For my 40th birthday I became allergic to poultry. We did ham for several years, then just happened to get a deer right before Thanksgiving when my sister was coming from out of town. She makes the best fancy deer back straps I've ever had. It's a treat for her also as her husband doesn't hunt. We've served deer backstraps along side beef tenderloin and ended up with lots of left over beef tenderloin and no deer leftovers. You can skip over #1 (taters) but they go well with them. Had her send me the directions in an email. We grill the backstrap slices to med-rare to medium and serve with the fancy sauce on the side along with the taters for Thanksgiving. There's a 9pt and a 10pt hanging in the barn, so it looks like we'll be having it again this year.
1. Potatoes:
Cubed russets
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, rosemary
Put oil, then potatoes, salt, pepper and rosemary in pan. High heat. Add 2-3T water and stir. Water will flash cook the potatoes and will pull out the starch to coat the cubes and aid browning.
Once water is evaporated, potatoes should be slightly cooked.
Continue cooking on Med-High to High heat to brown potatoes. Don't over stir or potatoes might break up--use spatula to flip or flip the pan.
2. Venison:
Key to all venison is to clean all the non-muscle tissue away and minimize remaining blood.
Carefully trim all the fat and connective tissue.
Rinse the blood out of the meat by rinsing and squeezing (like a sponge) under cool running water. Meat should lose some of it's color.
Coat meat with olive oil. Season with beef bouillon (or salt), fresh garlic and pepper.
Grill, roast or pan cook as desired.
3. Sauce and accompaniment options:
Cherry Port/Wine Sauce:
1/2 Red onion or 2 shallots chopped fine
1T Butter
1c Dried red cherries
2c Red wine or Ruby port
1T Dijon mustard
Cornstarch
2T Butter
Beef bouillon, pepper to taste
Saute the onion/shallots in 1T butter until soft
Add Cherries and wine/port
Simmer until cherries are plump and soft, liquid should reduce a bit
Add mustard
If using wine (instead of port), may need to add some sugar or honey to adjust sweetness
Thicken as desired with cornstarch--should be fairly thick
Whisk in extra butter and season as desired
Balsamic Wine Reduction
1 bottle dry red wine (not expensive--cabernet would work well)
1/4c balsamic vinegar
Cornstarch
2T Butter
Beef bouillon, pepper to taste
Boil wine until reduced to about 1 cup
Add balsamic and cornstarch to thicken as desired--should be fairly runny
Whisk in butter and season to taste
Wild mushroom mixture
Mixed wild mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, button, etc.) sliced
Butter, salt, pepper, rosemary
Saute mushrooms in butter until lightly browned
Add seasonings to taste