Venison Backstrap with Poblano Cream Gravy
Camp-grilled backstrap under a skillet gravy built from powdered milk and roasted green chile.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 350 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison backstrap | 2 lb | cut into steaks about 1.5 inches thick |
|---|---|---|
| Bacon | 1 slice per steak | wrapped and toothpicked |
| Ground cumin and coriander | 1 tbsp each, mixed | |
| Chipotle seasoning | 1 tsp | or any coarse chile grind |
| Canned roasted green chiles | two 4 oz cans | stands in for fresh poblanos; drain them |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | |
| Flour | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 3 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Cumin | 1 tsp | for the sauce |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down, or light the grill. You want a hot bed, not flames.
- Rub the steaks with the cumin-coriander mix and the chipotle grind. Wrap each one in bacon and pin it with a toothpick.
- Set a skillet on the grate. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and cook it a minute until it smells like toast.
- Add the dried onion, garlic powder, cumin, and bouillon, then pour in 350 ml of hot water a little at a time, stirring so it does not lump.
- Whisk in the powdered milk and the drained chiles. Let it thicken at a low simmer, then pull it to the edge of the grate.
- Grill the steaks over the coals, four to five minutes a side. Pull them at medium rare; venison is lean and goes to leather fast.
- Rest the meat ten minutes, slice against the grain, and spoon the gravy over.
Backstrap is the leanest cut on the animal, which is why it gets bacon and why it comes off the fire early. The bacon bastes it while it cooks and the ten-minute rest keeps the juice in the meat instead of on the cutting board.
The original sauce runs on heavy cream and fresh-roasted poblanos, neither of which survives a weekend in a cooler. Powdered whole milk whisked into a butter-and-flour roux gets close, and canned roasted green chiles are already peeled and charred, which saves you the broiler you do not have. Cook the flour before the liquid goes in or the gravy tastes like paste.
Packing
Spices, flour, dried onion, powdered milk, and bouillon go in one bag mixed dry except the flour, which stays separate so you can make the roux. Meat and bacon ride in the cooler, frozen solid if the drive is long.
Variations
- Fresh poblanos work if you have coals to char them on. Blister the skins, wrap them in foil ten minutes, then rub the black off.
- No venison, use beef sirloin or elk. Same timing.
- Skip the milk powder and thin the gravy with more broth if you want it lighter.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/grilled-venison-backstrap-with-poblano-cream-sauce