Deerloaf

Our friend, Duane, has gotten (at least) 5 deer this hunting season. He always brings us some meat. Up until marrying Matt, I'd never had deer before. I find that I like it, but don't really know many ways to prepare it. Deer is drier than beef, so you need to take that into account when cooking it.

I recently found a fantastic recipe for a meatloaf using venison and I wanted to share. It is from America's Favorite Wild Game Recipes cookbook, which also happens to be on permanent loan to us from Duane. We've made it twice and love it.

Wayne's Special Venison Meatloaf

• 1/3 cup catsup
• 2 Tbsp barbecue sauce
• 2 Tbsp French dressing (I used fig balsamic dressing as that was all I had)
• 2lbs. lean ground venison or substitute
• 1 cup canned piccalilli or pickled mixed garden vegetables, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup coarsely crushed seasoned croutons (I used panko bread crumbs and added some thyme and garlic powder)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
  

Heat oven to 350*. In a small mixing bowl, combine catsup, barbecue sauce, and dressing. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine 3 Tbsp catsup mixture and the meatloaf ingredients. Spray 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Press meatloaf mixture into prepared dish. Spoon remaining catsup mixture evenly over meatloaf. Bake for 1 to 1.5 hours or until meat is firm and no longer pink. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.