The Deer John burger: A recipe for all that venison still in the freezer

Deer season is over, and for some hunters that means pounds of ground venison sit waiting in the freezer.

Because ground venison is so lean, some hunter-cooks are inclined to add a little something to it for substance and perhaps an extra bit of flavor. I have a friend that likes to get pork fat from his butcher and add that to his ground venison.

For this recipe, I chose to grab 12 ounces of boneless beef short ribs. I cut them into cubes and pulsed them in my food processor until the meat was the size of peppercorns. I added the short ribs to 30 ounces of ground venison and hand-formed the patties.

I sautéed one yellow onion - cut julienne-style - along with two sliced jalapeños. Here’s a suggestion: Pick up some French’s French Fried Onions and try ladling them over your burger.

When cooking the burgers on my grill outside, I lightly sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. So often when eating a burger at a restaurant, I notice the cooks over-season the burger. If you’re dealing with quality beef (or in this case, venison), you shouldn’t need any more spices besides salt and pepper to unlock its potential.

Trust the quality of your proteins. Trust the simple spices to bring out the flavor.

Asiago cheese goes great with venison, so once I flipped my burgers, I piled on some shredded Asiago.

When the burgers reached the desired cook, I brought them inside, spread some mayonnaise on the bottom bun and added a couple slices of tomatoes. Atop the burger, I dropped off some onions and jalapeños and lightly covered them in my favorite barbecue sauce.

Adding short ribs to a burger mix (or any ground meat mix, really), is a great way to enhance the base flavor while adding a tender texture.

Call for recipes

I hope you enjoy this recipe and would love to hear what plans you have for the fruits of your harvest from this past hunting season. Send your favorite recipe to johnh@spokesman.com.