I need a backstrap recipe

[suttree]

I got a nice 9 point this weekend and have a good 4-5 lbs of backstrap. He was a 5-6 year-old, and I'm not expecting it to be exceptionally tender or anything.

I'd like do something for the day after Thanksgiving.

Thanks in advance. I can smoke it, fry it whatever.

 

[hornian]

My favorite way to eat and prepare backstrap has always been to do a roast.

No recipe really, the only "secret" is that my mom always used one or two of those Lipton Dry Soup mixes in the French Onion flavor as her seasoning, and I've tried it myself and it works well, so no need to mess with a good thing.

Put that in a covered roasting pan along with a cup or two of water or cooking wine or beer, used all three, the only real difference is with wine but even then its not too much of a change. Cook it in the oven for at 350 for about 3 hours.

For the last 90 minutes, add some cut up onions, carrots, potatoes, etc. in the roasting pan.

Easy to cook, turns out good everytime. There are fancier ways to prepare it, but this is good comfort food for a Sunday dinner when it gets a little colder.

 

[hornian]

Oh, also, use the drippings/juice from the roasting pan to make gravy. For the roast. Just a simple brown gravy, add some more water and flour or cornstarch to thicken it up, and pepper to taste.

 

[40 ACRZ]

Got two options for you...

1. Smoked Jalepeno Cornbread Stuffed Backstrap...

Ingredients:

1 Venison backstrap cut into halves
1 Pan of homemade cornbread
6 Slices peppered bacon
1 Large fresh minced jalepeno
2 Large cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
Toothpicks

Cut a pouch lengthwise into each backstrap half. Crumble several pieces of cornbread and mix with minced jalepenos and minced garlic. Stuff cornbread into pouches. Wrap enough bacon around the backstrap to cover the entire half and to help "seal" the pouch to prevent cornbread from falling out and afix with toothpicks.

Smoke over indirect heat (I use pecan generally or mesquite occasionally) until done. (I seem to recall it only taking about an hour-and-a-half but it's been a while since I did this.) Be certain not to overcook as the lean vension will be VERY dry if so.

2. Chargrilled Venison steaks

Ingredients:

1 Venison backstrap (room temperature)
4-6 slices of bacon
Montreal Spicy Steak seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Toothpicks

Prepare a hot charcoal grill.

Cut backstrap into two or three peices (depending on the size of the backstrap and how hungry you and your guests are). Season generously with Montreal Spicy Steak Seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Wrap each "steak" with one (or two if necessary) peices of bacon and secure with toothpicks.

Put on grill and cook to medium rare.

 

[TexasHooch]

Salt. Pepper. fire

 

[LosIllini]

Just did some in my smoker. Used a dry rub of salt, pepper, a little cayenne, and added some crushed garlic and a little olive oil. Wrapped in cheap bacon - w/ toothpicks holding in place. Smoked at 225- until done. Tasty.

 

[suttree]

smoking it has merit. how long for each pound? I am assuming it is basically like smoking pork tenderloins (braise it real quick over the fire box, then smoke it).

I was thinking about cutting it into 1/2 inch fliets, hammering it down pretty thin, and then chicken frying it. I'm sure that would be tasty, although not exactly a way to showcase the flavor.

 

[C-Man]

I'd think roasting backstrap would be a waste. Just cut them into 1-inch thick "steaks" and wrap them in bacon, season and cook them like filets. You might want to soak them in milk, which IIRC helps cut out some of the gamey-ness. Or maybe you're supposed to take out what you're going to cook and let it sit in the 'frig for a couple of days. I forget.

 

[hornian]

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[CaptainEd]

there was a recipe that looked great in either this month's or last month's texas fish & game. i'll see if i can find it and post it.

 

[NickDanger]

Roasted venison backstrap defies all cooking logic. It's the leanest piece of meat on an extremely lean animal. You might get away with braising it. If you have to wrap something in cheap bacon, you might as well wrap possum testicles. I'm sure they would taste just like you would expect and be all gone at the end of the bbq/tailgate. Chicken frying works just fine also. If you want to try to turn a sow's ear into silk, try this:

 BACKSTRAP

Venison Backstrap
12 oz. Mushrooms, sliced
1 stick Butter
1/2 cup dry Vermouth
3 or 4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 oz. Brandy or Cognac
1 medium Onion, chopped fine
2 oz. Marsala wine
1 cup Chicken stock
1 tsp. Tarragon
1 tsp. Basil
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks, beaten well
Salt and Pepper

Slice backstrap into medallions while still partially frozen.
Let thaw in milk for several hours. Brown meat in 1/2 the Butter in pot large enough to accommodate all the meat later. Remove meat and add garlic and onion, sauteing until soft. Add Brandy or Cognac and light until it burns itself out. Add Stock, Vermouth, Basil, Tarragon and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and return meat to dish. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

While meat is cooking, saute mushrooms in the rest of the
Butter and Marsala for 10 minutes. Add Egg yolks and cream to mushrooms and remove from heat after a minute or two.

After meat is done, remove from pot and add mushroom mixture to cooking liquid. Heat for several minutes, without boiling, and then top cooked meat with the sauce and serve.

I've taken to substituting sage for some of the other aromatics, but you really can do whatever you please.

I'm sure I'll get villified by the redneck food police, but whitetail just isn't normally "good eats" in MY house. I emphasize MY because it is a personal choice. I don't begrudge anyone else THEIR personal choices. That's why I don't kill them any more. If I have to kill some, I'll happily donate them to anyone who loves venison.

 

[CaptainEd]

i have not tried this, but it sounds great to me. from this month's texas fish & game.

 

[Brisketexan]

I like venison pretty much the following ways:

1 -- tenderloin cut into medallions, chickenfried, and served hot on fresh, homemade biscuits. When I was in college on a hunting trip in Miss. at a fancy deer camp, I once ate about 20 of these for breakfast, before heading to the blind. I damn near crapped myself up there, but I would have done so a happy man.

2 -- Slice the tenderloin into 3/4 inch steaks. Coat with olive oil, some season salt/Tony Chachere's, and grill (preferably over mesquite) until NO MORE THAN MEDIUM RARE. I also do this with the breasts of puddle ducks (no bottom feeders), and it's very good.

3 -- do the medallions in some variation of a cream sauce, as in Nick's post above.

4 -- larger cuts are diced into stew meat, and I make a venison carne guisada that will make you slap your momma.

5 -- smaller cuts are used for chili.

6 -- scraps are for venison pan sausage.

7 -- from the hindquarter, sometimes slice some big slices very thin, coat with a little lemon, salt, and pepper, and make venison jerky.

After trying a lot of different things (roasts, other "steak" type preparations, etc.), these are the ones I come back to.

 

[LosIllini]

Had the smoker going with ribs, so I threw some backstrap on- using pecan and a bit of cherry wood.

Were good, but I probably would take them off a little bit quicker next time. I believe medium rare is ~135F, but didn't have a digital thermometer, so these went a little bit long. Not as juicy as I would have liked, though there were no complaints.

 

[Cherchez LaGhost]

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[suttree]

brisket, do you hammer out the medallions to tenderize them, or just cut them pretty thin in the first place?

Nick, that recipe sounds good, I might do 1/2 of each and see what I prefer. I don't really love backstrap all that much either, but I couldn't pass on that buck at that distance.

 

[Brisketexan]

I don't tenderize them. When I chicken fry them, I cut them a bit less than 1/4 inch thick. I guess it wouldn't hurt to give them a few whacks with the mallet. When, I grill them, I cut them thicker, and don't do anything to them other than seasoning and grilling.

 

[LosIllini]

Brisket- anything special you do to tame some of the gaminess before you cook?

I soaked these in a cooler of ice after cleaning- letting the melted ice/ water run out- but wonder if there's something better to try?

 

[Brisketexan]

What some call gaminess, I call taste. So, no, I don't do anything like that. I hear that the old soaking in mild trick works, but I don't do it. I don't think venison is particularly gamey, especially when compared with many ducks.

I like grass-fed beef, too. It has more taste. Different strokes for different folks, I know.

 

[NickDanger]

In case he doesn't check back in, BT meant milk. Some advocate buttermilk.

 

[suttree]

I think most people are turned off by the texture of venison more than the taste.

I'm going to try the buttermilk soaking, throw an egg in their, cover it with seasoned flour, and pan fry it in some vegetable oil. I'm thinking serving it up with yeast rolls, mashed potatoes, and sweet buttered corn. It will be a lovely, yellow meal.

 

[hornian]

I am going to roast a backstrap, take pictures, and invite several posters on here to come try it and then come back here and tell all of you doubters that in spite of it being lean, in spite of it being gamey, in spite of anything else you can come up with, it is a perfectly acceptable way to cook and enjoy a backstrap.

Just need to get a backstrap first, I grilled my last one at the Nebraska tailgate.

 

[suttree]

I ended up butchering it into 2.5 inch fillets and soaking them in buttermilk for about 4 hours. I then wrapped them in bacon, and seasoned them with a good dry rub I make. I grilled them over high heat like you would cook a steak.

The taste was great, the texture was not. It was tough, even at medium-rare. I don't think its really possible to make a 6-7 year-old buck tender unless you beat the **** out of it and fry it.

It didn't taste gamey at all. The problem is there was absolutely no fat anywhere.

 

[suttree]

By the way, I was planning on doing Nick's recipe, but after the game I was so pissed I didn't feel like hitting HEB for the ingredients.

 

[NickDanger]

I forgot to add that I pound the medallions, but you probably knew that. Just in case you ever get ahold of any Axis meat, the texture is very different from whitetail and very nice.

 

[SouthernSooner]

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my mother-in-law cooked a backstrap that was one of the best I've ever had. It was very similar to steak au poivre and on the rare side.

First she had two whole backstrap pieces roughly 8" in length and browned them in a skillet with olive oil, just searing the outside. Next she put them oven on broil for about ten minutes. Once finished, she took them out and sliced them into medallions and served them with a peppercorn/mushroom/cream sauce poured over the top. Outstanding!

Also, my hunting buddies got me hooked on cooking backstrap bites in bacon similar to dove wraps. They marinate the backstrap in Italian dressing with some jalapeno juice from a jar of canned japs. Wrap in bacon with green onion and a jalapeno....in-freakin'-credible.

If you ever have someone who says they do not like venison, serve one of the above and it will change their minds.