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My husband and I both grew up eating wild game. For the most part we had venison (deer) but some elk too. We are still fortunate to be able to enjoy venison and elk and, now that we live in Wyoming, antelope.

The thing with wild game is that it can taste a little ‘gamey’. I remember eating venison growing up that was difficult to eat because of the extremely wild taste to it. I do have to say that most of our Wyoming game isn’t nearly as gamey as I remember. In fact, it’s so mild we rarely made any allowances for using game in recipes.

These Sweet and Sour Meatballs are mild and delicious. I used ground venison but think it would taste equally good with ground elk, antelope or even beef. Delicious served over rice, cauli-rice, spaghetti squash, mashed potatoes, or something similar to absorb the delicious sauce.

Meatballs

1/4 cup milk
2 slices (sourdough) bread broke into very small pieces
1 pound ground venison (or other ground meat)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

Combine milk and bread in a bowl. Allow to set 10-15 minutes for the bread to absorb the milk. Add meat and egg. Mix well. Add in spices. Form into small balls. Brown meatballs on all sides in skillet. Remove from pan and set aside. Note: game tends to be very lean. You will most likely need to add fat to the pan for browning.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4 of an onion finely minced
1 Tablespoon butter or coconut oil
3 cups broth (I used beef)
20 oz can pineapple chunks– use 1/2 of the pineapple and all the juice
1 orange- peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground clove
1 Tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in a little water

Cook onion in butter or oil over low heat until just soft about 5-7 minutes. Add broth and pineapple juice allow to cook down about 5 minutes or so until it begins to thicken. Add honey, vinegar, pineapple chunks, spices and orange sections. Allow to cook for a few minutes and then add cornstarch water. Stir well as it thickens. Put the meatballs in the sauce and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and allow to cook about 15 minutes until meatballs are cooked through and very tender.

This is a winner. The nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves add a wonderful flavor to the sauce and compliment the venison very nicely.

Have you cooked with wild game?

This would be delicious with homemade sourdough bread.  Only 15 minutes of hands on time! Get the free and simple recipe here from Traditional Cooking School.

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