When all else fails, cook it slow. Turkey and goose legs, venison shoulders and even fish fillets. Get it safe to eat and then dress your dinner up from there.
You’ll need a few ingredients:
– aluminum foil pan
– aluminum foil
– water
– meat of choice
For a general rule of thumb, heat the oven to 250 degrees and place your meat of choice in the pan with just enough water to cover half of your dinner, and then cover the entire pan with aluminum foil.
For a deer shoulder, I usually start cooking in the morning and it’s tender by suppertime.
For smaller dishes, such as rabbit and turkey legs, I’ll start checking it after a few hours.
For fish fillets (these works best already boneless), take a look in an hour.
Once tender, de-bone the meat and decide your next step. Because you definitely have options.
1) Shred the meat, add butter, spices, salad dressings, sauces, veggies and anything else you can think of, stir together and smoke your dish on the grill for at least 15 minutes uncovered. Because the meat is done, these extra steps are merely for additional taste … and fun.
2) Mix your meat with another dish you’ve already prepared. Creative dishes like rabbit enchiladas and deer and dumplings are two of my favorites.
Overall, slow cooking is painless. Start the process, let the oven do the work, and come in to close the deal at the end with a few spices and creativity that forces your dinner guests to say, “Are you sure this is deer we’re eating?”