Venison Burgers!

 So last night my beloved came home hungry, and I didn't have time to go shopping. Fortunately, thanks to his hunting acumen, we have venison in the freezer! It's always best to use meat before you freeze it, but when you have that much meat, well, you pretty much have to freeze it unless you want to host a dinner for 30 people. I put it to thaw in the fridge before I left for work and it was ready to go when I got home.

Recipe:

1 lb. ground venison (we had ours done at a processing place)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 egg yolk

Mix the above ingredients very gently with your hands. Try not to compress the meat very much. Form into two equal patties and put in the fridge.


For the caramelized onions and mushrooms:

Take one tbs. butter and melt it in a skillet until it starts to bubble slightly. Add 1/2 a white onion (thinly sliced) and saute on low-medium heat for about ten minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste and lower the heat a little more, cooking about 20-30 minutes or until onions take on a nice brown color and an almost jammy consistency. Saute 1 cup mushrooms in 1/2 tbs. of olive oil (make sure you salt the mushrooms to your taste) until cooked down and no longer releasing liquid. Combine with the onions.

Grill patties for 6 minutes per side on medium-high heat (I use a gas grill, temp set at 500 degrees). Do not press down on the burgers or flip them more than once. Let rest for three minutes. Serve on your bread of choice (I used toasted sourdough but a ciabatta roll, toasted brioche or potato bread would be awesome, too).