Chicken Fried Venison Steak

Is it just me, or is winter dragging on?  Hunting season hasn't even been over a month for me and I'm dreaming about turkey hunting this spring and chasing big-game again in the fall!  The good news is that I have time to come up with new recipes and start processing some of what's in the freezer.  I smoked some salmon today (future blog post) and it turned out pretty good.  


My boot-camp buddy Billy Abbott from Arkansas inspired this post when he commented on one of my earlier blogs that all they ever do is fry their deer.  One of the reasons I started this blog to begin with is to try and find as many ways to fix wild meats as possible, so I think it makes sense to cover fried venison early on.  

I'd almost put money down that the first way I ever ate venison was fried, and it's probably the most popular way to cook venison anywhere people eat deer.  This recipe is for people who truly like venison and have no need or desire to cover any gaminess, so it's probably not the one you want to make if anyone at the table has a sensitive palate or has never tried venison.  Elk are not nearly as gamey in most cases.  


There's nothing to making chicken fried steak.  This is good at home and would be pretty easy to do at hunting camp as it takes few ingredients and little time.  My camp pans are cast iron and me and many others believe that cast iron imparts a flavor on your food that is impossible to duplicate on any other cooking surface.


Start with defrosting your steaks.  Get together some eggs, milk, all purpose flour, and seasoning.  I like a pre-mixed seasoning called "Steak-dust" I found at Sam's Club that is mostly onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Heat up to 1/4" of vegetable oil in the bottom of a large frying pan.  I just added enough to coat the bottom of the pan this time, but to cook the edges on a thicker cut would take more.

Mix four parts flour to one part seasoning on a plate or in a bowl.  In a separate bowl beat an egg and a tablespoon of milk-this is enough for three steaks.  Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel, coat thoroughly in egg, and dredge in flour.

When the oil is hot, fry the steaks for 3-4 minutes per side or until done.  I like to add onions to saute once I turn the steaks onto the second side.  

That's it.  My favorite sides are mashed potatoes and gravy with mixed vegetables.  

If anyone else has favorite recipes or ideas let me hear them!  There's no shortage of ideas out there but if there's something you want to see let's get it on here and share with everyone!