Top game chefs on venison

The best "hamburger" I've ever eaten came from a deer killed in southeastern Minnesota. The doe sauntered into a picked cornfield late one evening several years back. My friend, who was sitting in a nearby portable stand, put an arrow in its boiler room (vitals), killing it instantly.

"She dropped in place, graveyard dead," he told me later over the phone. "She should taste really good, not like some rutting buck full of ­testosterone."

After hanging the deer for two days, he butchered it into several cuts. He then froze the "scrap meat" before grinding it (with a small amount of bacon) into burger. He grilled the deer patties medium-rare over white-hot charcoal, seasoning them liberally with salt and pepper. We opted to eat them naked — no cheese or other toppings, not even condiments. The buns, as fresh as daisies, came from a local bakery.

How was it? Let's just say this was a transcendent food experience — I almost felt like smoking a cigarette afterward. My deer "hamburger" was that good.

Smart cooking techniques

When the 2014 deer-hunting season concludes, thousands of Minnesota hunters will have freezers brimming with fresh deer meat. The big question for many is how to prepare their wild protein into mouthwatering dishes.

"There are two prime directives that hunters need to understand when cooking deer meat," said Hank Shaw, the California-based author of two wild game cookbooks and proprietor of the James Beard award-winning blog Hunter Angler Gardner Cook. "You either cook it rare to medium-rare or cook the snot out of it. There's no in between."

Shaw said deer meat is leaner, denser and has harder connective tissue compared to domestic beef or pork. As a result, deer meat is easy to overcook.

"There was once this popular belief that all venison should always be cooked all the way through, which is a horrible mistake," he said. "Overcooked deer is dry and tough and tastes livery and looks grayish. It's nasty. I've cooked venison for a lot of people who've had to overcome some really bad experiences. But it doesn't have to be that way."

To avoid mistakes, hunters should remember a simple rule about deer cookery: "Cook it either hot and fast or low and slow to keep it moist," said Shaw. "A frying pan and a crock pot should become your two best friends."

Certain cuts of deer meat work best with certain cooking techniques. Meat from the shoulder, neck and shank should be, generally speaking, braised or used as stew meat. Tenderloins and back straps are best grilled or pan-fried.

"You can certainly grill or braise your venison, but it also can be stir-fried, pickled, made into sausage, you name it," said Royal Dahlstrom, a Twin Cities chef, caterer and cooking instructor who teaches classes at Kitchen Window in Calhoun Square in Minneapolis. "You can even make it into jerky. The good thing about having a deer in the freezer is that you can experiment with it. If something doesn't turn out, learn from your mistakes and try again. A lot of cooking, especially with wild game, is trial and error."

"You can pick any spices you want, but I like to use a combination of cumin, fennel, perhaps some mustard seed, salt and pepper and some sugar," he said. "The sugar is important because it caramelizes and sears the meat right away. I get the pan screaming hot and then I put in the steaks."

Dahlstrom said he only cooks one or two steaks at a time. "If you cook more, you'll likely reduce the pan temperature and won't get the sear you want," he added. "Your steaks should be cooked rare to medium-rare and be allowed to rest at least five minutes before cutting into them … otherwise the juices will run out of the meat."

Paul Bergland, a chef at Bachelor Farmer in Minneapolis, said deer meat can stand up to bold flavor agents (herbs and spices) "to create a flavor profile that enhances the strong flavor and character of the meat." One such way, he said, is to make deer sausage or meatballs. "Herbs and spices complement venison, not overshadow it like you would if you were making chicken or pheasant sausage," he said. "It's really important that you understand the part of the animal you're working with. For example, shoulder meat is pretty tough, so it's good for making sausage or meatballs."

Many hunters like to use marinades to tenderize or cover up the gaminess of deer meat. Shaw, however, said marinades have "very limited use" in his kitchen. "From a food science standpoint, marinades only permeate 1/8 of an inch of the meat per day," he said. "They also break down the fibers on the outside of the meat, which makes the meat mushy and only creates the illusion of tenderness."

To add flavor that complements the deer meat, Shaw suggests making a simple pan sauce. One of Shaw's favorites: the classic Cumberland sauce, which incorporates red currant jelly, lemon and orange zest, cayenne pepper and port wine, among other ingredients. "It's the perfect sauce for wild game," he said. "It's the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, savory and salty."