Black Onion Gravy

This recipe comes from a magazine called Sojourns. "Sojourns among the peaks, plateaus and canyons of the West." From the winter/spring '08 edition. It is an essential complement to Buck's Grill House Buffalo Meatloaf.

Black Onion Gravy

Saute 4 cups chopped onions in 1/4 cup oil over high heat until onions are brown. Add 1/4 cup Spice Rub and cook 10 minutes longer. Add 1/2 cup soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Whisk in 1/2 cup flour and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Whisk in 1 quart of homemade veal stock or beef broth. Simmer 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring until smooth.

Spice Rub

This recipe comes from a magazine called Sojourns. "Sojourns among the peaks, plateaus and canyons of the West." From the winter/spring '08 edition. It is an essential ingredient to Buck's Grill House Buffalo Meatloaf and Black Onion Gravy.

Spice Rub

Combine 1/4 cup each of sugar, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, kosher salt and pepper. Add 3/4 cup paprika and mix well. Store in an airtight container.

Buck's Grill House Buffalo Meatloaf

This recipe comes from a magazine called Sojourns. "Sojourns among the peaks, plateaus and canyons of the West." From the winter/spring '08 edition.

Buffalo Meatloaf

Serves 8

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Spice Rub
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup cream
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire saue
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 pounds ground buffalo
8 ounces ground pork

Saute the vegetables in oil until onion is translucent. Add Spice Rub and cook five minutes. Spoon into large bowl and set aside to come to room temperature. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix well by hand. Pack into a lightly oiled loaf pan and strike the pan on the counter to release any trapped air. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 1/4 hours or to 160 degrees on meat thermometer. Serve warm with Black Onion Gravy.

Barbacoa de Borrego

Also known as Min's Famous Lamb Tacos, this is Number One's favorite meal!

Lamb Barbacoa from the Backyard Grill has got to be one of our all-time favorite recipes from Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen. If you have ever been curious about preparing authentic Mexican foods, you cannot live without this book. Find one, and buy it.

This is slow-roasted lamb at its best. Although the roasting takes virtually all day for a larger roast, it is a simple dish to prepare. Almost everything else can be prepared ahead of time, and because it is roasted on the grill, there is virtually no clean up, and minimal hands-on time. The recipe also includes a soup that is cooked right underneath the lamb. We save the soup in the freezer for a rainy day, and it is delicious.


We usually prepare this dish for dinner guests, as we did last night. We have also prepared this special meal for Christmas Eve dinner--that is how good it is. The lamb roasts we buy are larger than the recipe calls for, so they take a bit more roasting time, but you just have to start a bit earlier. The roast pictured weighed almost 6 pounds. There are some things in the soup that we typically leave out, so I will leave them out of this post as well.


Lamb Barbacoa From the Backyard Grill

Serves 6 to 8, with 7 cups of soup

3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 cup cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans (I just throw in a whole can)

One 3-pound rolled and tied boneless lamb shoulder roast
Coarse salt

For serving:
- Salsa (my homemade Roasted Tomato-Jalapeño Salsa, if you're lucky enough to have the recipe)
- finely crumbled Mexican Queso Fresco or Queso Añejo (these come in 12-ounce rounds, we crumble the whole package with a fork)
- 1 cup good-quality olives (we use a mixture of jalapeño- and garlic-stuffed olives)
- warm tortillas

1. Preparing the grill and soup ingredients. You will need a gas grill with two controls--so you can turn off the flame on one side for indirect cooking, and two grill racks. (*If you'd like me to post the directions for charcoal, leave a comment and I will. I've never used charcoal, but you can) Turn on both sides of your grill to preheat, about 10 minutes or so before.

In a 12 x 9-inch heavy-duty aluminum foil pan (or something similar), combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic and garbanzos. Position the pan to one side of the lower grate and turn off the flame under the soup. Pour water into the pan to about 1 inch from the top (it'll take about 5 cups). Position the second cooking grate 8 inches above the flame.

2. Grilling the meat. Sprinkle the lamb liberally with salt. Lay the roast on the top grate directly over the soup, and set an oven thermometer next to it, if you have one. (if you don't have one, I recommend you go out and buy one for this purpose.) Cover the grill and cook, maintaining a moderately low temperature (between 250 and 300 degrees), checking the temperature every 30 minutes. the will be beautifully smoky-roasted--it'll register about 170 degrees on a meat thermometer and be fall-apart tender in about 2 1/2 hours. Be sure to check periodically the slow-simmering soup that's capturing all those aromatic lamb juices to ensure the liquid level remains more or less the same, adding more water if needed.

3. Finishing the dish. With a big pair of tongs, a couple of meat forks or spatulas, remove the roast to a platter. Sprinkle with salt and let rest, loosely tented with foil, in warm place for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, with the precision of a steady-handed circus performer, carefully remove the pan of soup from the bottom of the grill. (I take a sheet pan out and slide the soup onto the pan before attempting to carry it. Also, since don't usually eat the soup with the meal, I just leave it on the turned-off grill until dinner is over--but don't forget to bring it in after dinner!!). Taste the soup and season with salt, usually about 3/4 teaspoon. Ladle into small, warm soup cups. (or into a container for freezing!)

Remove strings from lamb. Slice into good thick slabs and arrange on a warm platter. Strew the olives around the platter and carry to the table with a flourish. Pass the meat, salsa, cheese and lots of warm tortillas for everyone to make delicious soft tacos.

Sweet & Sour Venison Meatballs

This is another recipe from The Complete Hunter Venison Cookery. If you haven't purchased this book yet, you need to. This is fairly fast, easy and delicious.

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground venison, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained (reserve liquid in 2-cup measure)
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices (1 cup)
1 small onion, sliced
1 medium green pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch strips (1 cup)
6 cups hot cooked white rice

6 servings

In large mixing bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Shape mixture into 30 meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter. Set aside. In 2-cup measure, combine reserved pineapple juice and enough water to equal one cup, the vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ginger. Set aside. In small bowl, combine pineapple chunks and cornstarch. Set aside.

Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. (I used olive oil) Heat skillet over medium heat. Add meatballs. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until meatballs are browned, turning occasionally. Drain.

Add pineapple juice mixture, carrots and onion to skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 13 to 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add pineapple chunks to skillet, stirring until smooth. Stir in green pepper (I used yellow, that's what I had). Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until pepper is bright green, stirring frequently. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Potato-Venison Egg Casserole

I love recipes that can be prepared in advance. It's so much easier when you know you'll have a crowd of hungry cowboys to feed the next day!

This recipe is from an awesome cookbook we have, called The Complete Hunter: Venison Cookery. Every single recipe we have tried in this book, a total of 9 so far, has been excellent! If you or your husband is a hunter, you need this book.

This will make 8 to 10 generous servings. We fed four adults and four hungry kids, with plenty left over!

1 1/2 pounds uncooked fresh venison sausage (or hamburger), crumbled

1 pkg. (2 lbs) frozen Southern-style hash browns (we didn't have these, so we used shredded raw potatoes)

4 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese, divided

2 cups skim milk

6 eggs, slightly beaten

1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Salsa (the book says optional, I say Highly recommended)

Sour Cream (Ditto.)


In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink. Drain.

In large mixing bowl, combine sausage, hash browns, 3 cups cheese, the milk, eggs, onion, hot pepper sauce and salt. Pour mixture into 13 x 9-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup cheese (we used a bit more cheese).

Cover with foil. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Remove foil. Place casserole in oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and top is browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish individual servings with salsa and sour cream.