One Knife to Rule Them All

AND HOW TO COOK DEER STEAKS AND GRAVY WHILE CAMPING

By David Lucas

It was late in the season and closing in on twilight when I heard the distinctive crack of a .308. I texted my nephew, “What’d you shoot?” He was sitting uphill and through the woods about 200 yards or so from me in the “power line” stand—his first time by himself. The kid was as cool as the backside of a pillow. Nothing for a while, then just a pic of a nice-sized doe on the ground with a perfect boiler room entry hole showing behind the shoulder—exactly like I taught him. Like he didn’t want to make a big thing out of it. “That’s meat in the freezer, buddy,” was my only response.

Indeed. Wall hangers are nice, but for my money, nothing beats venison from one of our prolific (average) 90- to 110-lb South Carolina whitetail does, cubed, soaked, battered and fried up crisp like God and Crisco intended, slow-simmered in a pan of mushroom and onion gravy, and served up over a bed of creamy yellow grits. It’s deer camp fare at its finest, and, like all good camp meals, it only requires a few simple tools to bring it all together.

The Virtues of Packing Light

In college (and after), I rode a venerable Kawasaki 550 everywhere. Music festivals, camping, you name it, we went on a lot of adventures together. This was a long time before the widespread availability of purpose-built panniers , massive tank bags and other “adventure” gear we enjoy today. Space for tools and camping was limited to whatever I could stuff in a small duffle or backpack bungied to the sissy bar, and I soon learned the virtues of packing light.

A forged butcher knife is the one knife you need for campfire cooking.

These days, my go-to camp cookery travel kit always includes a large heavy pot (with lid), a big cast iron frying pan, and ONE cleaver-style chef’s knife like the  Cole Wheeler Forged Butcher Knife. This knife does multiple duty—it’s heavy enough for breaking down large cuts of meat or butchering fish, but it will also take an edge sharp enough to fine-chop onions, garlic and other vegetables, and wide enough to serve as a biscuit dough cutter or even a pot-stirrer/spatula in a pinch. If you’re prepping a meal and want to keep your basic travel cooking kit down to one knife—this is the one.

On a recent trip to our family hunt camp to get things ready for the upcoming deer season, we pulled out a couple packs of venison cube from my nephew’s doe and made one of my all-time favorite meals—and all it required was my simple kit and a few basic ingredients to whip up a fantastic outdoor feast.

Campfire cooking requires a few basic tools, and ingredients.

Low Country Deer Steaks and Gravy

Tools:

Large cast iron frying pan or Dutch oven

Large pot

Cutting board

Resealable plastic bags

Cole Wheeler Forged Butcher Knife

Campfire grill or other heat source

Paper towels and a baking pan

Ingredients:

2 pounds of venison cube steak

½ gallon whole milk

2 Vidalia onions

1 green bell pepper

2 packages of Baby Bella mushrooms

Yellow mustard

1 can chicken stock

Salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasonings

Fry dredge (flour, some fine cornmeal, salt, pepper and some other seasoning with a kick like Tony Chachere’s to taste). Or substitute a bag of your favorite commercial dredge.

Frying oil

Step 1: Prep the meat.

Use the butcher knife to cut the venison into small (maybe 1-inch x 2-inch) pieces. Pour about 1/3 of the milk into a resealable plastic bag and add a generous amount of yellow mustard and a bit of black pepper and seasoning salt. Add the meat and set aside to marinate for an hour or so.

Step 2: Start the grits.

There’s as many grits recipes as there are “Southern” TV chefs. I combine 1 cup milk with 2 – 3 cups of water to 1 cup of grits (Adjust for larger amounts/more people and add more liquid if it’s going to be cooking a while—longer is better). Bring milk/water to a high simmer and add salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Pour in the grits and stir like hell, continually. If you have chosen your fresh-stone-ground grits wisely, the aroma of fresh corn will soon begin to waft up. If you have chosen poorly (like “quick” grits, you won’t smell much at all). Either way, turn down or move off the heat and let the grits slow cook while the rest of the meal gets underway. Stir periodically and as grits approach done, add the chicken stock, butter and more liquid as needed. Some people add cheese or cream, or cream cheese. You do you.

Step 3: Make the dredge.

Combine about 2 cups of flour with 1/2 cup fine corn meal (more if you like it real crunchy) and generous amounts of your spices in a large resealable plastic bag or doubled brown paper grocery sack.

Step 4: Fry the meat.

Heat several inches of good quality vegetable or canola oil in your cast iron frying pan

(a Dutch oven works well, too—particularly if feeding a large crowd or when cooking over an open flame). Drain the marinated meat and place in the bag with the dredge in batches.

Shake vigorously and place in hot oil (don’t crowd the pan). Place each done batch aside in a paper towel-lined pan or more grocery sacks (works great). Note: you want the outside of the pieces crispy, but it’s not critical that they be fully-cooked through at this stage.

Step 5: Make a gravy.

Pour off all but a ¼ inch or so of the oil and scoop out as much of the dredge as you can and place back on heat. Halve onions and slice thinly. Dice the green pepper. Slice the mushrooms. Add the mushroom first and allow them to get some nice color. Then add the onions and bell pepper (optional) and allow the onions to caramelize. Add additional oil as necessary. Slowly add plain flour and let cook to a thick paste and the flour is well-incorporated. Add some water and milk, and stir, stir, stir. A bit of chicken stock saved from the grits step isn’t a bad idea, either. At this point, your gravy should be quite thin—soupy. Now add the fried meat back in, lower the heat and cover. The gravy will thicken slowly as the meat simmers.

Step 7: Have a cocktail and wait.

I was going to save this step for after dinner, but who am I kidding, I already had one while I was prepping the vegetables.

Campfire Tennessee Mule
My old buddy Jeff Shrewsbury once invented a game—really more of a tradition—we called “Wild Turkey Zen.” Basically, you sit around the fire, pass the bottle and offer toasts in the way of bits of philosophy, remembered good times, shared bad times, those lost along the way, etc. until the fire burns low and the bottle is empty. Not for the faint of liver or fearful of hangover, I can attest.

But we’re (much) older now and (a bit) wiser. Like our gear, our drinking has evolved for the better. These days, my go-to cocktail for time spent around a campfire is a fiery “Tennessee Mule” made with a good bonded (i.e. 100 proof) whiskey like Wild Turkey 101 and Blenheim’s old-fashioned red cap hot ginger ale (made in South Carolina).

A travel carry case will keep your cigars protected until it’s time to light ‘em up.

So have a cocktail, or two (but save some for after). When the grits are thick and creamy, ladle out bowls and top with the meat and gravy. I’m telling you, it’s so good your tongue will slap your jaws. After dinner, throw a few more logs on the fire, mix another round of cocktails and pass out some good cigars. Extra points for style if your cigs come out of an excellent  purpose-made leather cigar case and the mules are served in a hand cigar-holder tumbler .

Now THIS is how memories are made.

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