Butterflied Venison Roast
When it comes time to process a deer that David has harvested, we are constantly trying to figure out what cuts we want/need against what we can do in the time that we have available. Inevitably, there don't ever seem to be enough hours in the day as the red deer that we have here in Donegal are big beasts! and don't even get me started on the tidy up afterwards...... Sometimes we find it easier to split the animal up in to large roasts that can be broken down further at a later date. Roasts can be turned in to dice or mince for sausages quite easily and can still be used as a roast, where as mince can't be turned back in to a roast. I used to think that this was laziness on our part (partially it is, but it gives us some headspace to make the decision when we aren't feeling so frazzled).
We love having backstrap steaks ( these are the equivelant to sirloin) and they are usually the first thing that we run out of.... Of late we have started butterflying out the round roasts (this rugby ball shaped muscle comes from the hind leg) and marinating them before they go in the freezer so that they are good to go. My absolute favourite way to cook this is on a scorchingly hot castiron skillet over a campfire, but you can absolutely cook it on the stove top too.. By butterflying out the roast it increases the surface area and reduces the cooking time. Once the meat is cooked and rested, slice thinly across the grain, serve with some sourdough flat breads, sunshine salsa and enjoy!
1 Venison round roast
1/4 cup of lemon thyme leaves stripped from the stalks
3 large sprigs of rosmary with the leaves stripped
2 Tbsp pink peppercorns
2 Tbsp sea salt flakes
A generous measure of olive oil
Lard
Using a very sharp knife make a serious of cuts to unfold and open out the round roast so that it can lay out flat and is for the most part an even thickness.
Grind up the sea salt flakes and pink peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. I've specified sea salt flakes as I find them to be gentler in flavour and I know that there has been nothing added to it.
Finely chop the lemon thyme and rosemary and add them to the sea salt and pink peppercorns and grind them down a little to help release those beautifully fragrant essential oils that they contain.
Pour in enough Olive oil to create a losose mixture.
Put the meat either in a container or food bag and pour over the marinade and massage it in, you want to make sure that every part of the meat gets covered. At this stage you can vaccum seal the meat and freeze it for use at a later date or put the meat in the fridge to marinade for at least 2 hours, overnight is preferable.
Allow the meat to come to room temperature.
Now you can either get your campfire going and let the logs burn down enough to put your skillet on or using a cast iron griddle/skillet get it smoking hot on the stove top/camfire. Once the skillet is hot enough make sure that there is enough fat in the pan that the meat will not stick. I like to use lard that we render down as it has a really high smoking point, so is perfect for searing meat. Put the meat in the skillet and really let it seal well, you want it to get that brown bark on the underside, you will see the meat turning brown as it cooks once it gets to halfway up turn the meat over so that it can sear and get that same bark on the other side. Each piece of meat is differnet so I'm not going to give you timeings, you will need to keep prodding the meat witht the tongs until it is nearly cooked to your liking. I like my meat quite rare verging on blue so it still feels quite soft and gives to any preassure applied quite easily. Take the meat off the heat and wrap it in tinfoil and allow it to rest by the campfire or somewhere warm for 5-10 minutes, this will let the meat relax. In the mean time you can roll out your flatbreads and quickly cook them wrapping in a tea towel to keep them warm.
Once the meat has rested place on a large chopping board and slice across the grain so that you have long thin slivers of meat, Lay a few slices on top of the flat bread so that the bread can soak up all of the meat juices and serve with salads of your choice, I love to pair with my sunshine salsa.
