Back Strap Challenge Venison
Why, you ask? Well... A couple years ago a friend of ours introduced us to Venison (aka deer meat). We canned most of the meat and kept some of the larger pieces for roasts. The tenderloin of the deer made the tenderest steaks. There is a long muscle that runs along both sides of the spine hunters call the back strap. This muscle also makes good steaks.(If it is a young deer they are as tender as the tenderloins.) You want to cook them medium to rare to be tender and get the best flavor.
My friend would marinade the whole back strap for a few days then grill it to med-rare, bake some bread, make some soup or stew to go with it. That would be our food for a Sons of Anarchy marathon weekend. 16 episodes in a day and a half. The "Venison and Violence" weekends were great. What's better than chowing down on a three foot piece of meat, good bread and stew while bombarding ourselves with a season of good, violent TV over night? Not much.
Recently... My inner Cook of Anarchy spoke up. "With some imagination you can DO SO MUCH MORE!" My Shelf Chef self answered "I accept the challenge and I also have a five pound back strap in the freezer waiting to be used." Now is the time to experiment and see how many dishes I can use this one piece of meat in. Here are results, ideas and tips on what I did.
My friend would marinade the whole back strap for a few days then grill it to med-rare, bake some bread, make some soup or stew to go with it. That would be our food for a Sons of Anarchy marathon weekend. 16 episodes in a day and a half. The "Venison and Violence" weekends were great. What's better than chowing down on a three foot piece of meat, good bread and stew while bombarding ourselves with a season of good, violent TV over night? Not much.
Recently... My inner Cook of Anarchy spoke up. "With some imagination you can DO SO MUCH MORE!" My Shelf Chef self answered "I accept the challenge and I also have a five pound back strap in the freezer waiting to be used." Now is the time to experiment and see how many dishes I can use this one piece of meat in. Here are results, ideas and tips on what I did.
What I did and the side dishes list
Fried medallions with crispy crust
Rice and veggies
Peanut sauce
Wrap filling
Salad topping
Steak and eggs
Fried medallions with crispy crust
Rice and veggies
Peanut sauce
Wrap filling
Salad topping
Steak and eggs
TIPS:
- The Whole back strap is two to three and a half feet long and weighs over five pounds ( 80+ ounces of meat). If a serving of meat is three to four ounces that one piece of meat can make over 20 meals. Th meat can go bad in four days after being thawed. Have a weekend with plenty of cooking time. I didn't do this, the meat was thawed on Wed. We went out on Friday and was gone most of Sat. I needed to get all of it cooked by Sunday or risk some of it going bad. IF I wanted to cheat I could season the cut pieces of meat and refreeze to keep them safe... Not gonna do it.
- Strip off as much of the silver skin and fat that you can. The silver skin doesn't get tender and the fat tastes nasty.
- Start at the fat end and cut 1/2 inch medallions, they will be around three ounces each and easier to cook. The other end looks rough, use the meat at that end for chunks and strips for your dishes that don't need to look nice.
- Be sure you have all you need handy for your Ideas. (Example: Pizza is not going to happen if you don't have dough.) Yes, it is a good idea to use leftovers to create other meals.
- TO BE CONTINUED
Idea 1: Crispy fried back strap with Veggie rice and peanut sauce (Peanut sauce inspiration from steven reichlen"s barbecue bible)
For rice and veggies I used : 1 cup brown rice; 2 cups water; 1 10 oz. bag of stir fry frozen veggies (or fresh if in season.)
For peanut sauce I used: 1 can coconut milk; 1 seeded sorrano pepper( could have used more): 3 large cloves of garlic; 1/4 cup braggs amino acids( a soy sause substitute); 3 tablespoons of lime juice; 2 onions iI found in the yard and 3 clipped chive flowers; 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter; extra milk if the sause got too thick.
For the back strap i used: 10.5 oz. of back strap cut into medallions Marenade: 3 tablespoons braggs, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 tablespoon toasted sesimee seed oil. let sit for at least 1 hour. the crust: 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1 teaspoon corn starch, 1 1/2 tablespoon sesemee seeds, 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
For rice and veggies I used : 1 cup brown rice; 2 cups water; 1 10 oz. bag of stir fry frozen veggies (or fresh if in season.)
For peanut sauce I used: 1 can coconut milk; 1 seeded sorrano pepper( could have used more): 3 large cloves of garlic; 1/4 cup braggs amino acids( a soy sause substitute); 3 tablespoons of lime juice; 2 onions iI found in the yard and 3 clipped chive flowers; 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter; extra milk if the sause got too thick.
For the back strap i used: 10.5 oz. of back strap cut into medallions Marenade: 3 tablespoons braggs, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 tablespoon toasted sesimee seed oil. let sit for at least 1 hour. the crust: 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1 teaspoon corn starch, 1 1/2 tablespoon sesemee seeds, 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
Idea 2: Salad topping... Soak strips of back strap in rasberry vineger for at least 10 minutes, sear for 2 minutes, let cool and chop to bite sized pieces. put on salad with rasberry vinegerett and shredded parmisan cheese (I didn't use the cheese and I think ythe salad would have been better if I did.
Breakfast idea one: Steak and eggs
Put mustard and coffee rub on steaks and let sit for 1/2 hour. sear about 2 minutes on each side for rare steak. fry eggs while steak is resting. We used left over rice for our side dish, you want hash browns, go for it.
Put mustard and coffee rub on steaks and let sit for 1/2 hour. sear about 2 minutes on each side for rare steak. fry eggs while steak is resting. We used left over rice for our side dish, you want hash browns, go for it.
Breakfast idea two Omlet . use ugly strips soaked in honey water, smoked paprika, mustard, pepper, braggs, garlic and onion powder. wisk 5 eggs add cheese chunks, chive flowers 4, and steak and cook in pan until done with toast.
Wraps with roasted garbanzo beans and leftover curry and spinnich
Fajita pizza 2 ways ( grilled and from the oven.
As pasta sause
Resterant steak and potatoes could lead to hash.