I guess with a name like "Buck," it was inevitable that I would one day I would become a hunter. The fact is that growing up in L.A., it wasn't something I was exposed to until well into my teens, and even then it wasn't for the whitetail deer that are so plentiful here in my "home" state of Virginia. But since transplanting and making myself at home in the Old Dominion, there's no season of the year that I look forward to with more excitement and anticipation than hunting season... and seeing as how we're right on the transom of that wonderful time of the year (urban archery starts in September... yeah!), Jenna asked me to write about one of my specialties: Venison Meatball Subs!
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Capturing the Meatball Sub process. |
So with that rant out of the way, here's how I make my delicious venison meatballs. As I said the other day - only realizing after the fact what a seemingly bawdy statement I'd just made - "My meatballs are so good, I'd put them up against anyone else's!" Well, there's no need for us to mash our meatballs, but I do think you'll be extremely surprised to taste just how flavorful and satisfying these meatball subs are.
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Venison Meatball Sub |
Ingredients
1 lb venison sausage
1 lb ground pork
1 green pepper (diced)
1 yellow onion (diced)
1 box of mushrooms (sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 bottle marinara sauce (whichever you prefer)
1 egg (beaten)Spices, including ground pepper, garlic salt, and Creole spice blend (we use a brand called Tony Chachere's... it's outstanding!) to taste
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese1 cup Italian bread crumbs
4 Tbsp. of butter (divided in half)
Olive oil (3-4 Tbsp.)
Sub or Hoagie rolls
Sliced Provolone cheese
• Sweat the onions over medium-low heat in 2 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Once they start to turn clear, add your garlic and green peppers. Cook until the peppers soften a bit, then add the mushrooms. After about 2-3 minutes, pull the sauté pan off the heat and pour your marinara sauce into a medium pot. Add all of the cooked veggies to the sauce and heat over a low temperature.
• Take your venison sausage and ground pork and combine them in a large mixing bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, spices, and beaten egg, mixing very thoroughly (I do this by hand, but I suppose it could be done in a mixer as well... but what fun is that?!). Once you've got everything well mixed (you can tell the pork from the venison as the latter is quite dark, while the pork is very pink...you want to make sure each meatball has about an equal amount of both to get the right flavor and fat ratio), start to form the meatballs. You want them to be small enough to fit into the palm of your hand and as close to equal size as possible so that they will all cook at a consistent rate.
• Heat up a large pan (I prefer a cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp. of butter. Once you see the butter bubbling, add in the meatballs. Brown the meatballs on all sides so that they are brown all over. Once browned, remove pan from the heat.
• Slice your rolls and "hollow" them out a bit by removing some of the bread on the inside - you want to have plenty of room for the meatballs to sit inside the bread (much like a "toad in the hole" sandwich). Depending on the size of your rolls, you should be able to get 2-3 meatballs per roll. Pour some of the marinara and veggie sauce on top, then place the Provolone cheese on top. Put the rolls on a baking sheet and pop them in the broiler for about 2-3 minutes. Once the cheese starts to brown on top, you know they are ready.
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Slightly spicy, loaded with veggies and provolone - what's not to love? |
Grab yourself a cold, frosty beverage and dig right in... they're delicious, I promise!! You just need to be "game" to give 'em a try!

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