YES, DEER

by Jared Allen, Guest Tastemaker - Recipes & Excerpts from The Quarterback Killer’s Cookbook

YES, DEER - I love hunting's rituals and traditions, one of which is cooking breakfast at deer camp wearing a T-shirt and not much else. Deer camp reminds me a lot of an NFL locker room: There are a lot of naked dudes. There also is a sense of camaraderie. It's male bonding at its best. You're away from everything else and just out there all together. It’s just guys with guys, shooting the breeze, probably telling stories that are maybe a quarter true, just like the locker room. Both are places where you can relax after a hard day of hiking or a hard day of practice and just have a good time.

You wake up and you don’t have a lot of time, so if you want breakfast you get your butt out of bed, make some coffee and cook quickly. I make good omelets and scrambled eggs. Breakfast is pretty simple. I love venison and eggs in the morning. It's the greatest thing ever. Just like steak and eggs, only better.

One of my favorite ways to eat venison is a simple salt-and-pepper rub. Take a little soy sauce, some Worcestershire sauce, cut it with a little water, put half a beer in there, some fresh chopped garlic, onion powder and stuff like that. You let it marinate in the refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours overnight, throw it on the grill and it’s absolutely delicious.

For dinner, here are three of my favorite venison recipes. Cocoa-Crusted Venison with Coffee Sauce, Venison with Blackberry and Horseradish and coming soon...Venison Salisbury Steak Style + Jared's Homemade Steak Sauce & Elk Wellington.

For more about how Jared became a hunter and football player, check out Baddas Men, Better Meat.