Tracy L Schmidt - Venison Wisdom Cookbook: 200 Delicious and Easy-to-Make Recipes

Why this book? How will it help you be a better cook, hunter and community member? Read on to learn how this book has given me all of these gifts.

This book exists because I took a leap of faith and followed my heart.

I walked away from a 12-year career as an antiques & collectibles editor to stay home with my youngest daughter. I did much soul searching to figure out where my next steps should fall. I concluded that they best fell in a comfortable pair of old shoes: cooking and hunting.

I am a cook and a baker, not a chef. I spent many hours of my youth watching Julia Child, Jeff Smith and Mary Ann Esposito on the local PBS channel. I loved to bake cakes, sweets and breads and make candy. I learned how to wing it in the kitchen during my financially meager college years, which is when I moved to Wisconsin from the Boston suburbs and started having a garden. I made and froze a lot of vegetable soup and worked summers at a local farm market, where I learned a great deal about gardening and growing herbs.

Today, I have a 5,000-square-foot garden full of asparagus, berries, beans, carrots, corn, herbs, garlic, onions, potatoes and many other vegetables. I start many of my plants from seed in my greenhouse, and can and freeze food every year.

My love of hunting began with my husband, Dan. His enthusiasm for the sport is contagious, and he has taken me on many adventures in our time together. He taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow and 12-gauge slug gun. He also taught me how to blood trail deer and drag them out of about every place imaginable, including a few thorn-nasty blackberry patches.

Hunting with Dan was hard when I was a beginner. Id take a vacation day from work to sit down in a ground blind. About two hours after I was settled and jumping out of my skin in anticipation, Dan would show up to get me to trail a deer he shot. I remember a few tense moments along the way, because while I was happy for him, dang it, I wanted a turn to try too! Ten years of marriage later, we have survived and forged a true camaraderie in the field. And, yes, I do get to shoot some deer too.

As a result of Dans enthusiasm for hunting, he has brought me home a ton of venison that I had to learn how to cook. We survived that learning curve as well, from the tough overcooked leather to learning that there is more to do with venison than stuff it in a taco shell. We then had two daughters who I needed to get enthused about eating venison.

Venison Wisdom is a compilation of all the phases of my life and my evolution into being a better hunter, cook and outdoors community member. The purpose of this cookbook is to provide recipes to cooks looking to prepare flavorful, feel-good dishes out of venison, the worlds healthiest red meat.

Venison Wisdom is organized the way I like to cook, which is by not having to spend hours going through a cookbook full of things I dont want to eat. If you hate mushrooms, with my book you can skip that section. If you love tomato flavors, head there.

Dans Venison Wisdom tips cover everything from nutrition to meat processing and venison history to proven blood-trailing tactics. The tips provide great conversational information for dinnertime.

Please remember that all venison roasts are not created equal. There are often no weights on the packages, so I have done my best to be accurate by cooking all of the recipes, but there are some natural variances that will occur, as you are dealing with a product straight from nature.

I would also like to share this old family recipe with you. It comes from Dans Grandma Schmidt, who handed it down to his mother, Chrisanthia, in the winter of 1954. For health reasons, I suggest leaving out the bacon grease from the sauce when you prepare it. Perhaps give it a try with some venison bacon. Its your call, since all great family recipes evolve with time, as they should.

BACON

6 cups milk, divided

6 tablespoons cornstarch

16 or 18 slices bacon (fry till crisp and crumble)

salt and pepper to taste

Put 5-12 cups milk in saucepan. Add cornstarch that has been mixed with 12 cup milk and stir until thickens, add bacon that has been crumbled up and the bacon grease. Add salt and pepper and serve over toast.

Happy eating!

For more tips, recipes and chat, visit my Web site: www.venisonwisdom.com

BRAT

My German heritage makes me yearn for the tasty blend of onion, beer and brats throughout the summer and fall. I like the flavor of a hearty bock in this meal.

6 venison brats

1 tablespoon butter

12 cup onion, diced

1 can beer

pepper

6 buns

In skillet, add butter, pepper and onion and cook until soft. Add brats and cook until browned. Pour beer into skillet and simmer over low heat, turning brats over until heated through. Place in buns and top with the softened onions.