As the deer season approaches, I often find that I have several pounds of ground venison left over from the previous season.  I don't like to shoot a deer while I've still got some of last year's meat in the freezer, so I find that I'm often scrambling to use up what's left in the month before the season opens.  Sometimes in cases like this, the simplest recipes are often the best, which is why I've placed this easy but often overlooked recipe out here.

• 1 pound ground venison
• 1 package of sliced mushrooms
• 1 packet brown gravy mix
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper

Heat a large non-stick skillet.  Press the ground venison into thick patties.  Depending on the amount of fat in the meat, they may not stay together very well.  The trick is to be very gentle with them, making sure not to break them apart.  When the skillet is hot, put the patties in it.  Sprinkle garlic, salt, and pepper on the side facing up.   Let it cook for 10 minutes on the first side.  The more it cooks on one side, the less likely it will fall apart when you flip it later.  Alternately, you can just crumble the meat and cook it in chunks as shown in the picture above.  The end result will taste about the same either way.

Heat the gravy according to the instructions on the packet, using ¼ cup more water than the packet recommends.  When all the water has been added, put the mushrooms in the gravy, stir, and let simmer over medium heat until the mushrooms have fully cooked.  Flip the venison patties, then salt, pepper, and garlic the cooked side.  Let cook for 10 more minutes.  After 10 minutes, the skillet may be messy.  At this point, if I think the venison still needs to cook, I'll often remove it from the skillet, quickly wash the skillet, then return the meat to it. 

Serve with rice, pouring the gravy over both the meat and the rice.