Sausage-stuffed venison meatloaf

This recipe is something I had wanted to do for a while, and I had to experiment a bit to get it right. Several of the early attempts were actually pretty good, but just not what I was looking for. This is my base recipe, but I am constantly experimenting. I have a penchant for combining two things that taste good separately and seeing how they taste together.

I have made meatloaf by mixing different ground meats together, but I wanted to make it stuffed, with the sausage isolated in the middle. Last summer, while in upstate New York salmon fishing, I had some meatloaf that mixed chunks of andouille sausage in with ground meat to give it a little kick, and it tasted pretty good. I immediately thought it would be better using lean venison and feral pig.

The thing I was most concerned with was cooking the pork until done without overcooking the venison. Cooking it covered for the first hour helped, as it kept all of the moisture in. My venison burger and sausage are mixed with only enough fat to keep them from sticking and burning in a frying pan, so I knew an overabundance of grease wouldn’t be a problem.

If you try this and see an abundance of grease, cook it on a broiling pan the next time to allow the grease to run off. Using a broiling pan will also work if you would like to try it with domestic ground beef and sausage.

At first look, this appears to be a lot of preparation, but chopping the onions and jalapenos and mixing the ingredients is the only time-consuming part. After that, you have to ignore the good smells coming from your kitchen and resist the urge to think it’s done because hamburger would be done.

I suggest mild or medium sausage, so more folks will try it. For myself and my buddies, I fix this with spicy sausage, which gives it a little edge that is tempered by the venison burger and isn’t enough to be considered spicy unless your sausage blend is smoking hot. This meatloaf is hearty and should fill up even the hungriest outdoorsman. It can also warm you after a cold day outdoors.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound ground venison
• 1 link of stuffed feral pig sausage (length of loaf pan)
• 1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1/2 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 2 tbsp Louisiana Brand Roasted Garlic flavor hot sauce
• 2 eggs (large)
• 3 tbsp blackened seasoning
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tbsp coarse ground pepper
• Non-stick spray, aluminum foil, medium loaf pan

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350. Chop onion but do not mince. Chop jalapeno, but do not mince. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except sausage link. Spray loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Put half the mixture into loaf pan and form a half circle trough in the middle lengthwise. Lay the sausage link into the trough. Cover with remaining venison mixture but do not fill loaf pan above 1/2-inch below the rim. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake 1 hour on middle rack (I bake on a baker’s stone to help distribute heat evenly). Remove aluminum foil and bake additional 10 minutes. Lightly glaze top of meatloaf with barbecue sauce. Bake uncovered another 10 to 15 minutes until top begins to lightly crust. When done, the sausage and meatloaf in the center should register 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. Allow to set 5 to 10 minutes. Serve in slices while still warm.