Day 133

Venison Backstrap: Some of my readers may remember my entries awhile back about some venison products that my dad brought me from Texas. The sausages and jerky he brought me were really tasty, and a lot more flavorful and lean than a lot of other meats I'm used to. My dad's no Ted Nugent, but he has some friends that hunt, and all of the venison I've tasted came from animals hunted by them. For the Christmas holidays, he brought me something from the venison family that I'd never had before: "backstrap." He told me that it was basically the loin from the animal, and he'd marinated it in a peppercorn-style mixture before cooking in the oven.

The "backstrap" was originally about a foot long before cooking (the pic below was made after a good bit of it had been eaten). I cut off a few slices of it tonight to try, and it surprised me upon first taste. The texture was extremely close to beef loin, but a tiny bit tougher. I suspect it may have been cooked a bit too long (sorry, Dad), but it was still fairly tender. The flavor was fairly close to beef loin as well, but definitely a bit gamier. The peppercorn marinade brought a little bit of bite, but most of the flavor came from the meat itself. Pretty good.

It's always interesting to me to see how similar cuts of meat from different animals compare in flavor. If you like beef products and are curious at all about wild game, I recommend venison for a trial run.