Venison and Barley Soup

As I write this, Hurricane Sandy is churning up the Atlantic and making her way into the area. Winds are high, rain is falling, and it is generally a miserable day to try to do anything outside. What a perfect day to stay inside and cook!

As soup goes, this is one of my all time favorites. The flavor is fantastic and it's light enough for a mild day, yet still hearty enough to warm a  winter chill. I like to serve this with a nice crusty french loaf.


1/2  lb venison (lean beef may be substituted) cut into small cubes
6 cups of game stock or beef bouillon
1/2 cup Barley
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp oil
1 carrot diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 onion chopped
pinch of dried thyme
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot, and saute' the vegetables until tender. Add the meat and sear. Add the stock, and bring to a boil. Add the barley, the bay leaf, and a good pinch of thyme. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper, and serve the soup piping hot!

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Venison Meatloaf

Colder nights are coming, and heavier dinners are starting to make their way into my weekly rotation. I love the classics like stew, meatloaf, roasted chicken, etc...but I really feel the need to make things a little more interesting this year and take it to the next level. The classics are what taught me how to cook, but I am a far better Culinary Artist than I was 10 years ago (Yes, I really just called myself a "Culinary Artist", and Yes, I really was totally kidding!!)

This dish is something that keeps it simple yet adds a little flare to an old family favorite. It's really easy to do, and while 95% of the red meat dishes that you read on this blog will be venison based, you can always substitute with ground beef if deer is not readily available to you. Just keep it lean!!

Venison Meatloaf stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

2 lbs of ground venison
1 onion finely chopped
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 tbsp tomato paste
1 egg white, beaten
pinch or two of Italian seasoning
couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce to taste

For the stuffing:

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese
1 package (10oz) of frozen chopped spinach
salt and pepper to taste

1 can of tomato bisque

Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients together and spread out on a 12x12 sheet of aluminum foil. Meat should be about 1 inch thick when spread and almost reach the edges of the foil.

Mix all of the stuffing ingredients together, and spread out in the center of the meat.

Roll up and seal the ends well with a couple extra pieces of foil.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and coat the meatloaf with tomato bisque. Return to the oven, and continue cooking for an additional 25 minutes.

You should let the meatloaf stand for about 15 minutes before slicing. enjoy with a nice spinach salad and roasted rosemary potatoes.

Going Green - Chesapeake Style!

As I write this, my kitchen is filled with the smell of a roaster chicken doing its thing in the crockpot with fresh rosemary, sage, and some root vegetables. I needed a good side to go with it, and I can't think of any better than a fresh pot of mixed greens. We jumped in the truck and headed over to a little farm not far from the house. As we rounded the bend on the old country road, the fields of green started to come into view. I could see the signs labeling each section of greens that were planted in the field, and my mouth instantly started watering. Kale, Collards, Mustard, Turnips,...It was a green lovers Valhalla! ...And, I am a green LOVER!!! $2.00 to pick your own grocery bag full, sounded like a great deal to me, as did the 6 for a $1.00 fresh turnips. We loaded up at the little farm in short order and headed home for a real treat. 

Greens are cheap, easy to cook, and delicious. They grow well in colder months, and most greens when young and tender, make an excellent and nutritious alternative to lettuce for cold salads. Some folks even use greens to make smoothies....ummm....yeah, thats ok. I like them and all, but a strawberry smoothie is good enough for me!   

Today we're going to focus on the old faithful pot of stewed greens. We slow cook these for hours with just the right seasonings and they are to die for....Below is my take on this soul food staple, and one that has been making kitchens across America smell heavenly for generations. If you want to use the leftovers or hold out some fresh leaves to make a smoothie, knock yourself out! I'll stick with this cooked version. Enjoy!

1 pound of seasoning meat (Fat Back, Smoked Turkey Wings, Ham Hocks, Smoked Neckbones)

1 quart of chicken stock

1 quart of water

1 grocery bag full of fresh mixed greens (about 2 1/2  pounds) or 3 12 oz bags of mixed greens pre-cleaned and trimmed

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp of granulated sugar

3 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 medium onion chopped. 

2 hot peppers of choice (optional)

In a large pot, combine water, chicken stock, and seasoning meat and allow to simmer for 1 hour. 

While that is simmering, wash and trim your greens. After meat has been simmering for an hour, add greens and remaining ingredients to stock pot and stir well. Greens will wilt as they hit the hot water, so continue to stir until all greens have been submerged. Cover the pot and continue to cook the greens over medium heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Serve hot as a side dish with your favorite meat and fresh homemade cornbread. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Venison Burger

When I had the vision for Chesapeake Cuisine, I wanted to bring you all of the things that we love to do, and how we love to eat. The name is more about the region than the body of water or what comes from it. Our focus is on the wonderful food found in Chesapeake country, and our interpretation of how to prepare it. So this week, we take a detour away from seafood, and go to one of my favorite foods. Venison!

Now before you get all uptight about venison and say,  "I've heard deer meat is dry and tough", let me explain something. Deer meat is dry and tough...if you don't know how to cook it. Once you learn the secrets of preparing quality cuts of deer, it is a pleasant, tender, juicy choice of red meat that is high in protein, low in saturated fat, and all around healthier than their much larger, mass produced cousins that are readily available in the supermarket. And if you take the deer yourself, you cannot get much more of an organic product that that.

We love to deer hunt. No question about it. When the leaves start to change color, and the crisp cool mornings of autumn are upon us, our thoughts start to turn to sitting in a treestand, bows in our hand, waiting on a nice buck to walk to within bow range. On more than one occasion, while a deer was walking in and I was preparing for the shot, I had already started thinking about what I was going to make with the venison before I had even pulled the trigger...I know..I need a therapist...

So if you are a deer hunter, and have some burger in your freezer, try this recipe and then tell me you don't love it!...If you are not a deer hunter, I suggest you buddy up with one this fall, and maybe, just maybe, they will share some hard earned venison with you. Especially if you come with an offering...one that say...comes in 30 packs?? Just sayin...... ;-)

For this recipe you will need;

1 pound ground venison
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Montreal Steak Seasoning to taste
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz of your favorite cheese (colby, cheddar, pepper jack, swiss, etc)

1. Mix everything together except the cheese

2. Shape the mix into patties, placing the cheese in the middle of each

3. Top with another patty of the same size and seal the edges by pressing together carefully with your fingers

4. Cook on a preheated grill, or skillet until cooked all the way through. Should take about 10-15 minutes depending on your heat source.

5. Serve on fresh toast brushed with butter, and you favorite burger accompaniments.