The Heritage of America cookbook listed Marinated Venison Chops and Pumpkin Soup as typical Washington fare. Thankfully, we have a lot of venison in our freezer right now. We didn’t have any venison chops (or, as I said a couple of times, “venison pork chops” — duh.) But the recipe said steaks were an acceptable substitute, so that’s what we did. Also, Chef pointed out that Washingtonians (?) would probably have mule deer rather than whitetail deer like we do in Indiana, and that since our whitetail deer are pretty much corn-fed, they are already pretty tender and don’t need much marinating. But I marinated them anyway!
I figured the pumpkin soup would be pretty much like a butternut squash soup that Chef makes often, but this was chunkier and heartier, and I liked it. Chef had to tweak the recipe quite a bit, though. The end result was wonderful, though. That man of mine sure knows how to cook.
Marinated Venison Steaks (adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Heritage of America cookbook)
1 pound of venison steaks
1/4 cup choice of vinegar (the recipe called for red wine vinegar, but I had a little apple cider vinegar and a little Balsamic vinegar, so I combined them)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
Place steaks in a plastic zipper bag or shallow dish. Combine all other ingredients and pour over steaks. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight (ours marinated for more like 20 hours), turning occasionally.
Drain venison. Broil or grill (we grilled because our oven was full of bread and bread pudding) to desired doneness. (The recipe states 10 minutes broiling for medium-rare, 12 minutes for medium, and 14 minutes for well-done.)
Pumpkin Soup (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Heritage of America cookbook)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp butter
1 15 oz can chicken broth
1/2 cup finely chopped potato
1/2 cup loose-pack frozen corn
1/4 cup finely shopped red or green sweet pepper
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup half and half
ginger powder, mustard powder, chili powder, cumin, and sugar to taste (Chef added all of this because he felt the soup lacked some serious flavor.)
In large saucepan cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in chicken broth, potato, corn, sweet pepper. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Stir pumpkin, salt, and pepper into broth mixture. Slowly add half and half, stirring constantly. Heat through.
