Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I Don't Got Game, And Really Don't Want It Either

There have been many instances in my life that have reminded me that ultimately, I'm very suburban. For example:

  • I am extremely uncomfortable if I need to go anywhere prefaced by the word "Downtown".
  • I've never quite wrapped my mind around the concept of the condo. Why the heck would someone choose to buy what is basically an apartment?
  • I feel much more self-confident in the stands at my sons' football games than I ever have in anyplace remotely trendy.
  • I have a remarkable ability to disassociate my nicely packaged pound of hamburger from its condition.... "pre-packaging".

However, I never really gave much thought to whether or not Coach was also more suburban than not. Until tonight.

A couple of months ago, when I was still unemployed, a wonderfully generous baseball friend of ours gave us some of the meat from a couple of animals that her hunter husband and sons had snagged that past season. She gave us about ten pounds of ground bison, a few elk steaks, and three packages of ground venison.

The elk? Awesome.

The bison? Really quite tasty, and extremely low in fat. We all actually loved the bison.

The venison? I cooked the first package of it tonight, in an old standby dinner that never fails to make everyone happy. Sadly, that happiness didn't happen tonight. And I'm ashamed to admit that both my boys ate more of their dinner than Coach or I did. They each ate almost half of what they were given. Coach took one bite and could barely choke that down. And that was still better than me. I was not-so-impressed by just the smell of the meat as it was cooking, so I had to force myself to take a bite. To get it over with quickly, I just grabbed a fork and took a bite right out of the pan. That's right. I didn't even dish myself up a plate before I decided I couldn't eat that venison.

My mom tried to tell me that it tasted different, and we might not like it. But really..... how do you accurately describe what "gamey" is?

So tomorrow night, I'm making an emergency stop at the grocery store, which is nowhere near the Downtown SE Valley... for hamburger, which is nicely packaged in plastic and saran wrap.... and bringing it home, where the house comes complete with a yard and no walls that connect to anyone who is not a part of my actual household.

After, of course, I've spent the evening in the stands watching Jock's first football game this season.

5 comments:

Flea said...

I wish I could help with tips on how to doctor that stuff - I've had venison that I've liked - but I've never actually cooked it. I do have a recipe book from the Louisiana bayous and am willing to dig up some venison recipes if you're interested.

The Creeper said...

It may have nothing to do with the recipe and all to do with the venison. It's a touchy meat that is subject to the deer's diet, the hunter's skill, the length of time between kill and packaging, and, of course, the cuts themselves. Being that it was ground, you have no idea what the cuts looked like before, but if the sinew (silvery lining over the meat) was not trimmed off and instead just ground up with the meat, it will have a very strong taste.

Remind me and I will send you a stick of venison sausage this winter when it's easier to ship to warm climates. Seriously. Remind me. Bill makes incredible venison sausage. Even my girl who put her nose up at the thought of eating venison loved it. Her response was, "Why does Bambi have to taste so good?"

Burgh Baby said...

My Step MIL makes jerky from it that is apparently delish, but I will never know. And I'm OK with that.

Rockin Austin said...

SM - Carol is SO right. I grew up eating both Elk and Venison and loved both of them. The jerky and sausage...to die for. Good stuff. You and Coach crack me up. :)

Kidzmama said...

Ms. I Don't Cook, you are so brave to even accept these offerings. I would have politely declined.