✅8-12 decent sized yellow morels
✅1 block (8 oz) cream cheese
✅1/4 cup chopped onion
✅3 Tbsp water
✅spoonful minced garlic
✅6 sprigs fresh thyme
✅2 Tbsp fresh chopped chives
✅5 slices cooked bacon
✅salt and pepper to taste
✅5 Tbsp butter
Trim your morel stems but do not halve them. Just cut the bottom of the stem off... Wash, rinse, then wash your morels again, taking care to rinse the inside as well. Pat dry. Put in a 350 degree oven for ten mins to get the water out, remove from oven, and then set aside between some paper towels to fully dry.
While the morels dry, cook the bacon until crispy. Once fully cooked, set aside to cool and dry. In a medium saucepan, put a Tbsp of butter in along with onion. Cook until onions are translucent, about 5 mins on medium heat. Add garlic and cook two more mins. Add cream cheese and water, and cook until mailable but not runny. Add 2 chopped springs of fresh thyme, pepper, the chopped cooked bacon and chives to the mixture. Turn off the heat. Let cool so that you can touch it but don’t let it solidify. Put cheese mix into a piping bag or a ziploc bag, and snip off the corner of the bag so that you can squeeze the cheese mixture out.
Fit the snipped corner of the bag into the (now dried) morel stem. Squeeze and fill the morel tightly with the mixture. Salt and pepper each side of the morel to taste (I recommend going easy on the salt, as the cheese stuffing is already salty) and set aside. In the mean time, get the remaining butter in the pan and starting to BROWN (not burn). Smash the remaining thyme sprigs and add the the pan until fragrant (less than a minute).
Slowly drop the mushrooms into the brown butter. It should sizzle upon dropping into the butter. Cook for about 30-60 seconds per side (depends on the size of your mushrooms). This should create a crispy and buttery crust, while the inside remains gooey and flavorful. Remove from the pan and allow to cool before enjoying!
Beer Braise Deer Neck Roast
My family has eaten wild game meat my whole life. We have butchered our own deer since I began hunting at age 12, when it just became more economical with twice the deer to pay for processing. Over the years my father’s garage has turned into quite the butcher shop with a walk in cooler, giant meat grinder, sausage mixer, and now it even has the amenities of heat and running water. The butchering process has always been a fun time with friends and family. Lots of beer, whiskey, and cigars have always been consumed out in the garage during these time.
I enjoy staring at the wall admiring my deer mounts as much as anyone. But the older I get, I find as much satisfaction cooking a meal of wild game for friends or family. Knowing the time and work it took to get that meat, and then prepare a meal that even non-hunters enjoy gives me great satisfaction. Over the last few years I have been starting to branch out and cook some different recipes and different cuts of venison. Some cuts that would normally end up in the grind pile have been saved for some low and slow type recipes. This beer braised neck roast recipe is one that that is very easy, and I plan to use every year from here on out.
Ingredients
- 1 venison neck roast (bone in or bone out)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Flour
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery stalk
- Beef stock
- Stout Beer
- Brown sugar
- 2 Bay leaves
Instructions
1. Salt and pepper the neck roast, then coat it in flour. I usually just pour a cup or two of flour on a plate and roll the roast in the flour until it is completely coated.
2. Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven, just a couple tablespoons worth. Once the oil gets hot, brown the roast in the oil. You want to get a nice brown crust on all sides of the roast, a few minutes per side. Once browned, remove the roast and place to the side.
3. Chop the onion, carrots, and celery. Add a little more oil to the dutch oven if necessary, and then add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring until the vegetables begin to soften.
4. Add the roast back to the pot. Add in about 2 cups of the beef stock and enough beer to almost cover the roast. Add the bay leaves, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix the liquid until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
5. Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven at 350. Cook for 4-6 hours depending on the roast. You want to be able to shred the roast with a fork. Periodically check the roast making sure there is enough liquid, and the roast doesn’t dry out. If needed, add more beer to keep the roast 3/4 covered and liquid. This will help produce a nice gravy.
6. Shred the roast and serve over mashed potatoes or rice with the vegetables and gravy.