigerated conditions.
Comment by lindseynair — February 25, 2009 @ 6:34 pm
lindseynair - Well, deer that have been chased by dogs all season, yes, I can see that. I mean, ideally you want to kill a deer that is in good shape, and not just sitting around all day (like in a pen!), but you don't want one that all he does is run around. One reason why bucks that are killed during, or shortly after the rut taste so bad.
Comment by Electric Smoker Shop.com — February 26, 2009 @ 5:10 pm