Crock-Pot Deer Roast

I typically don’t care for deer meat… I grew up eating it and not minding or even noticing the gamey taste of it, but lately I can barely finish a meal, much less enjoy it!

We shot a buck on our property almost two years ago and we still have some in our freezer! I haven’t been using it much because we don’t care for the gamey taste… so I finally did some research on finding out the best way to season it and little tricks I can do to draw out that gamey-ness.

Milk!! It’s so simple, easy and fairly cheap! You literally just soak the meat in milk for a couple of days. Two days is best but I think one would work too. I tried it will all different cuts as well, even ground. Essentially the milk just draws out the blood which holds that gamey taste. After a couple days you drain the milk and rinse before preparing it. Pretty simple, and well worth it… if you’re a wussy like me! Haha!

A couple other tricks you can do with the meat if you’re in a time crunch and can’t soak it for a couple days is soak in vinegar for an hour or so, cook with more spices and really add some more flavor to the dish, use garlic and tomato. I find if I cook it in any tomato dish like chili, spaghetti, lasagna, goulash, I can hide it pretty good! And the last tip… cut any visible fat away that you can, this also holds that bitter/gamey taste. Nobody’s got time for that……

Here is my pot roast I recently cooked! I can never cook for two people… my husband and myself… nope! I cook for an army! Just like my dad taught me how! So we ate on this for days… adjust the recipe if you don’t want an entire crock pot full!

I used four large potatoes, half bag of baby carrots, about half head of celery and half an onion, all cut in about one-inch pieces. Here’s a tip I got from Rachel Ray on using your celery for roasts and soups like this! Don’t discard the tops and the leafy parts! Just chop them up and save them for when you make a quick soup, they help make the best broths!! And I don’t know if I’m the only one… but that middle part is my favorite!! Just to eat raw… yumo! Ok, let’s move along!

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Then, season with parsley, basil, garlic salt, onion and garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and crushed pepper flakes. This is my go to combination of spices lately! I feel like you can’t go wrong it. I feel like adding a little extra spices works better when you cook in a crock pot, too.

I add a whole can of petite diced tomatoes to the roast for some moisture, it helps steam the vegetables and gives the entire meal a great taste. Also, it helps with the gamey taste too, if there was any gamey-ness left in the meat the tomato will take care of it!

Pour the tomatoes and about half can of water all over the top. Give it a little mix if you can, if not, no biggie!

Lastly, I used about half head of cabbage and sliced them in 1 inch slices, keeping the middle open, and topped with parsley and sea salt. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

And voila! Here’s that yummy cabbage, steamed to perfection!.

Time to plate it up!! I of course had to use my pretty turkey platter!! Got to get a good picture, you know! Haha…

The deer meat shredded perfectly, the veggies were soft and not mushy at all. Crock-pots are the best… just set and go! I just added some of the drippings from the bottom and covered the dish with a little of it to keep it moist. Of course, you can make gravy too, but we were hungry when we came home to this and wanted it right away. And yes!! We were pleased to not taste any of the gamey-ness! I didn’t taste a bit of it, but my husband said he did very slightly, but he enjoyed it. I think that may be because I occasionally had it while growing up and may have been “used to it”. Oh well! I’m just glad that the milk trick works!! Along with the right spices and ingredients of course. Hope you like the recipe! Enjoy cooking for an army… or just for two!

Deer Roast Recipe:
Deer Roast, 2-3 pounds
4-5 large russet potatoes
Half of a large onion
Half stalk of celery
Half bag of baby carrots
Half head of cabbage
One 16 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes
Water
Seasonings: salt, pepper, basil, parsley, garlic salt, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red peppers

Directions:
Begin by soaking deer roast for two days. Rinse. Trim the fat off the roast. Place into the bottom of crock-pot with liner. Cut potatoes, celery, and onion in one-inch pieces and place on the outside of the crock-pot. Add carrots and seasonings. Mix. Try to leave an opening in the middle to help the roast cook. Add the can of tomatoes and a little water to the mixture. Then slice half a head of cabbage into one-inch slices, season with parsley and sea salt. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and enjoy!

Let me know if you try this recipe and if you like it!! What other ingredients would you use in this? I always love trying out new ingredients like purple potatoes, rainbow carrots, fresh cabbage from the garden….. Oh, I can’t wait for summer!!

A. Bell