Pretty good day, start to finish.

I went hunting Saturday morning (surprise) and killed a coyote and a doe.

I don't think even Wile E. Coyote could get over what was ailing this one.


Here's the doe. This bitch was HUGE. By far the biggest doe I've killed in years. Plenty of meat on this ol' gal.


We had a cookout last night and grilled the tenderloins and backstraps. Everyone liked them better than the hamburgers and buffalo wings. Even the people that "don't like deer meat" liked the way I prepared it. It's hard to believe tell you're eating venison when it's that good.

Wanna know the secret recipe? I'll tell you but don't tell anyone else. Deal?

I trim ALL the fat from the backstraps and loins. The fat is largely responsible for the "gamey" taste that most people associate with venison. I cut the backstraps into medallions about 1" thick. I just cut the two tenderloins in half to make four pieces of meat. I then soak them in Moore's Original Marinade for at least 2-3 hours. I usually just put the meat in a Ziploc bag and add enough of the Moore's to cover it. I like to squeeze as much air out of the bag as I can before sealing it. Place the bag(s) in a large bowl and keep it refrigerated. I knead the bags about every 30 minutes or so to make sure that all the pieces are evenly marinated.
Then I peel 6-8 cloves of fresh garlic and chop them pretty finely. Depending on the size of the cloves, you should wind up with about a tablespoon of fresh garlic. Mix the garlic with 2 sticks of softened butter (not margarine). Make sure the garlic is incorporated evenly throughout the butter and then put it in the refrigerator until the meat is ready. This lets the garlic "marry" with the butter for a really good flavor. (I guess you could use store-bought garlic butter but don't blame me if yours doesn't turn out as good as mine)

Once the meat is marinated to your liking, take it out of the marinade and let it drain. Take a sharp knife and make a cut along the edge of each medallion, almost all the way through and about 1/3 of the way around. You're wanting to create a pocket in the middle of the meat. Coarsely chop an onion. I usually cut it into pieces that are 1/2" or so. Chop 8-10 fresh jalapeno peppers to about the same size as your onion pieces. I remove the seeds from mine because I don't like a lot of "heat" with the flavor but I do enjoy the taste. If you want it hotter, leave the seeds in.

Place a small dollop (I use about a quarter-sized one) of the garlic butter in the pocket of each medallion. Put one or 2 pieces each of onion and pepper in next. Wrap each medallion with a slice of thick-sliced bacon and peg the end with a toothpick or bamboo skewer. Grill over medium heat to the desired doneness. I usually cook mine for about 15-20 minutes, turning them only once.

That's all there is to it.

Serve them with mashed potatoes or wild rice. Mmmm. Mmmm. Good.


If you decide to try this, drop me an email and let me know how it turned out.