In celebration of The Oregon Trail computer game now being available to play online, and yes, yours truly has already had two oxen die while forging the river, here is a recipe for Venison Stroganoff. It is very likely something like this may have been eaten along the Oregon Trail, albeit as a luxury, particularly given the European origin of stroganoff!
Adapted from this recipe on the Just A Pinch website
1. Buy supplies at the General Store. You will need: 5 Tbsp Flour, 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, 7 Tbsp diced White Onions, 2 (8oz) Cans Tomato Sauce, 3/4 tsp Garlic Powder, 1/2 tsp Salt, Black Pepper, 1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce, 2 (4oz) cans Sliced Mushrooms, 8 oz Sour Cream, Extra Wide Egg Noodles, and Parsley.
2. Hunt for deer. Make sure you get at least: 1.5 lbs, conveniently cubed.
3. After forging the river and making sure no one is dying of cholera or exhaustion, you can start preparing the meat! Toss the cubed venison in a bowl with the flour until fully coated. Add the vegetable oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed venison and cook until it’s about 3/4 of the way done. Add the diced onion and cook until the meat is fully browned. Cover skillet and remove from heat.
4. Preheat fire, ahem, oven to 325 degrees F.
5. Add tomato sauce, garlic powder, salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper and Worchestershire sauce to a casserole dish and stir, mixing all ingredients fully.
6. Add venison meat and onions to the casserole dish, stirring so everything is thoroughly mixed. Cover and place over fire, ahem, in the oven to cook for 1 hour, 30 minutes. (Take out after one hour, stir well and add the sour cream and mushrooms before placing back in the oven for the final 30 minutes).
7. Meanwhile bring water to a boil in preparation to cook the noodles. They should be in water within the fifteen final minutes of cooking time for the mixture in the oven.
8. Place the desired portion amount on plates and top with the meat and sauce. Garnish with parsley and voila!
Enjoy and let me know you’re favorite memories of playing Oregon Trail!
Eat Well, Travel Well ~ Samantha
Photo Credit: Naotake Murayama via Flickr