I saw a recipe on the outdoor channel (Larry Czonka's show I think), where he made a baked bean dish with reindeer. I decided to make one myself using the following.

-about two pounds ground venison
-one medium sized onion (sweet vidalia) chopped
-one medium sized yellow pepper chopped
-a fair amount of mini portabello mushrooms chopped
-half cup of brown sugar
-half cup of BBQ suace (I used KC Mast)
-two large cans of Bush's Veg Baked Beans
-one can of black beans...drained
-three slices of smoked applewood bacon

I cooked the onions/peppers/mush in olive oil until tender. About half way through cooking the veg, I added the venison and cooked them together. I was thinking about draining the mixture after the meat was done; however, there was no real fat to speak of so I didn't.

I then added the remaining ingredients except the bacon. Once I acheived a good "simmer" at low heat, I added the bacon pieces whole for flavor only. I let it simmer for about 45 minutes and removed the bacon......by using the vegitarian baked beans and removing the bacon, I believe I achieved a dish that was sort of healthy!

The bean/vension mix turned out very tasty; my wife loved it. A couple of folked commented it was a bit too sweet.

Next time, I would consider using a less sweet BBQ sauce like Kraft original, something with more of a bite.........or maybe no BBQ and use a healthy shot of Frank's instead.

Either way, adjusting this recipe to taste is/could be a real winner. I added a little heat at the table and I loved em'.

I may add some freah garlic next time as well.

Thanks for the recipe, I have plenty of ground venison that needs to be cooked.