Montana Recipes

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Montana Special

3 pounds venison roast
1 good-sized onion
1 can tomatoes, no. 303
1 cup water
1 can tomato hot sauce
salt
pepper
flour
garlic salt
oil or shortening

Trim the roast of fat and bad spots. Cut the roast as thin as possible. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic both sides of each piece of the roast. Then flour both sides. Use enough oil or shortening to cover the bottom of fry pan. Heat, brown on both sides. Put the pieces in a roaster or covered pan. Put the rest of the ingredients over the top the roast and bake in the oven at 300° for about 3 hours or until done. Take the meat out and use the rest for gravy. Serves 10 to 12.

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Pan-Fried Trout (for camp or kitchen)

To prepare fresh brook or other pan-sized trout, clean and scale if necessary, soak in salted water for 1/2 hour to remove film from fish. Rinse thoroughly and remove head (optional). Dry. Dip in beaten egg and roll in rich cracker crumbs sprinkled with seasoning salt. Fry in hot fat. When golden brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Turn only once.

These are especially good, fresh caught, cooked over a campfire in a heavy skillet, using the grease from fried bacon strips. Fire should be hot but not flaming so fish will not cook too fast or burn. Cook only until they flake easily when tested. Top with crisp bacon.

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Marinade for Wild Game

2 medium onions
2 carrots, scraped and sliced
2 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
6 parsley sprigs, minced
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
2 whole cloves
1/2 cup wine vinegar
2 cups burgundy or port wine
1/2 cup olive or salad oil

Blend all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well and let flavors blend before adding meat. Marinate game overnight, preferably refrigerated. Turn meat at least twice. (Enough marinade for about 5 pounds of meat.)

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Oven-Dried Venison Jerky

2 pounds fresh venison
Liquid smoke
Salt Mixture:
2 to 3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon alpine touch
fresh coarsely ground pepper

Jerky can be made from scraps of meat left after butchering - use the pieces you would originally grind up for hamburger. Any tough cuts also make good jerky - just partially freeze the meat and then slice it into thin strips or chunks across the grain.

Put salt mixture on one side of meat, brush other side with very little liquid smoke. Stack the meat in layers in a flat pan, a salty side against a smoky side. Place another pan on top and weight it down to press out meat juice. Let stand overnight.

The next day drain off juice. Grind fresh pepper over meat. Place on oven rack at 250°, making sure you line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch all the drips. Leave meat for about 5 hours or until dry. It may be dried up to 8 hours but it becomes drier and more brittle. Store in closed containers. Keep in a cool place.

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