Easy Stir-fry: Asian Extravaganza

It’s about this time of year that I start intentionally making a dent in our venison stash to make way for the fresh meat this Fall.  I’m not an enormous fan {in fact, I couldn’t stand it before I married my hunting hubby}, but I’ve learned a trick or two about making venison taste fabulous {see below}.

Today I was inspired to use the sugar snap peas and green peppers we just picked from our garden…and nothing spells stir fry like sugar snap peas {to me at least, but I’m weird}.

So I whipped a package of venison tenderloin out of the freezer, sat it out in the sun all morning, marinated it in a *soy ginger sesame dressing and stuck it back in the fridge. 

Help venison taste better: we’ve found rinsing and massaging the meat under a steady stream of cold water – to get as much blood out as possible – considerably cuts down on the gamey flavor.  I also make sure to not overcook it.  And we seldom keep venison in left-over form as it rarely tastes good reheated.

Back to dinner.

Tonight, the dinner dance went something like this:

• Put your rice on – we had guests, so we made 2 cups of rice in our rice cooker {love} – feeds 4 adults + 2 kiddos
• Roughly 1 – 1 1/2 pounds of tenderloin/sirloin {I used venison} – *marinated, and cut {against the grain} in thin strips – sautéed {with marinade} in olive & sesame oil, just long enough to sear it {1-2 minutes}
• Remove from pan/wok, set aside
• Add 2 cups of fresh veggies to the remaining juices/oil, I used roughly:
• 1 cup of sugar snap peas
• 1/2 cup of broccoli florets
• 1 large green pepper, cut into strips
• 1/2 onion, cut into strips
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced finely
• 1/2 {jarred} red pepper – added a zesty ‘pickled’ flavor
• Sauté for 4-5 minutes, until tender, but not mushy {we prefer our veggies al dente}, adding salt and pepper to taste.
• I also added a seasoning blend my mom discarded in my direction {I love hand-me-downs!} called “Asian Grill & Stir Fry” by Tone’s.  It’s a savory combination of garlic, black and white sesame seeds, bell peppers, orange peel, soy sauce and spices.  De-licious!
• Toss the meat back into the wok, add a little soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to taste {a couple splashes of each will do}, and stir it all together.
• Serve over rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds {or a little more of the Asian blend mentioned above}
• Dig in!