Saturday, October 27, 2012

On Wine and Food...


The past couple of weekends we found ourselves amongst the changing fall foliage away from the bustle of city dwelling.  It was open hunting season for deer in Washington for a brief window of time spanning about a week and a half.  My brother, father, and I drove seven hours to join my uncle at his hunt camp set up near the northeastern border of the state.  The scenery was quite beautiful and much thicker than I had expected the vegetation in that part of the state to be (not counting the controlled logging areas).  I had never seen conifer trees change color like that before, and my father informed me that they are deciduous Tamarack trees which are actually a species of larch native to Canada (we were only a fifteen minute drive from the border).  It was a great backdrop for our outing this year, but we may not find ourselves hunting in that locale again any time soon.  The does were abundant (we saw one field with about sixty does feeding at dusk), but the bucks were shy and scant.  We were only allowed to hunt for bucks in the area, so we returned home with only a few grouse to show for it.  It was a great time with family regardless. 


I wanted to share a great marinade that I normally use for venison steaks, but it also goes great with beef if your freezer is as lacking in venison supply as our own.


Wine Marinade for Venison Steaks

1 1/2 cups red wine (we used our Eclipse '08)
1 rosemary sprig rough chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
Couple dashes of worcestershire
Pinch or two of red pepper flakes
Salt & ground pepper to taste


Makes enough marinade for 2 to 3 steaks (beef can be substituted for venison).

Combine all ingredients in a ziploc bag, take out as much air as possible, and leave it the fridge for a few hours to marinate.  (Six hours is ideal, and you can even leave it in overnight if you have the foresight for tomorrow's meal). Also, be sure to pour a glass of wine for the chef!



We paired our grilled steaks with some garden carrots roasted will dill and honey and some pan roasted banana fingerling potatoes that we grew as well.  All in all, in was a good meal that paired nicely with a glass (or two) of some great wine.












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