The Nuge Would be Proud

Venison backstrap. Shot and hung on Saturday, butchered by yours truly on Sunday, left to mellow in the fridge for two days, and enjoyed Tuesday evening. Really great stuff.

For the backstrap (loin), it was just some salt, pepper, and a healthy dose of five-spice powder. Then it got seared on both sides in a super hot pan in canola oil with a little butter before resting for a few minutes in a 200 degree oven. It was as rare as it looks, and it was perfect that way. The young white-tailed doe was from Jefferson, OH, where, based on the contents of its stomach, it enjoyed some left behind field corn and soy in addition to its regular diet. She was just super tender and clean tasting.

The accompanying sweet potato fries were fine, but not special. I soaked mandolin cut sweet potatoes (Firefly) in water, dried them, and then dredged them in cornstarch before frying them in lard (I read about the dredging here). Thing was, I didn't really take my time knocking the extra cornstarch from the fries, and some of it didn't really cook off. Not terrible, but there's room for improvement. Sauce is Kewpie blended with garlic and a little oil.

Maybe it was the msg in the mayo, but this was the best steak frites I've had in a while. I'm feeling the venison. And more deer dishes to come, so if anyone has recipe suggestions I'm all ears.