Neck and backstrap connection cuts

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I’m looking for good recipes for this section of meat. It has quite a bit of connective tissue that normally end up as scraps. Lately, I have been using shank recipes with some success. The meatier portions of it tend to get dried/chalky while the tendon portions are more buttery mouth watering good. I would imagine most guys just throw it in the grind pile.

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I usually leave it whole and cook it as a roast. It makes fantastic BBQ.
 
Brown it up good, braise for about four hours, and make enchiladas or tacos out of it.
I’ve been wondering what to do with the antelope neck roast I defrosted. Enchiladas seem like the correct answer.
 
Barbacoa or carne guisada in a crock pot. Throw in a little pork or beef back fat.
 
Low and Slow. Any time you have connective tissue that is pretty much the answer. The recipe itself is pretty irrelevant, but if you are looking for a few ideas try:

Pho. This is an uncommonly bright and light Vietnamese stew.
Tamales. Because you can make a ton at once and freeze them for individual meals (though I rarely get to the freezing part).
Paella. For this I would do a light "grind" on the pieces by just chopping things really fine with a knife. The long simmering process will break down the connective tissues and add a silkiness to the rice that will please anyone at the table.

I also agree with everyone who said barbacoa. I have yet to barbacoa any meat and not have it turn out well.

Last, if you are gonna grind it, consider making sausage instead of burger. Merguez is pretty great for lean meat and is a good way to introduce someone to game meat in a way that will be memorable. The flavor of that particular sausage is unique, but very approachable.
 
Low and Slow. Any time you have connective tissue that is pretty much the answer. The recipe itself is pretty irrelevant, but if you are looking for a few ideas try:

Pho. This is an uncommonly bright and light Vietnamese stew.
Tamales. Because you can make a ton at once and freeze them for individual meals (though I rarely get to the freezing part).
Paella. For this I would do a light "grind" on the pieces by just chopping things really fine with a knife. The long simmering process will break down the connective tissues and add a silkiness to the rice that will please anyone at the table.

I also agree with everyone who said barbacoa. I have yet to barbacoa any meat and not have it turn out well.

Last, if you are gonna grind it, consider making sausage instead of burger. Merguez is pretty great for lean meat and is a good way to introduce someone to game meat in a way that will be memorable. The flavor of that particular sausage is unique, but very approachable.

My wife just made Pho as "make soup" is generally the response to the baby hurricane we just had. It wasn't with game meat, but I wanted to chime in because she's awesome and it was so good. The traditional recipes take a long time, but the instant pot can be used to make a quick(er) version that is equally as good.
 
My wife just made Pho as "make soup" is generally the response to the baby hurricane we just had. It wasn't with game meat, but I wanted to chime in because she's awesome and it was so good. The traditional recipes take a long time, but the instant pot can be used to make a quick(er) version that is equally as good.

I am not a big fan of the insta pot as I rarely see it used in what I feel is an appropriate way. Not saying you are some sort of unclean monster for using it (your time constraints are what they are and you have to work within them). It just never truck me as being worth the counter/storage space. If you do use an insta pot, please don't skip the browning process or the deglazing process, if you do you are missing out on a TON of flavor complexity. It takes a few minutes and it makes a world of difference.
 
I make the upper shoulder and neck into roasts, and braise them low and slow for all sorts of stew type recipes, or cook in the instapot, or on the smoker, or... Neck roasts are like shanks, they turn into butter when cooked properly and are IMO some of the best pieces of meat off an animal. My grind pile gets smaller and smaller every year, but burger is so versatile its hard to give it all up.
 
Cook it in a gravy. Season meat and set to the side. Make a dark roux, add meat brown for 5 minutes, add veggies, brown for 5 minutes, add water or stock and a herbs of choice. Cook medium/low for about 2 hours or until fork tender.
 

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