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Herbs and garlic add to the flavor of Vince Splendido’s venison roast.

Vince Splendido, now of the Beaumont area, grew up in Exeter, ‘in a family of cooks,’ and has been hunting since he was a teenager, when he accompanied his Great-uncle Ang into the woods.

FRED ADAMS photos/THE TIMES LEADER

The herb paste on the venison roast is a mix of cilantro, parsley, rosemary, olive oil and garlic.

Vince Splendido serves his herb-encrusted venison roast with herbed potatoes, mushrooms, green beans and a salad.

Vince Splendido of Wyoming County poured a little olive oil into a bowl of fresh, chopped cilantro, parsley and rosemary and “smashed it” with a spoon.
After another shot of olive oil and more vigorous stirring, the herb mixture was ready to coat a venison roast – one of his rewards from the first day of rifle season.
“The cooking extends the fun of the season,” said Splendido, who “grew up in a family of cooks” and whose recipe for herb-encrusted meat won The Times Leader’s Venison Recipe Contest.
Another recipe, this one for venison sweet pepper stir-fry and supplied by William Belles of Glen Lyon, also set the judges’ mouths watering, so we declared him a winner, too, and we’ll also publish his recipe today.
But Belles preferred not to be photographed, so let’s concentrate for now on Splendido’s splendid, herb-encrusted venison, which he roasted one day last week for his wife, Alison, her parents, Paul and Karen Brown, and two other guests.
“I did get a nice buck, a 6-pointer,” said Splendido, who lives near Beaumont, in Northmoreland Township. “It was about 20 to 5 (p.m.) on opening day and he was chasing a doe. He came out of the bushes, with pieces of brush hanging from his antlers.
“I had to stop my heart from racing,” said Splendido, who doesn’t allow asthma to prevent him from participating in activities he enjoys.
Splendido, who works as an assistant vice president at Allied Services in Scranton, has been hunting for decades, ever since his Great-uncle Ang introduced him to the sport when he was a youth. He likes the idea of serving wild game – or, occasionally, a hay-fed steer, raised by people he knows - believing both options are healthier than meat raised on factory farms.
His father-in-law, a fellow hunter, agrees.
“In many cases,” Paul Brown said, “we’re getting too far removed from the source of our food.”
“We don’t waste anything,” Splendido’s mother-in-law, Karen Brown, added. “What we shoot, we eat.”
About 90 minutes before the family gathered, Splendido worked on a double-batch of his herb mixture. Half would be spread on the roast, and half would decorate a dish of boiled potatoes.
“You see how the oil sort of makes it condense,” he said, lifting a spoonful of now-spreadable herbs. “You want it to be sticky, like a paste.”
Splendido scored the roast and inserted five large garlic cloves into the holes. Then he pushed a bit of the herb mix into each opening, and spread a liberal amount over the entire roast.
“If it looks like a Chia pet, you’ve got it right,” he said with a laugh.
“It already smells really great,” he said, inhaling the aroma of herbs.
Splendido set the oven at 425 and roasted the meat at that temperature for 40 minutes. “That sears it, to seal in the juices,” he said. “You could do it in a pan, but I like to let the oven do the work.”
Then he reduced the temperature to 350 for another 45 minutes or so, and decided the meat was finished cooking when its temperature – measured with a meat thermometer – was about 150 degrees.
“My wife kids me that I lie awake at night thinking of recipes and menus,” said Splendido, who served the venison with mushrooms he had roasted for one hour in the pan alongside the meat; potatoes he had quartered, boiled in salted water, and spread with his herbal mix, homegrown green beans and a salad of greens, carrots and cucumbers.
“I want everything to be just right,” he said, pointing to a cabernet sauvignon with a picture of “Three Blind Moose” on the label.
Each February, Splendido prepares an elaborate game dinner for about 10 friends. “I like to serve it to people who said they’d never eat game,” he said.
The folks who partook of Splendido’s venison dinner last week didn’t fit that category. They were all confident the meal would be delicious.
“It’s so good, the way, he makes it,” said Alison Splendido, who sometimes accompanies her husband on hunting expeditions.
More often, Splendido’s father-in-law or grown sons Bryan and Neil have been his hunting buddies.
Being outdoors, alert and watchful for deer or ducks or bear to come along is one of their favorite pastimes.
“It’s a great way to bond,” Splendido said.
In today’s edition we’re publishing Splendido’s recipe for herb-encrusted venison, and William Bellas’ recipe for stir-fry, which the Glen Lyon man wanted to share with our readers, even though he has retired from hunting.
Also, thanks to Laura Anderson of Mountaintop, whose venison chili recipe receives an honorable mention. Her husband, Mark Weibel, is the hunter in the family and, she writes, he always says “He kills ’em. I cook ’em.”
VINCE SPLENDIDO’S HERB-ENCRUSTED VENISON

1 venison roast, 3-4 pounds

5 to 7 whole garlic cloves

1 teaspoon rosemary

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons minced garlic

In a bowl, mix the herbs with enough extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) to form a paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pierce venison roast with a knife in 5 to 7 spots, depending on size of roast. Stuff a whole garlic clove into each cut, along with some of the paste you just made.

Take the remainder of the paste and cover the entire roast. Place meat in roasting pan and into a preheated 425 degree oven. Cook for 45 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees and cook until medium to medium rare (145 to 165 degrees). Let rest before slicing.

WILLIAM BELLES’ SWEET PEPPER VENISON STIR FRY

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons sugar

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 venison tenderloin (about 1 pound) cut into 2-inch strips

1 medium green pepper, julienned

1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

hot cooked rice

In a small bowl combine the cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ground pepper. Stir until smooth. Pour half into a large, resealable plastic bag. Add venison. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

Drain and discard marinade. In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry venison and peppers in oil for 4 to 6 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and peppers are crisp-tender. Stir reserved marinade and add to the pan. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with rice. Yield: 2 servings.

LAURA ANDERSON’S VENISON CHILI

Olive oil

2-3 pounds cubed venison

3 large onions, cut in small pieces

4 cloves garlic, cut in small chunks

5 cans (15.5 ounces each) beans, one each of pinto, small kidney, pink, black and red

2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes

16 ounce package frozen corn

2 to 5 tablespoons chili powder, to taste

Tabasco sauce, to taste salt and pepper

1 pound grated cheddar or Colby Jack cheese

Using a large pot, cook onions in olive oil until they become transparent. Add venison and garlic and cook until meat is browned. Add drained and rinsed beans to the pot. Add tomatoes and liquid from the can. Add enough water to cover beans and meat.

Simmer for 45 minutes, adding water as needed.

Add the package of corn.

Add chili powder, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper.

Add water if needed and simmer 15 to 30 minutes longer.

Inside:

See how to prepare the winning recipe and get more ideas on cooking venison
PAGE 5D

“My wife kids me that I lie awake at night thinking of recipes and menus.”

Vince Splendido

The Times Leader’s Venison Recipe Contest winner

Cooks Get Creative With Winning Venison Recipes