If you are a fan of country fried steak then this version using venison is going to totally impress you.  If you aren’t actually familiar with the Southern standard of this dish, then this dish is really going to knock you off your feet!  It’s tender, crispy and melt in your mouth delicious.  Mashed potatoes topped with country gravy and fresh veggies are a must with this meal.  Start thawing your meat, you are gonna love this!

Deer season is over and your freezer is stocked with venison.  Do you sometimes find that the more unusual cuts get lost in the shuffle as ground meat is easier to substitute in beef recipes?  We totally understand as ground and sausage seasoned venison are more common to find in our meals as well.  However, we are here to offer you a fantastic (really one of our very favorite) way to use the cubed steak cut.  (Of course, if your freezer doesn’t happen to be full of venison, you can make this same meal with beef.)

Fun fact: not only is the purple variety of cauliflower so much more fun, and a bit more flavorful, it is full of antioxidants called anthocyanins (which are found in other purple foods like red grapes and blueberries) and make this colorful food even better for you than the typical white vegetable!

Country Fried Steak (Venison)
4 cube steaks (about 6 0z each)
1/2 sleeve crackers (Saltine or Ritz)
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk, plus 1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
salt
pepper

What to do:
If frozen, properly thaw the venison cube steak (don’t microwave).  Rinse meat, pat dry with a paper towel and set aside.  Pre-heat skillet on med high and add oil.  It is important to have the oil hot when you add the meat so you don’t end up with a soggy mess!  Be careful to not have the oil so hot that it is smoking.

Take half a sleeve of crackers and crush them with a fork or potato smasher in a shallow dish.  We have used Saltines and Ritz and both work great.  Do not crush the crackers to a fine powder…leave the cracker crumbs about the size of bread crumbs.  Next add flour and mix together.  In a separate bowl, beat egg and mix with 1/2 cup milk.

Immerse cube steak in egg mixture and then place directly into cracker/flour mixture.  I use my fingers to press the meat into the cracker/flour to ensure all the little cuts in the meat are filled and coated.  Flip the meat over and repeat the process until as much cracker mixture as possible is pressed into meat.

Place meat in the skillet and cook until golden brown and then flip to the other side.  Limit the number of times you flip the meat as the breading will start falling off if you flip back and forth.  Salt and pepper the meat to taste.  Once both sides are golden brown, put on a pan in a 350 oven to finish baking for 15 minutes while you make gravy.
Serves 4

   

   

Country Gravy
2 tablespoons drippings
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
salt
pepper

What to do:
Using the same skillet, remove all but about 2 tablespoons of drippings from meat and reduce cooking temperature to medium.  Add 2 tablespoons flour and brown – while stirring and scraping the bottom of pan to ensure it doesn’t burn.  Add milk and continuing stirring and scraping the flour off the bottom to make sure it doesn’t scorch.  Adjust the temperature as needed to help the milk thicken.  If the milk is not thickening, increase the temperature and keep stirring.  This should take about 5 minutes.  Once the gravy is the desired consistency, reduce the temperature to low.  Salt and pepper to taste – we like a lot of pepper!

   

Roasted Veggies
1 bunch asparagus
1 head purple cauliflower
olive oil
kosher salt

What to do:
Rinse asparagus stalks and trim ends.  Rinse cauliflower head and cut off florets.  Line vegetables in a single layer on a jelly roll pan and drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt.  Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Do not overcook or vegetables will become soggy and lose their beautiful colors!  Same method used for these carrots.

post and pictures by Sunshine