Wild Game Thanksgiving Dinner
It’s that time of year again, where we sit down with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a time to reflect on all that we are thankful for. For a hunter, this includes the memories in the field and the wild game that was harvested. In my opinion, there’s no better time than Thanksgiving to serve wild game. If you prefer a more non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, here are a couple of simple recipes to try that you and your family are sure to appreciate.
The main course and side is a dinner kit from Hunter Gatherer Game Dinners.
[Main course]
Seared Venison with Red Wine Chocolate Sauce
INGREDIENTS
- 12 oz. venison, elk, buffalo, filet mignon or rib eye steak (I prefer venison filet mignon)
- You’ll need to buy:
- 2 oz. pancetta or Italian bacon
- 1 – 8 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup Red Wine
- There are seasonings for the meat in individual packets labeled with numbers, as well as step-by-step instructions so it’s super easy to make!
[Side]
Wild Rice with Cranberries
- The wild rice and cranberries are also included in this kit, along with preparation instructions.
[Dessert]
Persimmon Bread
Most know that deer love to eat persimmons, but have you ever tried one? If you’ve ever tried one before they are ripe you probably think cooking anything with persimmons sounds like a bad idea, as they are awfully bitter. But once they turn ripe they are sweet and are great to use for pies, breads, cakes and cookies. Once they turn a purple/gray color and get soft they are ready for picking, usually after the first couple of frosts.
This recipe is my pumpkin bread recipe, but I swapped the 15 oz can pumpkin for 15 oz of persimmon pulp. To me, ripe persimmons taste very similar and have the same consistency as a pumpkin. To get the pulp you will want to smash the persimmons into a bowl through a cone shaped collander, this way you don’t get the skins or seeds in the pulp. We picked these and after smashing all of them through the collander we probably have about 4-5 cups of persimmon pulp. I put the pulp into zip-loc baggies, about 2 cups per baggie, and store them in the freezer until ready to use for cooking.
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup cooking oil
- 4 eggs
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2/3 cup water
- 15 oz persimmon pulp
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.
- In an extra large mixing bowl, beat sugar and oil with electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs & beat well; set sugar mixture aside
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture & the water to sugar mixture, beating on low after each addition until just combined.
- Beat in the persimmon pulp.
- Spoon batter into pans
- Bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Wrap & store overnight before slicing (The recipe calls for this, but I never do this. I absolutely love warm bread right out of the oven!)
By Andrea Haas
Andrea Haas is a Pro-Staffer from Missouri who enjoys hunting deer, turkeys, and upland birds. She is also the founder of the Huntress View, an organization formed to help strengthen the ever growing community of women hunters.