I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

The other week a friend of mine asked me, in a rather off-hand way, if I wanted a box of venison. I asked him if it was some sort of a trick question. It wasn't. Apparently, there are those who after having successfully bagged a deer and gone to the trouble of taking it to the butcher to be broken down, never pick it up. Incomprehensible.

However, one man's loss is another man's dinner for a good long time. The box arrived with a wide selection of cuts; sadly there was no offal, but one shouldn't look a gift deer in the mouth. The chops looked remarkably delicious and were scheduled for early use.

Venison chops

First, the chops should be marinated overnight. Make the marinade by mixing together:

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/3 bottle of red wine
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• pepper

Remove the chops from the marinade and strain the liquid into a saucepan. Discard the solids. Put the saucepan under medium-high or high heat and begin reducing it to make a sauce.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over a high flame, and then cook the chops, two or three minutes per side should be adequate. Serve with the sauce on the side. Add a nice red wine and green salad and the evening is complete.