As previously stated in other posts, we're down on our cow luck. We are out of beef, and running short on poultry. Our pork reserves are holding steady, and our venison supply is healthy. What does this mean? We're eating mostly venison right now, when it comes to meat. Both of us are perfectly happy in doing this.
Venison is lean, somewhat plentiful if you're willing to purchase game tags, and somewhat easy to get if you're willing to spend your entire autumn sitting in the woods. I harvested two mature deer this season, and I set out to use as much of it as possible. I process our own, package our own, and even boil down the bones and can venison stock. I can't stomach the thought of taking my precious wild game to a processor who will not spend the time and effort caring for it as I would, and after sitting in the woods 75-some-odd-days this season, I'm going to continue to work for it.
This recipe is reminiscent of French dip or drip beef sandwiches. You could make them with a cut of beef roast, but since we didn't have any on hand, I used venison hind quarter steak. If you want the recipe for the sandwiches, I've posted it here. It's really simple, so there's not much recipe to follow, but it was very good.
While that is a great sandwich in and of itself, you also serve them with a warm cup of the beefy cooking liquid, or au jus to dip the sandwich in. Oh... it's so good.
One other small problem: we were fresh out of French bread. Dang.
Sometimes this making-everything-from-scratch part of the no grocery challenge is really irritating. The end results always taste better, and are satisfying, but man, sometimes I just want the ingredients for a stellar recipe to be DONE, ya know?
Needless to say, I tried my hand at making French bread for the first time. That was pretty good too. I've posted the recipe for the French bread here.
Tomorrow, begins a new month. April. It's also the dog's birthday. He's 11.
The calendar page will turn, the unspent allowance total will increase by $20.00, and we will be 24 hours away from doing this no grocery challenge for a QUARTER OF A YEAR.
That milestone hits on Thursday. We're pumped.
--SH