Agave-glazed venison steaks are the best ever

This game recipe is worth hunting in the rain to cook

I once had a hunting buddy whose favorite time to hunt was in the rain.

Thunderstorms would be in the forecast, and he was always the first one at camp ready for the stand draw. If we were a minute or two late, he’d start without us, put a pin on the stand he was going to and he’d leave.

Usually, there’d be a terse note: “Rain.”

Curious sort was he, so I had to ask ….

Why?

“It’s because when I shoot a wet deer, I love to watch the bullet knock the water off its body,” he said with a warped sense of seriousness. “I’ve always liked watching all that foot-power downrange translate into a splash.”

 Seriously?

“Yeah, ain’t nothing like it,” he said, breaking into a big grin. “It’s worth getting wet. It’s worth toting a gun in lightning. It’s worth it man; it’s just worth it.”

After that, I always sort of kept an eye on the guy, choosing stands at the opposite end of camp, regardless of wind direction — especially when it was raining.

One side benefit of being there on those days was that I could get him to fill my doe tags for me. He’d shoot one and the handheld radio (before cell phones) would crackle with a mic-break, the signal he wanted to talk.

“Ooooooh, you should have seen the water fly off that one,” he’d say. “Bob, there’s one for the refrigerator. You need another in case one walks out?”

I was never that sick. Heck, I was never that serious a deer hunter. Unless the bucks are absolutely stupid with the rut, I would stay at the camp on rainy days. Just didn’t want to go that bad.

But, then I developed this wonderful recipe for cooking venison backstrap (loin) steaks that is worth getting wet, getting cold and getting a stand anywhere close to my “mentally off” partner.

Agave Nectar Venison

I call it Agave Nectar Venison, which is just a variation of another recipe I invented called Jezebel Venison that was my mother’s favorite holiday eve dinner. We had it either on the night before Thanksgiving or on Christmas Eve at our Hattiesburg home.

Jezebel Sauce was her favorite condiment, made from a blend of 15-ounce jars of pineapple preserves and apple jelly, 5- or 7-ounces of prepared horseradish, a heaping tablespoon of ground mustard and cracked black pepper to taste. It was made for venison, she said.

I’d prepare the Jezebel a week in advance and let it age in the refrigerator until the holiday. Then I’d rub it on the steaks before grilling to char the flavor into the meat, and then I’d serve it as the sauce on the side.

In the last few years, I switched to Agave Nectar Venison because it is easier to cook and the flavor of the meat is less overwhelmed by the lighter impact of the nectar.

Tips

The key to both recipes is the preparation of the meat, both at the buther’s table and at the grill:

• To cut the loins into steaks, I cut the backstraps (doe preferred) with all white tissue removed lengthwise, and then cut those into 5-inch steaks about an inch thick and wide. Start the long cut down the loin at the wide end and stop cutting into halves when you reach the point at the narrow end where the loin is already the perfect size. You should end up with about a half dozen or so (more if it is from a big buck) steaks from each strap, all about 5 inches long and 1- or 1 ½-inches thick.

• Cook over a very hot charcoal fire using direct heat to start and indirect heat with smoking chips to finish. It is important to not overcook these steaks. Anything beyond medium rare is inedible. If you cannot eat rare or medium-rare venison steaks, then turn your deer into sausage or burger and stop reading this now.

Ingredients

• 1 deer loin, with all white tissue removed, cut into steaks.
• 2 ounces Agave nectar, plus 2 ounces separate
• 1 ounce Moore’s Marinade
• 1 ounce triple sec or Grand Marnier liquor
• Cracked black pepper (to taste)
• Your favorite dry rub (a friend makes mine, and it’s a sweet Cajun blend)

Preparation

Three hours prior to cooking, add the steaks to a half-gallon plastic, sealable bag. Mix 2 ounces of nectar, Moore’s and triple sec, plus the pepper in a bowl and stir to blend before adding to bag. Close bag, move steaks around to coat each, and place in refrigerator. About every half hour, move steaks around.

Remove steaks from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking and let come to room temperature in the bag.

Light grill and prepare a hot charcoal fire on one side.

While coals are heating up, drain the liquid from the steaks and place them on a platter. Take the remaining 2 ounces of nectar and coat steaks. Then rub with dry rub on all sides.

When coals are hot and spread, place steaks on grill and let flames lick the meat. Since there is no fat, the flames will not last. Cook for 1 ½ minutes on first side, and then turn 180 degrees and let cook 1 minute. Cook each steak one minute on each of the other two sides.

Move the steaks to the opposite side of the grill, off the coals. Add some smoking wood (I like pecan chips) to the coals, close the lid and let the steaks cook until a meat thermometer reads 125 to 130 degrees (about 5 minutes). NO MORE.

Allow steaks to rest before serving.

Let rest 5-10 minutes off the fire, and enjoy a nice rare to medium-rare venison steak, with roasted potatoes with rosemary, and a mandarin orange salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Serve with a margarita or Pinot Noir — or both.