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Venison (Though in many camps as common)
Venison, though in many camps as common as cotton tails in village graveyards, is quite another matter. There are not as many ways to make it fancy, but it's so good it doesn't need many. It's best when killed in autumn after fattening on fall berries. And of course it should be young, but not so young as to be tasteless; and even if it's old, it is still the quickest cooking flesh there is. You roast a haunch the same as you do beef, only not so long, and moistened with a whole cup of water. Garnish with watercress and serve with currant jelly, or better still, wild grape. Ten minutes to the pound is the rule, although a doe cooks faster than a buck, and a fawn faster than any veal you ever saw.
But no matter which sex or what age, it's best eaten piping hot. A venison steak is cooked to perfection when covered thickly with damp salt, just as the Indians use clay to keep all juices in.
Broil it, then crack off the crust of salt and you've really got something.
But most folks choose the saddle, which must be well larded before roasting. Steaks and cutlets are fine for broiling and the rougher parts are stewed with mushrooms, herbs and a clove of garlic.
Two methods hide inside this passage: a roast haunch or saddle at ten minutes to the pound, and a steak buried in damp salt and broiled. Both hinge on the same fact, which the text only hints at — venison carries almost no intramuscular fat, so it goes from rare to dry with very little warning.
- Use a thermometer, not the clockTen minutes to the pound is a fair guide for a boned haunch in a hot oven, but the book names no temperature, and leg and saddle vary too much in thickness to time by weight alone. Pull the meat at 125-130F at the centre for rare to medium rare and rest it 15 minutes; past 140F it turns grey and livery.
- "Broil" means over coalsIn camp cookery of this period broiling is direct radiant heat — a gridiron over a hardwood fire. A very hot grill or a heavy cast-iron pan gives the same result indoors; a domestic oven broiler is the weakest substitute.
- The salt crustUse coarse or kosher salt dampened with just enough water to pack, laid on half an inch thick. It sets into a shell that seals the surface rather than seasoning through, and it cracks away clean. Fine table salt dissolves into the meat instead and will make it inedibly salty.
- Larding the saddleLarding here means threading strips of pork fat through the lean muscle with a larding needle. Barding is easier and nearly as effective: cover the saddle with sheets of pork fatback or streaky bacon, tied on, and remove for the last few minutes to let the surface colour.
- Why "piping hot" is not sentimentDeer fat melts at a higher temperature than beef or pork fat and congeals on the palate as a tallowy film. Serve on warmed plates, and trim away as much external fat and silverskin as you can before cooking.
- The cup of waterA cup of water in the roasting pan would help keep the drippings from scorching. In a modern oven it will steam the surface; add it only if the pan juices threaten to burn, and pour off any water before making gravy.
- Jelly and cressCurrant or wild grape jelly is the standard tart accompaniment to game. Any sharp, not-too-sweet fruit jelly serves — redcurrant, crab apple, quince. The watercress garnish is edible as well as decorative, a peppery counter to rich meat.
- The stewing cutsNeck, shank and flank need the opposite treatment from the loin: 2 to 3 hours barely simmering with the mushrooms, herbs and garlic, until the connective tissue gives. These cuts never become tender by cooking quickly, whatever the age of the animal.
- YieldA bone-in haunch of 5-7 lb serves 8 to 10; a saddle from a medium deer serves 4 to 6. Reckon 6 oz of boneless meat a head, less if there is much fat-free waste to trim.