Venison-Bacon Burger

This hunting season has been a bountiful one.  Both, my husband and son have each killed a deer this year.  So now, it looks like we will have enough venison to last quite a long time.  I'm trying to be inventive, of the different ways I have processed the meat, on how to prepare it.  Venison, as you may know, is very lean, so ground venison does not stay together very well when making burgers.  It can be very dry as well.  To remedy these problems, I ground in some bacon along with the venison.  This adds fat, which gives it moisture.  In addition, as it cooks, it helps the meat stay together.  The smokiness of the bacon adds another layer of flavor to the finished burger.

The idea of using a slice of apple came when the bacon, I used was smoked with apple wood.  I thought the sweetness of the apple would meld nicely with the smokiness of the meat.  Also, I thought the sharpness of the blue cheese would go well with the sweetness of the apple.   I ended up with a sweet/savory combination of flavors.  The lettuce and mayo brought the flavors together.

Venison-Burger Recipe

2lbs Ground venison/bacon

Blue Cheese, crumbled or sliced

Apple, sliced about ¼ inch thick

Lettuce

Mayo

Buns

Grill your burgers until desired doneness and before you take them off the heat, sprinkle the blue cheese on top and let it melt.  Briefly, grill the apple slices just until warmed through, but still crunchy (or you can leave them at room temperature).  Add a leaf of lettuce and top it off with the top part of the bun that has been slathered with mayo.

Voila!  Now you have a venison bacon burger.

I served these with homemade potato chips and homemade pickles.  YUM!