MEAT RECIPE

Venison Tacos

When cooking game meat, use quality ingredients, don’t compromise, or that hard work of getting your game meat will be ruined. Less is more when cooking beautiful meat like venison.

Ingredients

1 venison back strap (approx. 500g)
6 corn tortillas
2 tablespoons wild fire rub
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 fennel thinly sliced
1 tomato diced
1 tablespoon good quality chardonnay vinegar or verjuice
Your favourite hot sauce
Sea salt

*You can sub out the rub for a mix salt with smoked paprika

Equipment:
Fire pit

- Feeds 2 -

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Light your fire about 1 hour before you’re ready to cook and let the coals burn down with a slight flame.

2. Fill a mixing bowl with the meat rub, half the olive oil and the venison back strap. Use your hands to massage the rub into the meat. Cover and let sit at room temp for 30 mins.

3. Place a cast iron pan on a cooking grate (or some sticks), and drizzle some extra extra virgin olive oil on the pan. When your oil starts spitting, that means it’s hot enough to cook on. Add the back strap to your pan and cook for 3 minutes each side rotating 3 times (your back strap should have 4 sides total).

4. If you’re using a thermometer wait until the internal temp is 48c or 128f. Otherwise just eyeball it and if in doubt remove it early. Venison is a tender cut of meat and overcooking it would loose the lovely sweetness that it’s known for.

5. Once you’ve cooked it for about 12 minutes in total (or reached 48c/128f), remove your venison from the heat and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

6. While your meat is resting, prepare your salad by mixing the chopped tomato and sliced fennel with a sprinkling of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar.

7. Use tongs to heat the tortilla over the fire and immediately assemble your taco by placing the fennel and tomato salsa over finely sliced venison and topping it with a bit of hot sauce. Enjoy amigos.