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Old Fashioned Venison Potted Meat Recipe From Realtree and Timber 2 Table

By RVL / November 24, 2019

Old Fashioned Venison Potted Meat Recipe

Forget the questionable stuff from the grocery, make your own potted meat for a perfect camp or stand snack.

BY  AUTHOR OF TIMBER 2 TABLE WILD GAME RECIPESPRINT RECIPE

PREP TIME
COOK TIME
1-10
SERVES

Well, let me think… I was thinkin’ I could use me another couple cans’o that potted meat if ya got any extree.

Karl Childers– Sling Blade

 

Fancy dinner party guests might label it as Pâté , but Slingblade fans and anyone who has spent time huddled around a coal stove in an old country store know it as potted meat. Old timers spread it on saltines, sometimes with a hunk of cheese, a slice of jalapeno, or a bite of dill pickle.

Serve the potted meat with crackers, pickles or peppers, and a bit of cheese for a light meal.

Serve the potted meat with crackers, pickles or peppers, and a bit of cheese for a light meal.

Before refrigeration, this was a way to preserve meat. Packed tightly into an earthen crock or glass jar and topped with clarified butter to prevent air from reaching the interior, potted meat would keep much longer than fresh, making it both a convenient and safe meal when neither were easy to come by.

Drop a sprig of fresh rosemary into the butter before screwing on the lid.

Drop a sprig of fresh rosemary into the butter before screwing on the lid.

Today, freezers take the worry out of long-term meat storage. But that doesn’t mean that potted meat isn’t still a handy meal. A quick lunch afield, a snack in the deer stand or turkey blind, or a stream-side dinner, a jar of potted meat makes the perfect accompaniment to any hunting or fishing trip.

I’ll be the first to admit that, while I’ve enjoyed a can of commercially produced potted meat or two in my day, I do wonder what all might be packed away in one. For that reason, I much prefer to make my own. This recipe is an outstanding way to use up stew chunks or cuts that might contain a bit too much connective tissue for other recipes. The combination of cook time and processing takes care of any silver skin or connective tissue that might still be on the meat.

You can accomplish the cooking process over the course of a day in a slow cooker, but the best way to get it done is in an Instant Pot or other brand of pressure cooker. What takes all day by traditional methods only takes 45 minutes in my Instant Pot.

You can buy clarified butter at any grocery, but its easier and less expensive to make your own. Simply heat a pound of unsalted butter in a sauce pot over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. Skim off any milk solids that rise to the surface and filter the clarified butter through cheese cloth into a jar. Be careful to reserve any solids that might have settled to the bottom of the pan and keep from getting them in your clarified butter. Butter prepared this way will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month. Use any leftovers for cooking, the smoke point of clarified butter is much higher than regular butter, making it perfect for sautéing.

You can make your own clarified butter by slowly simmering butter until the milk solids separate from the butter.

You can make your own clarified butter by slowly simmering butter until the milk solids separate from the butter.

 

INGREDIENTS

2-3 pounds venison roasts or stew chunks

1 pint clarified butter

Salt and pepper

2 bay leaves

Fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups white wine

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

This recipe is how we do it in the Instant Pot, but you can use the slow cooker for the same results.

Cook the venison with two cups of white wine, garlic, two bay leaves, one sprig of fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes and liberal salt and pepper until its soft and shreds easily. Cook all day in a slow cooker, or 40 minutes under high pressure in the Instant Pot.

Cook the venison with white wine, garlic and herbs.

Cook the venison with white wine, garlic and herbs.

Once the venison is done, transfer it to a bowl. Reserve the cooking liquid, minus the bay leaves and rosemary. Shred the venison with two forks.

Shred the cooked venison with forks before running it through the food processor.

Shred the cooked venison with forks before running it through the food processor.

In a food processor, add half the shredded venison, a teaspoon of smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Pour in ¼ of a cup of clarified butter and ½ cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Process at full speed, drizzling more cooking liquid as you go. Continue processing until the venison is a smooth paste.

Process the meat in batches with clarified butter and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to make it a smooth paste.

Process the meat in batches with clarified butter and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to make it a smooth paste.

Transfer the mixture into half-pint jars, pressing it in tightly to within ¾ of an inch from the top. Try rapping the jar bottoms on a towel-covered kitchen counter to settle the meat and pack it well. For maximum longevity, make certain there are no air pockets in the spread.

Fill the remaining jar space with liquid clarified butter to within about 1/8 inch from the rim. Add a sprig of fresh rosemary to the butter and screw on the lid. Store the potted meat in the refrigerator for two to three weeks or freeze for longer storage time.

Pack the meat tightly into jars and pour clarified butter over it to seal.

Pack the meat tightly into jars and pour clarified butter over it to seal.

Potted meat can be pressure canned for long term storage without refrigeration, but it never lasts long enough around here to worry about it.

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