Deer hunting season is around the corner in New York State and perhaps you still have a few venison steaks or roasts from last season hanging out in the freezer.  While the weather is still accommodating to outdoor grilling, venison spiedies are a delicious way to cook up long frozen cuts of venison.  A spiedie is a meat sandwich that originated in central New York (Binghamton area) in the 1920’s from Italian immigrants and was traditionally made with lamb.  The meat is cut into cubes and marinated for a long time in a vinegar, olive oil, and Italian seasoning blend, often including mint.  It is then skewered, cooked on a grill, and served in a soft Italian-style roll with or without more sauce.  Many different types of meat are now common in spiedie recipes with venison being a tasty adaptation that is tender and flavorful steeped in the spiedie marinade..

Ingredients:

2 lbs. venison steaks or roast

1 bottle spiedie marinade or Italian dressing

skewers

Preparation:

At least a day or two before serving, trim all of the sinew and silver skin from your venison steaks or roast and cut into cubes.  This is easiest to do when the meat is still slightly frozen.Place the cubed meat into a non-reactive pan, such as glass, ceramic, or plastic to marinate the meat.Add the bottle of spiedie sauce and thoroughly coat the meat.  Cover  the  meat  and  place  in  the  refrigerator.Leave the meat in the marinade for at least 24 hours up to 48 hours.or even 3 days, stirring ever now and then to make sure meat is covered and flavors are mixed.

Remove the meat from the marinade and place onto skewers, either metal or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water. Preheat your grill and cook the meat for about 4-5 minutes per side rotating to not burn until the meat reaches at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.Traditionally spiedies are served in an Italian-style soft roll with or without more spiedie sauce.  The cubed meat can also be eaten as is with various sides or on a salad.