Venison Tips and Noodles with Mushroom Gravy
Browned venison, dried mushrooms, and egg noodles finished in a skillet gravy at the truck.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 1200 ml boiled
- 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
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison steak | 1 1/2 lb | backstrap or round, cut into 3/4-inch cubes; rides frozen in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Seasoned flour | 3/4 cup | measured into a bag at home |
| Dried mushrooms | 1 oz | or 8 oz fresh if the cooler has room |
| Wide egg noodles | 12 oz | |
| Butter | 1/2 stick | divided |
| Beef broth concentrate | 4 tsp | or 3 cups broth from a carton |
| Cooking oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Rosemary | 1 sprig | dried works |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Cover the dried mushrooms with a cup of hot water and leave them alone for fifteen minutes. Keep that water.
- Shake the venison cubes in the bag of seasoned flour. Set the bag aside with the leftover flour still in it.
- Heat the oil and half the butter in a skillet over a moderate bed of coals or a low stove flame. Brown the meat in two or three batches so the pan stays hot. Pull each batch out as the crust sets. It does not need to be cooked through.
- Drop the mushrooms into the same pan and cook until they give up their liquid, about ten minutes.
- Meanwhile boil the noodles in a second pot in about 1200 ml of water. Drain and toss with the rest of the butter.
- Sprinkle 3 tbsp of the reserved flour over the mushrooms and stir for a minute. Pour in the mushroom soaking water and the broth. Add the rosemary.
- Stir until it thickens, return the venison and any juice, and simmer five minutes. Spoon over the noodles and scatter the parsley on top.
Two things make this work over a fire instead of a range. First, the meat is dredged and frozen at home, so camp prep is one bag and a hot pan. Second, the flour left in that bag is the gravy thickener, which means no separate roux ingredient and no extra container.
Venison is lean and turns to leather fast. Brown it in batches, pull it early, and let it finish in the gravy off the direct heat. Dried mushrooms are the trail swap for fresh: they weigh nothing, and their soaking water is a stronger base than the broth is.
Packing
Cube and flour-dredge the venison at home, freeze it flat in a bag, and let it act as your cooler ice for the first day. Flour, broth concentrate, mushrooms, and herbs travel dry in one box.
Variations
- Beef stew meat or a pouch of shelf-stable roast beef stands in when nobody in camp hunts.
- Instant mashed potato flakes replace the noodles and skip the second pot.
https://realtree.com/recipe/timber-2-table/venison-steak-tips-and-noodles-with-mushroom-gravy