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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Venison Pastrami & Hot German Potato Salad

I love venison pastrami...or any kind of pastrami. :)
I used Morton's Tender Quick method to corn the venison roasts...

I had two small venison roasts in my freezer (from the hind quarter), wanted to use them up before deer season.

The cure....
5 tablespoons Tender Quick
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
I mix this up, rub on the meat, then shake off any excess....
This is enough mix for 5lbs of meat, so I used about half of it.
You need to let the meat cure 5 days per inch of thickness of the meat.






I wrap the venison and let it cure for 5 days in the fridge....
I turn the meat once a day.


Then I soaked the venison in cool water (in the fridge) overnight...


I seasoned the meat with a pickling spice mixture...garlic, bayleaves, mustard seeds, juniper berries, onion powder, black pepper and allspice...


Onto the smoker with some apple wood...
Smoked at about 250 til the meat reached an internal temp of 160. Foiled the venison and added some beef broth to the package.
Also smoked some potatoes for the salad.

Fried 5 pieces of bacon, sauted some leeks and onion in the bacon drippings.
Added about 1 TBS of flour to thicken..
Then added..
1/3 cup of water
1/4 cup of cider vinegar
2 TBs of sugar...you can add more if needed
Salt and pepper to taste


Add the cooked cubed potatoes to the sauce and toss gently. Season with more salt and pepper and sugar if needed, top with crumbled bacon.
This is to be served warm.
(you can use baked potatoes or even cubed and boiled)


The venison pastrami tastes wonderful. If you have never made any, you need to try it. :)












10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks Tasty :) can i have some?promise to stay out of your barn....chupacabra

Kevin said...

Your blog makes me soooooo hungry! Very nice blog I enjoy it tremendously. I'm just getting started smoking and preserving food and look forward to trying some of your delicous looking recipes!

Anonymous said...

Definitely trying this potato salad for the party! I knew I'd find a good side, just didn't know it would be on the first page!

Hey ? about the Hog. When did you slaughter it? I'm being told now that I must slaughter it today in order to put it in the ground tomorrow? How long did you bleed yours?

cowgirl said...

Kevin, thank you! Good luck with your smoking and preserving! :)

cowgirl said...

April,
It's best to slaughter the pig and chill it as soon as possible if you can. I place the pig in a large plastic lined barrel and fill with ice and cold water.
Any large container will do.
It's not always possible to butcher and chill overnight. Chill for several hours if you have the time.
Good luck to you!

cowgirl said...

lol chupa!

Mike said...

That pastrami looks really good! We got a smoker a few months ago, and pastrami is definitely on our list of things we need to make. We'll probably try beef first, though.

cowgirl said...

Thanks Mike!
The recipe works great on beef too. Good luck with it! :)

Anonymous said...

Cowgirl-
I came across your blog while searching for ideas to modify my venison pastrami recipe. I'm impressed by your content, and the photos are great!
My first batch was somewhat dry, and salty. Based on some hints from you and others, I did 3 things that I think helped a lot. After curing 14 pounds of elk for 10 days in a solution (not dry cured like yours) I drained the cure off and then coated the meat with the pickling spice like you suggest and refrigerated overnight. The next day I soaked in 2.5 quarts water + 3T brown sugar to pull out some salt. Then I drained, coated with the pepper and corriander and smoked at 130-140F for 5 hrs. The meat was only about 110F at that point. To prevent drying out, I wrapped each roast in foil, and finished them in a 225F oven for 2 hrs, at which point they were 165F internal temp. The result was perfect- not salty, moist and tender. As my buddy put it, "I just had a little slice of Heaven!"
Looking forward to more of your recipes!
Ed

cowgirl said...

Thank you so much Ed!
Your elk pastrami sounds wonderful, I'm glad to hear the soaking and steaming method worked out well for you. :)
I think the steaming with broth at the end really adds a lot of moisture and makes the meat so tender. Especially venison... since it is so lean.

14lbs of elk pastrami?... I'd be in heaven. lol

Thank you for the kind comment and for taking the time to stop by. I appreciate that Ed. Nice to meet you!

jeanie