Nicolas Hurst

Sweet Apple Salad

Bacon Wrapped Venison

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Quick Strawberry Cheesecake

            Sweet Apple Salad

·      1 lb. of Spinach

·      ½ lemon

·      3 Apples

·      ½ cup cranberries (dried).

·      ½ cup almonds (sliced)

·      Coleslaw dressing

Not an actual recipe but it is something that my family throws together every now and then.

So start off by rinsing the Spinach then setting them aside while you dice up the apples. Use the lemon juice on the apples pieces to keep them from oxidizing. Then pour the cranberries and almonds onto the Spinach then the apples on top. Toss in the coleslaw dressing until desired smoothness. Serve when ready. Takes about 20 minutes from start to finish

Bacon Wrapped Venison

·      1 deer tenderloin or desired number of loin steaks

·      Bacon slices. Number depends on desired number of steaks

·      Jack Daniels Smoky Mesquite Marinade

Venison. The perfect meat for a fall dinner theme (aside from turkey). This is pretty easy to follow. First you marinade the meat in the Jack Daniels sauce for at least 8 hours. I recommend doing this overnight or start early in the morning depending on when you want cook the meat. After the 8 hours pull the meat out and wrap the bacon around the venison. It is important to know that you wrap the bacon around the outside edge of the steak, not the whole itself. Then you pin the bacon on with a toothpick. Now you can either bake, grill or pan fry the individual wrapped pieces. Cook evenly until desired texture (we all have different preferences on cooked meat. Cook time is anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 ½ hours.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

·      6 medium potatoes ( or 3 large ones)

·      ¼ cup melted butter

·      ½ tsp. salt

·      1 garlic clove (minced)

Wash potatoes thoroughly (peel if desired) then diced them up into small cubes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl mix together the melted butter, salt and minced garlic. Throw in the potatoes and coat evenly, then lay out onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes or until crisped.

Quick Strawberry Cheesecake

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

4 oz. cool whip

2 cups strawberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Set out cream cheese to soften. Once softened, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and combined. Add vanilla, lemon juice and sour cream and beat until well blended.  Mix in heavy cream or cool whip until fluffy. 

Divide half the strawberries among 5 parfait glasses.  Top with half the cheese mixture and half the almonds.  Repeat layer.  Refrigerate until serving.  Add whipped topping as a garnish if desired.