I grew up on a crop farm with a dad that hunts deer. Some people can't stand the taste of venison, but growing up I didn't even realize that what we had in our freezer was different than what they sold at the grocery store...probably because the only time my mom bought ground hamburger was when we ran out of deer meat. I'm fortunate enough to now have a dad and brother who hunt and help stock our freezer. One of my favorite winter meals growing up was my mom's breaded tenderloins with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. As soon as I saw the packages of tenderloins that comfort food came to mind.
I'm not sure the exact process my mom used to make this meal for us, so I kind of made up my own.
Thawed tenderloins next to the dredging mixture.
I used flour (which I think is the only thing my mom used), bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. I gave the dredging mixture a little stir and then coated the meat.
Heat skillet with a couple of tablespoons of butter. While frying up the meat, I realized that I didn't have enough butter, so I added some olive oil to the skillet...it would probably be better to just add both in the beginning.
Fry the meat, you're wanting to get a golden brown crust on the down side and then turn. This is when I started preheating the oven to 350...to keep the meat warm while I prepared the potatoes and gravy.
Once the meat is browned on both side, put in baking dish and pop it in the oven. Don't discard the drippings in the skillet...they will be come the gravy that takes this meal to the top!
Open a can of mushrooms, drain, finely dice and toss in skillet with drippings and another couple of tablespoons of butter. After butter is melted, add a couple tablespoons of flour to make a rue. Once you have a rue, add milk - about a 1/4 cup at a time. Stir milk into rue...if still too thick add more milk.
While working on the gravy, I heated water for the mashed potatoes. I very rarely make mashed potatoes that aren't instant...so to add just a touch of homemade-ness, I add butter to the heated water before stirring in the potatoes, add milk while stirring everything together and then before serving, add a couple of teaspoons of sour cream to make them rich and creamy. For these mashed potatoes, I also added some garlic salt to carry over a little flavor from the meat.
I probably should have made another side, but oh well!
It was even better than it looks...try it!
Happy cooking!
That looks SO yummy!! Reminds me so much of meals my grandma used to make, although she always made beef or pork tenderloins. I'm sure the venison was delicious!
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