19 January 2012

A real Texas meal.

Mom is still in town (yipee!) and tonight we had a feast that was truly a Texas meal at its finest.

I remember growing up we would eat this meal a whole lot.  And when hubby's grandfather gave us some deer meat a few weeks ago, I have been sooo excited to cook some.

Wanna know how this Texas gal cooks it?  I'll gladly share the recipe that has been passed down many generations in my family.  It's nothing special, but it tastes so yummy.

***Just a small note: there are photos of raw deer meat...just a disclaimer***

Here's what you'll need:

Deer meat
buttermilk
one egg
flour
pepper
salt
vinegar
vegetable or canola oil
water


Directions:

1. After you take your deer meat from the freezer (I freeze mine in freezer bags)..place it in a big bowl of water.  Add a heaping spoonful or two (or three) of salt in the water, and a pour of distilled white vineger. (I usually count to three while I'm pouring it in the bowl)

The vinegar gets the "gamey" taste out of the deer, and the salt draws out the blood.  Let the meat soak overnight in the fridge so it can get all of the blood out and thaw.  I let mine thaw for two days, but it's just up to you how long you want it to thaw.  (One day would be okay too)

2.  Once it is done, drain the water and rinse off the meat. Then slice the meat.  I like to slice it kind of small so I can have deer nuggets, so to speak.



3. Then get an egg,buttermilk, and pepper.  Beat the egg in a bowl, add a pinch or two of pepper and 3 tbs of buttermilk.  Set aside.  Then pour enough buttermilk in the bowl of meat to just coat the meat.  Maybe about 1/4 cup or somewhere around there. 

4. Then you need to tenderize the meat so it's not tough.  You can choose to do this before you cut the meat, or after...I forgot to do it, so right before I coated the meat in egg and flour I tenderized it.

And of course, I don't have a meat tenderizer so I used a plate to pound it.  Classy, right?  My grandma did it this way too! ;)
  5. After you pound the meat, take each peice of meat, dip in the egg mixture, and coat with flour.  Do this for all pieces and set on a plate or foil.  Be sure to salt and pepper each piece as well.



 
6.   Pour some vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat on high until it's hot. Then turn it down to medium.  Once it's ready, place each piece of meat into the skillet.  Be sure to have a lid or you'll get popped!







Cook the deer meat until golden brown on each side...about twelve minutes or so...maybe fifteen.  It depends on the thickness of your meat too.  Be sure to turn the meat over midway through.

and then...you have the best deer meat in the universe! (In my opinion)



Enjoy!  We had ours with mac and cheese, green beans, buttermilk biscuits and sweet tea.




It definitely made me miss the Lone Star State and I will be making this again very soon!

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