Pounded venison cutlets dredged and fried like chicken-fried steak — how Texas Black hunting families stretched the deer they harvested into a Sunday-quality meal.
Hunting fed Black families across rural Texas when grocery money was short and game was plentiful. Chicken-frying the lean, sometimes tough venison made it tender and familiar — turning a wild harvest into a meal that ate like the steak families couldn't always afford.
Venison is one of the leanest red meats available — far lower in saturated fat than beef while delivering the same dense heme iron, B12, and zinc. For a community fighting both anemia and heart disease, wild venison is a near-ideal red meat: the iron without the fat load. Wild deer also carry no added hormones or antibiotics.
Pound venison round into thin cutlets, season, dredge in seasoned flour, dip in buttermilk-egg, dredge again, and pan-fry in a thin layer of fat until golden. The buttermilk soak tenderizes and cuts any gaminess. Serve with cream gravy traditionally — or skip the gravy for the rehabilitated version.
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