Venison and Corn Tortilla Skillet
Ground venison, cumin, and torn corn tortillas cooked down in one pan at the truck.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground venison | 2 lb | frozen solid at home, thaws in the cooler over a day |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1.5 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| White corn tortillas | 12 | |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | venison is lean enough that the pan will stick without it |
Method
- Get the skillet hot over the fire or a liquid-fuel burner and add the oil.
- Break the venison in with a spoon and brown it hard, stirring only enough to keep it from scorching. Ten minutes or so, until no pink is left and the bottom has some crust.
The original is a layered casserole with enchilada sauce, cheese, and 45 minutes in an oven. None of that travels. What survives the trip is the part that carries the dish anyway: lean venison browned hard with salt, cumin, and pepper, and corn tortillas going soft in the fat.
Browning matters more than usual here. Venison has almost no fat of its own, so the flavor has to come from crust on the meat and from the oil you add. Stir it too much and you steam it grey. Tearing the tortillas instead of stacking them means they soak up the pan drippings rather than sitting in sauce, which is what the sauce was doing in the first place.
Packing
Venison goes into the cooler frozen in a doubled zip bag; it thaws on day one and holds through day two. Salt, cumin, and pepper get premixed into one small jar at home so seasoning is a single pour. Tortillas ride flat in their sleeve inside a hard-sided bin or they arrive as crumbs.
Variations
- A can of drained black beans stirred in at the end stretches it to six people.
- Chopped onion and bell pepper browned with the meat if you have cooler room.
- Cayenne in the spice jar if you want heat.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/ground-venison-tortilla-layer-casserole