Raspberry Deer Loin

Yes, you read that correctly - Raspberry Deer Loin.

In the July-August 2020 edition of Bugle magazine published by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there is a recipe for "Elk Loin with Blackberry Sauce."  Originally published by Kristy Crabtree.

I am out of elk loin, so I did the next best thing and substituted deer loin.  No fresh blackberries?  No worries - we have plenty of fresh raspberries on the farm.  Another good substitute.  Besides, grandkids Will and Hadley helped Grandma and me pick them (although I think more ended up on the ground than in our bucket from their "help."  Not that it matters one bit.  Making memories!).

So tonight I prepared the dish, as modified, and shared it with Dad, Kathy, Alex, Nick & Shelby.

Was it good?  You bet.  However, I do not think the work it takes outweighs just having grilled deer loin.  Of course I make a killer grilled deer loin - so that's part of it.

Ok, here goes:  the modified recipe I took from Kristy Crabtree...

Ingredients
  • 1.5 - 2# deer loin
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries (washed)
  • 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp ground rosemary
  • 2 tbsp salted butter

I soaked the deer loin in Coca-Cola for 2 full days.  This takes out any of the "gamey-ness," pre-cooks the meat (due to the acid), and sweetens it as well (due to the corn syrup).  I put the loins on a hot grill.  I added seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and Teriyaki sauce as it cooked to a medium-rare temp.

For the sauce, I heated the raspberries over medium heat until they released their juice ( < 5 min).  I added the vinegar, honey, wine, and rosemary and let it continue to cook until reduced.  I reduced it until it stuck to the back of a metal spoon - approx. 15 mins.  I strained the sauce through a clean cotton dish towel (as we do not have a strainer).  I returned the sauce to the pan and added the butter until melted.  This I served over the deer loin, accompanied by a few fresh raspberries.

I made the mistake of tasting the sauce before it was reduced.  It was bitter due to the vinegar.  However, after cooking to reduction, it became sweet and flavorful.  I would say that I had more meat than sauce and would increase this sauce recipe by 1/3rd more next time.

Did any of it go to waste?  Oh, heavens no!  But I am not sure I will reproduce this due to the effort.  The juice is just not worth the squeeze to me.  Now those who did not have any time in the preparation may have a different view.  I will leave that up to them.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cleaning Winchester SX3 / SX4 Shotguns

Image
The Winchester SX4 is my Go To shotgun for everything - clays, doves, ducks, geese, pheasants, whatever.  It is an awesome firearm.  The drawback?  There are multiple moving parts and a few of them like to collect carbon.  And this carbon sticks as if it were put on those parts with super glue! Specifically, the magazine tube and the gas piston are the main carbon collectors.  Those parts come out more black than silver & gold. The inner components of an SX3 / SX4 with highlights where carbon will form So what is my trick for cleaning those bits?  I drop the gas piston into my Hornady sonic cleaner.  Inside the cleaner I put in about a cup of Hornady's One Shot Sonic Clean Solution for gun parts, add some DI water, a couple squirts of Dawn liquid dish soap, and then top it off with a dash or two of the citrus version of Dr. Bronner's pure castile liquid soap.  I have found that the citrus Dr. Bronner's is awesome at removing grease and oil....
Read more

Winchester SX4 Trigger Assembly Update

Image
First, you need to read the post immediately before this one to understand why I had to take my Winchester SX4 shotgun apart - all the way apart - specifically the trigger assembly. Second, my bad.  I had neglected to clean the gun after returning from last October's pheasant trip.  I had about one bale of grass seed inside that gun, which in the end, may have kept the #8 pellet from getting out on its own.  Shame. Finally, I did not give up.  I watched four different YouTube videos on how to disassemble and reassemble the trigger group.  Sadly, no one did the SX4, only the previous version, the SX3.  Close enough.  Why did it take 4 videos?  Because no one explained HOW the damn sear goes back in.  Everyone either ASSUMED we all know how OR in two cases, the reassembly process was out of the camera frame.  Aggravating! The key, and this is more for me to remember, was on the fourth video, the author said, "The sear kinda slides down int...
Read more

Determine Sex of Deer from Tracks

Image
It IS possible to determine from a set of tracks whether the deer you are tracking is a doe (female) or a buck (male).  And, it's actually pretty simple if you know a few facts about deer. First, you have to know what a deer track looks like.  Deer leave a track that looks like the outline of a heart. Next, you have to know the direction of travel.  Deer are moving toward the "pointy" end of the heart.  So in the above example, the deer is traveling toward the top of this post, or up. Here is an actual photo of deer tracks in the wild so you can get a better idea.  Again, this deer is traveling up, or towards the top of this page.  (It is also clear that this deer was STANDING, not walking - well clear enough to me.  Read on to find out why I know that). Sometimes if the ground is soft or if the deer is traveling really fast (jumping), the track left will show the deer's dew claws at the rear of the direction traveling, like so: The ...
Read more