Venison Macho Nachos Recipe

Venison Macho Nachos

venison macho nachos recipe

Venison macho nachos were made on-the-fly. On this night, I ran out of tortillas and still had a lot of taco leftovers, (lettuce, cheese and cooked ground venison). I improvised with chips on-hand to make macho-nacos. Ya see, I was too hungry to get more tortillas at the store.

This is a venison meal recipe that’s low cost and quick to make. (I used recipe below with one pound of ground venison.)

Stuff to use:

  • Lettuce
  • Sharp cheddar cheese (or any shredded cheese)
  • Multi-grain chips (or any tortilla style chip)
  • Salsa
  • 1 lb ground venison
  • taco seasoning packet

What you do:

  • Semi-brown ground venison
    • (leaving some pink color will keep venison moist so you’ll be able to microwave leftovers without overcooking.)
  • Add seasoning
    • (while following directions on seasoning packet, remember cooking time should be shorter because most packets are writing for cooking with beef.)
  • Scoop cooked ground venison on a plate, add in chips and condiments.

Making meals with what you have on hand allows you to be creative. You’ll discover new meals to use the food you already have, ya may surprise yourself!

 

Other venison recipes:

Deer Heart Grilling

Deer Heart Grilling (warning, eating the heart will increase buck fever)

deer heart grilling

Recommend putting tin foil on grate first, then, place deer heart on the tin foil. Midway through grilling I threw tin foil down over grate. Tin foil will prevent the heart’s soft meat from getting scorched. (Use two layers of tin foil, or one layer of heavy duty tin foil.)

MeatEater has an episode where the featured meal is deer heart tacos. Ever since watching that episode, I had it in my mind to cook and eat the heart of my future deer.

Cooking and eating a lovely deer heart dinner is exactly what I did with my first deer, (and will continue to do with future deer). In this post, I’ll be sharing with you the deer heart recipe I used. Saving the heart was a priority while field dressing.

This was my first time cooking deer heart, so, before firing up the grill, I tweeted to MeatEater about venison heart recipes.
MeatEater responded with two deer heart recipes.

Seeing as I would be using a small grill, had apples and garlic powder on-hand, I improvised MeatEater’s apple-roasted venison heart recipe. I did not have a lot of tin foil so chose to cook heart on the grate instead of in the coals.

 

Supplies used when grilling deer heart:

  • Charcoal grill
  • Tin Foil

Here’s the recipe:

  • 1 deer heart
  • Garlic powder
  • 1 apple – cubed

What you do:

I used a granny smith apple because it's what I had on-hand. Granny smith has a bold flavor, would recommend using.

(Before the grill photo.) I used a granny smith apple because it’s what I had on-hand. Granny smith has a bold flavor, would recommend using.

  • Clean out and trim deer heart
  • Rinse deer heart thoroughly with cold water
  • Cut open deer heart and lay flat
  • Shake on garlic powder as desired
  • Stuff apple cubes in the heart ventricles
  • Grill heart until the top layer of skin is brown, keep checking, do not walk away from the grill.

Lessons learned: Here’s the mistakes I made:

  1. Not laying tin foil over grate to begin with. As a result, the heart’s outer layer got overcooked. (middle of heart was unharmed)
  2. Cooked the heart too close to coals. (cooking heart higher above coals would be recommended.) I found the heart is very soft, delicate meat.

One deer heart satisfied my appetite. If this were for two people or more, side dishes would be required. Next time you fill your tag, take the deer heart home with you. You’ll love the meal!

dear heart grilling

(After grilling photo.) Meal turned out well! Heart was very tender. Looking in the middle you’ll see it’s still pink, which is a must while cooking heart. Only the outer skin got a bit overcooked.

If you have cooked deer heart before, please share how you cooked it. If you decide to use my recipe let me know how it goes and if you added some ingredients along the way. Enjoy hearing how wild game is cooked and what parts of wild game are cooked. Good huntin’ and good eatin!’

Read Other Venison Recipes:

The Hunt Continues

The Hunt Continues After The Shot.

(Second blog post on my first deer.)

Remember, the hunt continues after the shot. After the shot, the deer will need to be gutted. After gutting, the deer will need to be skinned and processed. It’s why hunters say, “the shot is just one part of hunting.”

My dad, grandpa and I worked to skin and quarter my first deer. (The quartering process was another part of the hunt that made memories.) After skinning, I took the meat to be processed. Taking the meat to be processed took priority to getting the head and hide to the taxidermist.

Cooking Your Trophy Is the Greatest Trophy

In my book, the meat was the trophy. I say this because when fishing and hunting, obtaining a meal is my main objective. The goal of my previous deer hunts was to obtain deer meat. Going 13 years without shooting a deer, made each meal of my first deer it’s own trophy. With my first deer, I’m able to cook meals with meat from a deer I shot myself. (Achieving the goal set when obtaining my hunter’s safety license.) At each meal, memories of those who have helped me come to life again.

grilled deer heart

Grilling the heart of my first deer. Eating the heart brought the hunt full circle that much more.

When eating wild game from your hunts, the hunt is prolonged. Each time I sink my teeth into venison, I relive the shot, as well as, gutting and skinning the deer.

First deer mount

The European mount of my first deer was a bonus. Trophy from the hunt: venison and sharing time with family

Gain Responsibility 

It’s a fact that hunting also teaches how to be responsible with the game you kill. Hunters should remember this; anti-hunters must learn to understand this. Therefore, as a sportsman, I want to respect the animal by making sure the meat does not go to waste. This is why hunting teaches responsibility. Hunters learn the value of life and what it means to be a steward of the land.

Learn Cooking Skills

Just as fishing helps me cook, hunting teaches me about cooking as well. In the next series of blog posts I will be sharing meals and recipes made with the venison from my first deer taken during the 2013 Wisconsin bowhunting season.

Here’s a few venison meals – more meals to be added to this list:

The Hunt Continues

Above all, I’ll continue to look forward to future hunts and meals with wild game and fish, and, yearn for the next hunting season. It’s why “the hunt continues.” And if I don’t get anything, that’s alright too. My passion for the adventure and the thrill of even finding sign is what drives me. Read more on the following posts:

Blessings: A First Deer

God blessed me with my first deer on September 21, 2013.

This day, and the preparation for this day, was filled with teamwork. Each venison meal brings back memories of the hunt I shot my first deer. It’s a great taste. There’s only one “first deer” for a hunter.

first deer

A trail camera about 30 yards from the tree I was sitting in captured me and my first deer. We found the deer the morning of September, 22. I dragged it from the brush to the clearing.

It was a calm September evening. I was sitting 20 feet up a tree listening to a Tom turkey calling, while anticipating any kind a movement from a deer. All of a sudden tall grass was moving in the distance. Then, lower branches of a tree on the edge of a cornfield began to shake. (If I was sleeping, I would have missed the subtle movement, and possibly, my first deer.)

Deer were walking through the woods towards the cornfield.

My heart began pumping quicker as the deer kept walking. I couldn’t make out if the two deer were bucks or does at this point because they were in the brush.

At first it seemed they were heading into the cornfield. Next minute, it seemed as if they were heading towards me. A few seconds passed and, sure enough, the deer were heading my way!

Instantly, my heart started to pound and my breathing increased. They were closer and out of the heavy brush, one was a buck, the other a doe.

Both deer stopped at a clearing about 40 yards away. Suddenly, the buck started walking towards me. He then stopped abruptly, shook his head violently and jogged back towards the clearing’s edge where the doe was standing still. I asked myself, “Did he get wind of me or hear me breathing hard?” (I jokingly wondered if they could hear my heart because it was still pounding.)

To my surprise, the doe he was with began walking in, hugging the treeline beside the clearing. Closer and closer she game. She then stopped and began feeding. She was 20 yards from me.

whitetail doe

The buck followed this doe. The trail camera captured the doe that was with the buck I took.

The buck, still at the clearing’s opening, started towards the doe following her path. As the buck walked closer, I could tell it was a young buck. As he continued to walk into a comfortable shooting range, about 20 yards, his walking slowed. Aiming for the rib cage I released my arrow. Thunk! I heard and saw the arrow hit.

Upon impact, the buck dashed towards the West through the treeline and into tall grass. Turning away from the cornfield ahead of him, he stayed in the tall grass and made a half circle back towards the woods. I took mental pictures of that path and continued to look where I heard him last.

Man, was I shaken-up and full of adrenaline. I took several deep breaths while thinking, “I just arrowed my first deer! I get to eat venison! Now I must wait 30 minutes before I start after him.” It was 6:30 when I shot him. (Rule of thumb is to wait 30 minutes before looking for a deer, especially in bowhunting.)

 Patience In A Tree
That was a long 30 minutes. I spent it thanking God for this hunt, praying my hit was as solid as it looked and observing nature. My heart rate gradually fell as I looked towards the sky. Also figured this was a good time to pull out my phone to remember how high I was. It was clear and the sun was shining on the cornfield enhancing its golden color. Most leaves were still green with a few turning color this second weekend of bow season.

When my pocket watch f i n a l l y reached 7 o’clock, I slowly climbed down the the ladder-stand. Walking towards where I shot the buck, I heard movement behind my treestand. I paused and questioned myself, “Am I starting too soon?” Silence shortly followed, so I continued to where I remembered the deer take-off after the shot. I found tracks, blood and a few feet further, my arrow. The arrow provided proof it was a good hit. There was red blood and it didn’t have a foul smell.

I found blood and started tracking until I came across a small creek and lost the blood trail. It was now 7:20 and getting dark. I took out my flashlight but could not pick up a blood trail again. Because of the movement I heard early on, I turned back and headed to camp to get advice of more experienced hunters.

Sunset while deer hunting

Walking back to camp that evening, I turned to admire the sunset.

 Around 8PM
Back at camp, I told my hunting party I had hit a deer, felt confident of my shot, lost the blood trail and asked for advice. After seeing my arrow, they also said it was a good hit. We headed back out after the deer.

Arriving at my stand, I picked up the initial blood trail and we all continued to follow it. Finding more of the trail than I did, we found an area of heavy blood and it seemed as if this was the end of the blood trail. We decided to head back and return in the morning.

 Is It Morning Yet?
The night was long. Prayer and anxiety made it tough to fall asleep. I was still replaying the shot in my mind.  Although I was confident of my shot, I was questioning the hit since we were going back out in the morning to look for the deer.

Morning came. We headed out to begin the search. Not long after searching, we found my first deer! The deer was about 50 yards behind the tree I was sitting in. It was found beside a tree in thick brush.

Holding my first deer.

Fulfillment is the best word to describe how I felt walking up to the deer and laying hands on it. Though hunting is a solo sport, it took teamwork for my first deer and I appreciate everyone that helped.

I have been gun deer hunting since 13 and started bowhunting in 2012. Although I didn’t get a deer in 2012, I learned hunting skills and bowhunting preparation that was crucial in getting my first deer on September 21, 2013. The friends and family who helped out are as much a part of this as myself.

Tagging Out On Determination

Determination is part of hunting. You’re reading about my hunting experience for the the 2012 WI gun deer season. The season opened November 17 and closed November 25. Although I didn’t get a deer yet this season… I had fun hunting and gained one more year of hunting experience.

Furthermore, each year I hunt, I come to conclusions for my love of hunting and being outdoors. I realize just how deep my passion for hunting resides.

My plan each day was this:

  • get in the woods before light
  • sit until midmorning
  • scout around and still-hunt the afternoon
  • return to a separate spot to sit until dark

 

 

As I walked out of the public deer woods and back to my car each day during the 2012 gun deer season, I asked myself, “Will I get a deer?” Thoughts of frustration entered my mind as I was walking out of the woods without a deer.

Yet, each day I was anxious for the next time I would come back to the deer woods.

And sure enough, the next morning, I’d be just as excited and optimistic of my chances seeing deer as I was the morning of the season opener.

Morning of Day 4 of the 2012 gun deer opener was a foggy one.

It’s exhilarating when you find a prospective spot and see deer sign such as droppings, rubs, trails, and beddings.

During one of my hunts, I confirmed that I enjoy deer hunting for the challenge and that’s what keeps me coming back.

The challenge may be going through thick brush and heavy cover in order to explore a new area. I went through thick cattails because I felt deer were in there, and I found sign leading to this marsh that I had not explored yet.  Always be scouting around, even in season.

Followed this deer trail through the cattails, doing so also led me to a prospective spot I’ll try late season.

When scouting, pay attention to the ground in order to find good deer sign. This may sound obvious, yet it’s worth mentioning ‘cus it’s easy to overlook deer droppings, and finding deer droppings allows you to learn how to age them.

Most importantly, finding good deer sign rejuvenates yourself by giving you a positive feeling that deer are indeed in the area.  Much of hunting is about a positive attitude. This will keep you going no matter how frustrating the hunt seems.

Because I wasn’t seeing deer, I was reminding myself each day that “just being out in the woods gives me a significant chance at tagging a deer”. It’s this attitude that kept me coming back to the woods and scouting around.

For me, it was frustrating to not see any deer even though I found great deer sign. Not seeing deer teaches me a cool cool thing about hunting: you don’t need to get the animal you’re after to have fun. You can take away other things about yourself, and the memories you make with friends and family.

Found a good size deer bed after kicking up deer in a marsh.

You also prove to yourself qualities you may not have thought you had, and even build on the qualities you know you do have. You are improving your hunting skills, and are able to utilize the gear you’ve spent money on.

One of the things I found was a new way to carry my deer seat in the woods that lets me travel lighter, stealthier, and, if a deer presented a shot opportunity while walking to my spot, this newfound way would give me a more comfortable shot.

In the end, I’m able to look ahead to remind myself I still have an archery tag through January 6 and there is a second WI gun deer season in the CWD Units over Christmas. I was able to look for additional spots to sit during these two seasons and there’s still hope to get a deer. It will happen by taking a positive attitude.

Because I work for Sportsman Channel I feel I should be tagging out every year on deer, limiting out on fish each adventure out there. It’s when I start feeling this pressure I remind myself of this simple thought: if I am able to get out in the woods, breathe the fresh air, and enjoy walking in public land, than I am experiencing being an American Sportsman. And this alone is a blessing.