Homemade Sauce and Venison Lasagna

This recipe was the inspiration:

http://honest-food.net/2009/11/19/not-my-mums-venison-lasagna/


Here is my version with some changes:

1 pound sweet Italian Sausage ground (or ground pork)
2 pounds ground venison
1 chopped onion
1 head of garlic, chopped
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 can of tomato paste
1 cup red wine (I used Anakena Carmenere – it’s a Chilean wine)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (not necessary if it is already in sausage)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons dried oregano


cheese filling


15 oz low fat cottage cheese
1 extra large egg beaten
1 cup grated Romano and Parmesan cheese mixture
2-3 teaspoons parsley
2-3 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt
Pepper

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
1.Brown all the meat, add chopped onions and cook for a few minutes, then add garlic and cook for another few minutes.

2.Add seasonings and mix well.

3.Mix the wine and tomato paste and pour in the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often. Add the tomato sauce and can of crushed tomatoes and mix again. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 1-2 hours.

4.Make filling: Whisk egg and then blend into cheese and spices, stirring well to break up cottage cheese and egg into a smooth mixture.

5.To assemble, spread a good amount of the meat on the bottom of a standard 9-inch by 13-inch casserole pan. Remove the lasagna noodles and lay on the meat sauce. Spread half the cheese mixture on the noodles.

6.Add another layer of meat sauce then the rest of the noodles. Add the remaining cheese mix Spread the remaining meat sauce on this, then sprinkle with the last bit of parm/romano.

7.To cook, cover the lasagna with foil. You might want to spray the underside first with non-stick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to it. Bake covered for 25 minutes.

8.Carefully take off the foil and bake for another 25 minutes.

9.Let the lasagna rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Venison Shepherd's Pie in a pinch...

Do you see the trend here?  Are you catching on?  Venison!  We have a freezer full of it, and baby I'm cooking it!  But here was my dilemma the other night.  A package of straight ground venison was defrosting.  Original plan had to be aborted due to lack of fresh ingredients at the store.  I took stock of what I had, what I didn't have and BAM!

Venison Shepherd's Pie in a pinch was born.  This came out really good, was semi-quick to make and since it is just the 2 of us, provided a good amount of leftovers.  I'm not a huge fan of shepherd's pie.  Some of you may not even know what it is.  I sure didn't.  Not until I went to college in VT anyhow.  Where at the beautiful Huden Dining Hall they served it up.  At the time I was a vegetarian and sadly missed out on it, but a few years later a friend made it with venison and I enjoyed it.  What's not to like?  Meat, potatoes and veggies all in one dish!  Oh and ketchup!  And you know, I love my ketchup.

Venison Shepherd's Pie in a Pinch...

1 pound ground Venison (we do not get ours mixed with anything)
1 onion
1 tablespoon flour
2-3 tablespoons ketchup
Frozen Peas, Carrots and Corn
1/2 cup water
1 tsp thyme

6 cups of boxed mashed potatoes prepared.  I add black pepper and parsley to mine.

Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or whatever blend you have.  We used Fiesta for this.)

Brown venison and onions.  Add flour and ketchup, mix and let thicken up a little.  Add thyme.  Then add water and veggies and cook until heated through.  In a prepared (sprayed with Pam) dish, place in meat/veggie mixture and top with prepare boxed mashed potatoes (I prefer homemade, but we didn't have any potatoes).  Then sprinkle with cheese.  Place dish in a preheated over to 425 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden on top.

Served with homemade biscuits. 

Venison Steak... for breakfast!

I've never eaten steak for breakfast.  In the 32 years I've been alive, it's just not my idea of a breakfast meat.  But we had a small among of leftover venison steak from dinner the night before, so I figured I would try it.  I just quickly sauteed the sliced venison in a pan on the stove and served with the following:

I used the Smashed Red Potatoes from the night before to make some really killer home fries.  Just a little EVOO in the frying pan, dump the leftover potatoes in and saute until desired crispness! 

A 2 egg omelet with onions and tomato with a dash of parsley, black pepper and milk.  And a toasted everything bagel thin. 

And... ketchup.  Yes, I am one of those people who eats their eggs with ketchup.  Deal with it. 

All in all, it was a fabulous brunch.  I don't know that I would purposely cook a steak in the morning to have with breakfast, but I enjoyed it. 

Bison Burgers Baby!

Expanding my food horizons has always been somewhat fun for me. For instance, the first time I ever had venison, it was ground venison that came from a road kill deer AND we had it in tacos on Christmas night. See? A fun story.

And so when guests were coming up to visit on a very cold, February winter day, I figured grilling burgers would be the best cure for the winter blah's. And not just any burgers, bison burgers.

I had passed the package so much in the store that I was really dying to try them. Ground Bison is better for you than ground beef and personally, I think it tastes better. Thinking perhaps our guests would not be as adventurous as us, I also got some ground beef.

Below are the patties I made up.

And here is the finished product....

Ground Bison (or Ground Beef - I did both)

Worcestershire Sauce

Montreal Steak Seasoning

Shredded Cheese

Kaiser Bun

Lettuce

Balsamic Onions (see recipe below)

I mixed the steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce in with the package of bison (or beef) and then made a couple patties. I added cheese to the last few patties I made just for some variety.

Grilled those puppies up and WAA LAA!

Balsamic Onions

Balsamic Vinegar

Vidalia Onion

Slice onions, drizzle balsamic vinegar over and grill.

I did a little research prior, making sure I cooked the meat to the suggested temperature. Ground Bison will defiantly make it on my menu again!

Spring Fever

The temps have gone above 40, to almost 60 today and that has me dreaming of spring and summer. Don't get me wrong, I like cold weather more than hot, but what I am looking forward to the most....

farm fresh vegetables!

and all the mouth watering dishes that come with farm fresh vegetables...

Or even better, taking a bite out of a fresh picked tomato that is still warmed from the sun. YUM!

And best of all... grilled eggplant parm :).

Carmelized Onions & BBQ Pulled Chicken!

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ

This is one of the easiest recipes I have in my secret recipe folder. It's tasty, it's good for parties, good for leftovers making sandwiches, tacos, burritos, pizza, salads, you name it.

This particular evening we were having it as a leftover. I had some beautiful onions from our farm share so I caramelized them to add into the leftover BBQ pulled chicken.

To caramelize the onions, I browned some butter, added the onions and sugar. YUM.


Then added the already shredded chicken in. It gave it a very sweet yet tangy taste on the sandwich.

Ingredients

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce (You can use any kind! This makes it interesting!)
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing (I use low fat or fat free)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (Was out - used A1 instead)

Directions
Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.