Recipe: Venison Philly Cheesesteak

Venison Philly Cheesesteak And White Claws: A Food And Alcohol Pairing For The Rest Of Us.

We all know the typical song and dance when it comes to eating venison-deer chili, deer tacos, deer spaghetti, deer roast, and deer steaks. Blah, blah, blah — boring. A few months ago, I had a hankering (that’s a craving for non-Southern humans) for a Philly cheesesteak. Living in a very rural area, there just isn’t anywhere around here that I can get a good, quality sandwich like that, so I decided to concoct my own from ingredients I already had on hand. And the result? Well, let’s just say it’s not really a Philly, but after tasting it I was fully prepared to marry myself.

In the hot summer months, there’s nothing quite like a good sandwich and a cold beverage, and like many basic bitches before me, I too enjoy a fruit-tinged, alcoholic, seltzer drink. For a sandwich like this, a light and refreshing drink like White Claw is the perfect balance for the thick, meaty, greasy, cheesy goodness.

This sandwich doesn’t have a name, but damn it’s good. Even better? It’s crazy simple to make. Buckle up bros and let’s get cooking.

Ingredients

• White Claw (literally any flavor)
• ½ lb. bacon
• 1 lb. ground venison
• 1 large green bell pepper
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 7 slices of provolone cheese
• Steak rolls or hoagie rolls
• 1/8 cup lemon pepper
• 2 tbsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions

Preparing as many of the ingredients as possible takes a lot of stress out of cooking. Begin by cutting the pepper and onion into strips and then set aside. Place the ground venison into a bowl, and then season with salt, black pepper, and lemon pepper. Crack open a White Claw. Now, we can cook.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F, place a medium to large skillet over medium heat, and begin cooking the bacon. While the bacon is cooking, place the seasoned venison on a dinner plate and form it into a very large (about the size of the plate) burger patty that’s about ½-inch thick and set aside.

Remove the bacon from the skillet, leaving the pan on medium heat and the bacon grease in the skillet. Now, take a snack break and have some of the bacon — we don’t need the bacon for this recipe, just its sweet, delicious fat.

Place the gigantic burger patty into the skillet. It’s really important to have a good, hot skillet for this step. The whole point of forming the large burger patty, instead of just dropping the ground meat into the skillet is to allow it to get a nice, dark, crispy sear. Cook the burger patty for about one minute, or until you have a good, crispy sear on that side, and then flip. Once you have a good sear on the second side, remove the burger patty temporarily from the skillet.

Place peppers and onions (and mushrooms if you wish) into the skillet and cook for a minute or two, just until they become translucent and fragrant. I want to note that you do not have to take the meat from the pan, you can just toss the peppers and onions in with the meat and cook it all together. How you do this step isn’t important; what’s important is that everything gets cooked in the same skillet. That’s how layers of flavor are built. Now, if you removed it, add the big-ass burger patty back into the skillet. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to chop the meat up into fine pieces, and then mix it with the veggies. Now is where it gets fun.

Add the butter first, and then the Worcestershire sauce into the meat and veggies and stir it around until to butter has melted and everything is mixed well. Allow this mixture to simmer and reduce for about five minutes. While you’re waiting, go ahead and butter your hoagie rolls and pop them in the oven to toast lightly.

Place the provolone cheese slices on top of the meat mixture, turn the heat to low or off, and cover the skillet, allowing the cheese to melt on top. Remove the rolls from the oven.

Once the cheese has melted on top, stir the meat mixture and the cheese together until mixed well. Pile high on a toasted hoagie roll, crack open another White Claw, and enjoy. This is a really filling sandwich, but if you’re one of those people who must have a side with every meal, a handful of hot, salty French fries make the perfect addition. Enjoy!

Two White Claws were harmed in the making of this sandwich.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Carnivore Magazine Issue 4.