My husband shot his first deer on Saturday. We had initially planned on dropping it off at a local butcher shop to have it processed, but they got too many deer and we were left to "fend for ourselves." A friend of ours helped to butcher it in the garage(after approx 36 hrs of hanging- the weather is just too warm right now for any longer than that), and I was tasked with breaking down the darn thing (I'm fairly familiar with beef parts, and can break down a chicken or duck like a pro, but deer, not so much!) and since I wasn't counting on having this responsibility, I didn't do any research.
It's a forest deer, and I'm counting on it being pretty gamey. That is part of the appeal, but also not something that we are terribly used to. We like lamb, and eat grassfed beef almost exclusively (in terms of beef), but I don't think I am quite prepared for cooking it. I saved, vac packed, and froze the tenderloins, and we gave one of the backstraps to our friend who broke it down. The other backstrap has been cut into a 12" or so long roast, and the remainder has been cut into steaks. Other than that, I saved one of what I'm calling the shank, and the shoulder, bone in. I also identified something that looks like a flank steak, so that's separate.
Otherwise, I have a solid pound or two of thinly-sliced, connective-tissue-free meat that I intend to dry as jerky, several pounds of "stew meat," and probably 10lbs of meat that I intend to grind up with a 4lb pork belly and turn into hamburger. Everything else was either too wonky or bloodshot for us to be into, and we have 2 malamutes that eat raw, so there are probably 7-8 gallon sized ziplocs full of stuff for them.
Questions:
Safety: The internet says to deep freeze any meat that the dogs are going to be eating raw for at least 3 weeks to kill off all the stuff that can be easily killed off. I am happy to do this if it is going to be helpful. Since this is obviously a concern, should we be deep freezing all of the meat we're planning on eating med-rare for a month also? I assume anything that's going to be cooked "well" is perfectly safe right away. Jerky cuts, I am assuming it might be a good idea to keep them frozen for a bit before marinating and dehydrating?
Flavor: I am thinking that dishes that lamb does well in might be our best bets? I have a great recipe for Rogan Josh, which is a kashmiri lamb curry that I usually use leg of lamb in. Is a low and slow braise acceptable? As far as the ground meat, I'm thinking of mixing the venison/pork belly combo with some fatty ground beef and making burgers. Also, chili, bolognese? For the stew meat, something along the lines of boeuf bourguignon may work?
Technique: So venison is super lean. I have a sous vide setup and love that bad boy. I am thinking that the most effective way is to brine some of the more delicate cuts (I assume this will also help draw out any of the less-desirable flavors as well), then sous vide to med-rare, sear, and serve with something earthy, like roasted beets and brussels sprouts maybe?
Any tips, tricks, input? I am really at a loss here. I've only occasionally even eaten venison, and now I have an entire deer to learn to cook!
