This is what Ted Nugent is obsessed with: The Great Venison Backstrap. What is there to say, really?
I mean venison loin and tenderloin arethe primo cuts of meat on a deer, elk, mooseor other four-footed cervid. They arelean, tender and requires nothing more than fire and salt as seasonings. Cooked medium-rare and seasoned simply is howI cook most of my backstraps, but I will often pair it with a sauce, a number of which are available here.
For the record, backstrap refers to a length of loin on the back of a deer, elk, moose, etc. It’s the ribeye in beef and loin in pork. Tenderloins are the two strips of very tender meat under the loin, behind the ribs. This is filet mignon in beef.
A classic dish, this is my favorite fancy way to serve venison backstrap. It is a century-old recipe updated for the modern kitchen.
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Pan Seared Venison Tenderloin
The tenderloin is the filet mignon of venison. Here’s how to cook it perfectly.
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Venison Tenderloin with Blueberry Sauce
An Icelandic dish updated for the modern kitchen. This blueberry sauce (I used huckleberries) isn’t sweet and gloppy, unlike a lot of versions of this dish.
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Venison Steak with Wild Rice Pilaf
Venison steaks cooked simply with a fun wild rice pilaf. This pilaf is all about teaching you how to freestyle in the kitchen.
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Venison Stroganoff
Wild game comfort food at its best, and I am pretty proud of my rendition of this classic.
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Elk Tenderloin with Ancho Sauce
Simply seared tenderloin with an astonishingly deep and rich ancho chile sauce.
Yep, this is that French version of pepper steak we all know and love. Great with venison backstrap, or, as in the case of this photo, duck or goose breast. It’s easy to make and wonderful.
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Venison Greek Souvlaki
Greek souvlaki is commonly served with lamb, but venison backstrap (or even leg meat) works great, too. It’s a little like Greek tacos, only with pita bread instead of tortillas, and tzatziki instead of salsa.
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Morel Sauce with Venison
When life gives you mushrooms, make this recipe. It is best with fresh or dried morels, but any good mushroom works well here.
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Venison Tartare
Like beef tartare? You will LOVE venison tartare. This version uses a super-fresh egg and Northern European flavors.
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They Called Me Mr. Tibs
Funny name, but this is a super easy – yet exotic – hybrid stir fry and stew you make in minutes, using venison loin or sinew-free leg meat.
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Venison Stir Fry
A basic stir-fry that teaches you a vital Chinese trick to keep lean meats tender called “velveting.”
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Venison and Broccoli
A perfect dish for slices of backstrap, this is just like the Chinese takeout version.
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Chinese Venison with Cumin
Cumin? In Chinese food? You bet. It’s a thing in northern China, and you’ll want to taste this dish, which is mild yet exotic-tasting.
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Kung Pao Venison
The Chinese restaurant classic made with venison instead of chicken. Yep, it’s just as good. Easy to make, too.
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Chimichurri with Venison
Grilled or seared venison backstrap smothered in a garlicky, herby Argentine sauce called chimichurri.
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Classic Jaegerschnitzel
A German dish meaning “hunter’s schnitzel,” this is a cutlet — venison, duck, boar, etc — pounded very thin, barely dusted with flour and served with a mushroom sauce. Chanterelles are traditional, but button mushrooms are fine, too.
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Venison Tenderloin with Roasted Red Peppers
The bright, acidic sweetness of fire-roasted, preserved peppers, buzzed into a sauce, really works well with venison tenderloin or backstrap.
Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of the backstrap to ensure full coverage. The olive oil helps to keep moisture in to prevent the venison from drying out. Grill for 3½ minutes on one side, and then flip for an additional 3 minutes. For maximum flavor and tenderness, cook to medium rare or on the rare side.
Cut from the leg, they're more affordable than the highly prized saddle cuts, but still tender. Cooking medallions is easy – simply sear or grill them to your preferred doneness, then serve with your choice of sides.
Why soak deer backstrap in milk? Freshly harvested venison can often times have a stronger flavor, so if desired, you can soak the backstrap in buttermilk for a couple hours, or overnight, to help remove "gamey" flavor and draw out the blood. The acid in buttermilk also helps to tenderize the meat.
The calcium in milk contains enzymes that will tenderize the meat, and the main protein in milk will neutralize the gamey flavor. It won't be so un-gamey that it tastes like beef, but it's likely enough for those who prefer to avoid the taste.
Buying farm-raised venison like this roasted tenderloin is one option for taming the gaminess of deer meat, but it isn't the only option. Many cooks swear by a method of soaking the meat in saltwater overnight, then in milk to draw out the gamy flavor.
Venison medallions are naturally tender and flavorful, but because they have little fat, you'll want to cook them delicately. No matter the heat source, you'll want to pay close attention because these guys cook fast.
So where do medallions come from, exactly? They're cut from the filet mignon. A filet medallion actually refers to how the butcher cuts the meat. A butcher cuts filets into smaller, thick circles rather than one larger filet to create filet medallions.
In reality, this arm-length cut is the backstrap, not the tenderloin. True tenderloins are found INSIDE the deer's abdominal cavity, and they are delicious. Much smaller than backstraps — only about 10 to 12 inches — tenderloins are located beneath the spine, making them more difficult to reach.
Backstraps are the large muscles that run parallel along both sides of a deer's spine and rest on top of the ribcage, whereas the tenderloins are much smaller, and are located inside the abdominal cavity underneath the backstrap and the spine.
There's really very little fat in venison, so it's a pretty tricky meat to cook quickly. Most wild game cooks recommend medium-rare because if too much moisture is cooked out of the meat, it'll become tough and chewy.
Meat can be saturated with many flavors, and depending on how long you let the cut sit in the marinade, the venison has more opportunity to stay moist. This strategy also allows for the addition of salt. Adding a pre-determined amount of salt to the mixture adds to the taste while avoiding drying out the meat.
Soaking the meat in milk or buttermilk for a couple of hours before cooking helps. Store bought tenderizers can work too, just be careful of the flavors it can add. One thing that specifically helps is not to over cook your venison.
Soaking: The most common soaking liquids are buttermilk, saltwater, white milk, vinegar, lemon juice and lime juice. While some hunters swear by certain soaking methods to take the “gamey” flavor away or bleed the meat after processing, others don't find it all that helpful.
Here are a few methods you can use to soak deer meat before cooking: Saltwater Brine:Mix water with salt to create a brine solution. A typical ratio is about 1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water. Submerge the venison in the saltwater brine and refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight.
Directions: Soak the venison backstrap in 40 percent fat content buttermilk and fresh rosemary for 48 hours in the refrigerator. After the meat is done marinating, rinse off all buttermilk and rosemary and leave the meat out at room temperature for about 45 minutes. (Never cook any red meat that's cold.
Soaking the meat in milk or buttermilk for a couple of hours before cooking helps. Store bought tenderizers can work too, just be careful of the flavors it can add. One thing that specifically helps is not to over cook your venison.
Introduction: My name is Fr. Dewey Fisher, I am a powerful, open, faithful, combative, spotless, faithful, fair person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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