My Top 10 Favourite Venison Dishes

Oak smoked venison Jerky

Going Paleo...

Traditionally used technique used to dry meat to extend its shelf life.   The exact origin of this technique isn’t known but it would have been obvious to early humans that the smoked meat lasted a lot longer than raw and that may have been discovered due to the meat being kept in a smoky environment  to keep the flys away.  Europeans came across the technique on their first trips to the Americas.  It is also very good for travelling, long hikes, mountain climbing due to the high protein content and also the fact that the equivalent weight of fresh meat would be 6 times heavier.

A friend recently donated a large bag of venison to me, aware of how sick I’m getting of fish.  The best method I could think of to preserve such a large amount of meat was to smoke it.  It was also a good opportunity to practice a recently acquired skill.

Before I got started though, I had to build the smoker...

Welcome to foragesussex

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As I have recently joined the growing ranks of the unemployed I thought I would spend some time (which is something I now have rather a lot of!) doing something I really enjoy and share what I learn along the way in a blog.  Foraging in the Sussex countryside certainly beats my desk job in the city and also means I can eat well on a budget, which is obviously rather important in my current situation...

I have always enjoyed the outdoors, but I have never before appreciated the abundance of wonderful things that grow right on my doorstep.  Even the humble nettle has pushed me to try a whole new raft of recipes – with some very satisfying results.  The High Weald has some great foraging opportunities being ideally located with access to great coastlines and woodlands.  

                                                                                                 

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My girlfriend’s dog, Archie, loves joining me for a good ramble in the countryside.