One-Skillet Venison and Fingerling Potatoes
Backstrap seared in butter, then potatoes and shallots finished in the same pan over a fire.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 44
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison backstrap or tenderloin | 2 lb | kept cold in the cooler, patted dry before it hits the pan |
|---|---|---|
| Fingerling potatoes | 2 lb | halved lengthwise; small red or Yukon Gold work the same way |
| Shallots or pearl onions | 8 oz | peeled, shallots halved |
| Butter | 1 stick | cut into four pieces so you can add it in stages |
| Garlic | 4-5 cloves | peeled and halved |
| Rosemary and thyme | 1 sprig rosemary, 3-4 sprigs thyme | |
| White wine | 1 cup | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals, or set a grill grate over a steady bed. You want even medium-high heat, not flame.
- Melt a quarter of the butter in a cast iron skillet. Salt and pepper the backstrap heavily on all sides.
- When the butter goes golden and stops foaming, lay the backstrap in. Sear it hard on every side, about 3 minutes a side, then pull it onto a plate and tent it with foil.
- Add another quarter of the butter, then the potatoes cut side down, the shallots, and the garlic. Leave them alone for 5 minutes so the cut faces brown.
- Pour in the wine and scrape the pan bottom. Add the herb sprigs, cover, and let it go 15 to 20 minutes until a knife slides into a potato with no resistance.
- Slide the backstrap back in on top of the potatoes, drop in the last of the butter, and cover for 5 minutes to bring the meat up to medium rare.
- Rest the meat 5 minutes off the heat before slicing across the grain. Spoon the pan butter over everything.
This is a car camp dinner, not a pack meal. It needs a cooler, a cast iron skillet, and about forty minutes of attention, and it repays all three. The order matters more than the technique: sear the venison first while the pan is at its hottest, then let the potatoes cook in the fond and butter the meat left behind.
Venison is lean enough that it goes from rare to leather in about ninety seconds of inattention. That is why it comes out of the pan early and goes back in only at the end, on top of the potatoes rather than against the iron. The wine is doing two jobs — it lifts the browned bits off the pan and it steams the potatoes under the lid so you are not fighting scorch.
Packing
Meat stays in the cooler bottom in a sealed bag, potatoes and shallots in a mesh sack out of the sun. Butter, garlic, and herbs ride in one small container. Decant the wine into a plastic bottle; glass in a camp box is a bad plan.
Variations
- Swap the wine for a cup of beef broth or a light beer if you would rather not carry it.
- Beef sirloin or pork tenderloin cooks on the same timeline.
- No cooler? Use a shelf-stable summer sausage cut in coins and skip the sear step entirely.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/one-skillet-venison-with-roasted-fingerling-potatoes