It’s that time of year again – well almost…
Husbands and friends go on their annual hunting trips to provide beautiful and totally free range, grass fed meat for the year.
You absolutely cannot get more Paleo / Primal than that!
No grain-fed meat or growth-stimulating hormones, no – only pure, earthy, meaty goodness.
Many of my recipes {in fact, most} use venison meat, although you can easily substitute with beef.
Venison is always very lean and so, I usually add some extra fats – just remember this if you do use beef instead, as it can then become a bit fatty…
Venison also goes really well when paired with sweeter ingredients.
Ok, so here I’ve made an entire {and very large} warthog butt – or leg of warthog, whatever you like to call it – that I’ll use for a series of recipes.
I didn’t weigh it, but would guess it at around 5 kg?!
It yielded 3 very substantial portions of cooked meat – enough for 3 full family meals.
[recipe title=”Slow-Cooked Leg of Venison” servings=”18″ time=”10hrs 30mins” difficulty=”easy”]
You will need:
1 leg of warthog {or any other large leg of venison}
3 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken stock cubes
5 black peppercorns
Salt
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
2-3 lumps of lamb’s fat {get it from your butcher}
Start by rubbing the meat with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fine salt.
In a large cast iron pot, place all the ingredients and lastly the meat.
Fill with boiling water to reach halfway up the meat.
Cook in an oven or a ‘man oven’ {Big Green Egg or Weber} for 10 hours at 200 Fahrenheit.
You could also use a slow cooker, but I’m not sure what temperatures they reach… {Perhaps try 10-12 hours on low.}
Once cooked, remove all the meat from the bone and split it into 3 portions. You can freeze the excess portions.
Pull the meat apart with a fork and mix in some of the cooking juices.
Now it’s ready to use!
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Now that the time-consuming part is finished, you can simply make these oh-so-scrummy meatball-roll-up-thingies and be happy!
[recipe title=”Salty & Sweet Bacon & Venison Roll-Ups” Makes=”26 meatballs” time=”1 hr” difficulty=”easy”]
You will need:
1 onion, thinly sliced
Butter
Apple cider vinegar
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed, cooked and mashed
3 cups of pulled slow-cooked warthog meat
2 tsp salt
1 egg
Streaky bacon, 250g {1 packet with 13 pieces, each cut in half}
Cook the onions in a tablespoon of butter, over a slow heat.
Add a splash of apple cider vinegar and let them caramelise.
Mix everything, except the bacon, together really well and roll into bite-sized balls.
Wrap a piece of bacon around each ball and place in a roasting dish.
Bake at 180C for 45 minutes, until the bacon is cooked.
Serve with creamy coleslaw.
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These little bites are super tasty and just the right combination of salty & sweet. The caramelised onions and sweet potato gives it that sweetness and the bacon, well, need I say more?!
It’s the perfect marriage of salty & sweet – plus, you’ll fall head-over-heels for venison, guaranteed!
Enjoy! X
