Deer Steak Eggs Benedict with a Tarragon Bernaise

Those are truly great meals that you eat slow, share stories, and possibly go back for seconds, or thirds depending on how long you decide to wait before you make the effort to actually put on pants.

Breakfasts like those long Saturday morning ones seem like the perfect opportunity to share a wild game meal; however, I find that breakfast is the area I struggle the most with when using wild game.  If I do add deer or elk to the table, I tend to follow the same pattern each time: deer breakfast sausage.  I might get inventive and make a burrito from the sausage or some type of scramble, and don't get me wrong, those are fantastic meals and I gobble up every satisfying bite, but sometimes I want to share something that is a little different, a little unexpected.

This past weekend, I awoke for my late Saturday morning breakfast, still in my pajamas, and decided it was time to try out a new wild game breakfast item.   I thought about how to best add wild game to the meal without getting too strange, and decided on taking one of my favorite classics and putting a wild game spin to it: the deer eggs benedict.

First popularized in New York, eggs benedict is a savory breakfast dish composed of a toasted English muffin topped with Canadian ham or bacon, a poached egg, and creamy Hollandaise sauce.  Many variations of the dish exist, including substituting the Hollandaise sauce for a Béarnaise sauce, and switching the ham for salmon, steak or chorizo, adding spinach, tomatoes, or avocado.  The meal base eggs benedict creates is a wonderful starting part for experimenting, especially when it comes to adding in some wild game.

Eggs benedict is the perfect lazy Saturday meal.  It is not a particularly difficult meal to pull together, but it does require a bit of time.  And honestly, it also makes quite the kitchen mess with the necessity for so many pots, pans, and utensils.  But that is what makes it the perfect Saturday breakfast, as there will be plenty of time to clean-up after this meal is shared, bellies are full, and maybe an early afternoon nap happens.

To start, pre-heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Season your deer steaks liberally with salt and pepper.  Compared to beef, deer is a very lean meat, and when steaks are cooked to medium or well-done the texture tends to become very rubbery and chewy, for this reason,  I recommend eating deer rare or medium-rare.   For this benedict breakfast, I used deer tenderloin steaks that were about an inch and half thick., so I cooked each side for about four minutes and then tented the steaks under aluminum foil.  When you are ready to slice the meat, work across the grain and make about quarter to half inch slices.

While the steaks are resting, prepare the béarnaise sauce.  Traditionally, eggs benedict is served drizzled in Hollandaise sauce.  I switched the Hollandaise for Béarnaise in the this recipe.  Hollandaise and Béarnaise are both quite similar, as both are lusciously rich and creamy sauces with a cheerful yellow color.  The preparation base is the same for both sauces: eggs yolks emulsified in warm, melted butter and a hit of acid.  Where the sauces differ is the type of acid used and the addition of flavors.  Hollandaise gets it acid from lemon juice, and a slight heat is typically enhanced in the sauce with the addition of white pepper or cayenne.  Béarnaise sauce gets is acid from white wine vinegar, and it's flavor profile is further developed with the addition of fresh herbs and shallots.  I love the combination of the lightly licorice flavored tarragon herb with deer, so I decided to make a tarragon béarnaise for this eggs benedict.

To create the Béarnaise sauce, melt two sticks of unsalted butter, or 1 cup.  Let the butter cool just slightly.  You want it to be warm enough to emulsify the egg yolks, but you don't want it so hot that it actually cooks the egg yolks, which will result in a lumpy sauce.  Add egg yolks and the white wine vinegar to a blender and turn the blender on a medium speed.  Once the yolks are broken up and mixed a bit, slowly start drizzling in the warm butter.  As the butter and eggs start working together, the sauce should thicken.  Once all the butter is added, drop in the shallots, minced tarragon, and season with salt and pepper.  Let everything blend for a few more seconds.  I leave the sauce in the blender after I have prepared it, this way it will stay warm.

After the steaks are cooked and the Béarnaise sauce is ready, it is time to poach the eggs.  There are several egg poaching techniques out there.  Some people add vinegar to the water, other people poach in a shallow pan of water, and some even use a giant pot of boiling water.  The technique I am sharing is the easiest for me.  In a large pot, bring about five to six cups of water to a gentle boil.  Have your eggs broken into separate bowls or ramekins in preparation for addition to the boiling pot.  Using a large wooden spoon, create a whirlpool in the pot.  Drop the eggs one at time into the swirling water, and watch as the eggs fall apart and then, almost magically, start to pull together into perfectly poached eggs.  Allow the eggs to cook in the water for two and half minutes before removing with a slotted spoon.

Okay, after all that mess making, it is time to assemble the benedicts!  Toast a slice of sourdough bread and brush on a little butter.  To the buttered bread, add a thick, juicy slice of beefsteak tomato.  Top that with two or three thin slices of the deer steak.  Carefully balance the poached egg on top of the stack, and finally drizzle on a healthy pour of the Béarnaise sauce.

I love a beautifully cooked deer steak served with a side of potatoes or asparagus, but this deer eggs benedict really opened my eyes to all the possibilities of working with wild game.  Breakfast can be more than steak and eggs or breakfast burritos.  This meal is creamy and savory, with a hint of tartness, and even a little sweet from the tomato.  It makes for a great lazy Saturday breakfast that is sure to impress all your diners.  And it is pretty great for the chef as well!

Happy Hunting!

Seared Deer Steaks in a Cilantro, Lime, Jalapeno Sauce

Living in the middle of a desert, seafood isn't always the best choice.  Anytime I order fish or other seafood from a restaurant, I can almost taste the freezer burn.  I can actually see it on the crab legs when I am at the grocery store. Don't get me wrong, I still buy those crab legs and cook them up as a special treat every once in awhile, but I am still saying that in the middle of the desert, seafood is not like seafood you get other places.

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That being said, oddly enough our little town has a sushi restaurant.  If you had opened up a sushi restaurant in this simple little uranium mining town thirty years ago, you would have been laughed out of town.  And most likely gone bankrupt, because I can't imagine the tables would have been full.  However, as the town has blossomed, or actually a better word is probably exploded, into a tourist destination quickly over the last ten years, the cuisine has evolved.  There are several Thai restaurants, a handful of Mexican places, and even this sushi restaurant.

Anyway, for being a sushi restaurant sitting in a barren dust bowl of red blow sand, cactus, and sweltering heat, it is actually pretty good.  The fish is flown in daily from Hawaii, and they try to source local ingredients for the rest of their ingredients, such as vegetables and fruits.  I think the local produce is part of what appeals to me when I dine at the sushi place, and in particular I like their La Sal Roll.  Named after the mountains to the west of the town, the La Sal Roll is a salmon based roll with asparagus, lime, cucumber, and avocado.  The roll has a refreshing bite from the lime and cucumber, but is also hearty from the avocado.

This roll is the inspiration for this deer steak dish.  With summer dragging in an extra long heat wave this year, eating has been...challenging.  It feels so hot that steak sounds awful.  But it is also summer, the season of grilling, which makes steak sound appealing.  It's a confusing state to live in.  This deer steak is a great compromise.  It takes the refreshing flavors of lime and cilantro and pairs it with the kick of jalapenos, creamy avocados, and a bit of spicy ginger.

"People get a little bolder and more wild in summer. You've got things going on kabobs, things cooking on the bone. There's something about standing over a grill or outside with the family that inspires us." ~Guy Fieri

For the steaks, I used deer backstrap and cut it into four medallions about three inches thick.  It would also work great with tenderloin or another steak cut.  Another substitution would be to use elk, moose, or pronghorn. I think this sauce would pair great with any of those steaks.  Let the steaks rest at room temperature for ten to fifteen minutes.  Then season them liberally with salt and pepper.

While the steaks are resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  On a rimmed cookie sheet or in a roasting pan, place some cherry tomatoes and asparagus.  I usually do four to five cherry tomatoes and half a bundle of asparagus per person.  Drizzle a little olive oil over everything, season with salt and pepper, give everything a quick mix using your hands, and throw those puppies in the oven.  They should take about twelve to fifteen minutes to cook.  You will know they are ready with the tomatoes are just starting to burst.

Next, prepare the sauce.  To a large bowl, add two big handfuls of cilantro, just torn with your hands into chunks, one jalapeno sliced into rings (if you aren't a fan of spicy, remove the seeds before you slice up the pepper), two teaspoons of grated fresh ginger root (which I suggest purchasing a microplane to use.  They are the best, and can be used on cheese, garlic, nutmeg, or for zesting fruit), two cloves of garlic (which can also be grated on the microplane!), the juice of three limes, and four tablespoons of coconut aminos.  I like to use coconut aminos for this recipe because it adds that salty soy sauce taste, but it also adds a hint of sweetness.  If you don't have coconut aminos you can always just substitute in soy sauce or tamari.  Whisk everything together and set aside.

To cook the steaks, heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Wait until the pan is good and hot before adding the steaks.  This will create a really nice crust to the steaks.  I like to actually time my steaks when cooking them.  Since these steaks were fairly thick, I let them go for three minutes per side, for a total of six minutes cooking time.  That resulted in a medium rare steak.  If you are more of a medium person, add a minute.  More of a rare person?  Subtract a minute.  If your steaks are thinner than three inches, subtract a minute.

Once you have cooked both sides, it is time to add the sauce.  Leave the pan on medium high heat and slowly drizzly the sauce into the pan and over the steaks.  The pan should be hot enough when the sauce hits the pan, it sizzles.  You are almost caramelizing the sauce for a minute.  Let it bubble around the steaks for about thirty seconds and then turn the heat off.  Let the pan sit while you prepare the plates.

For plate preparation, dice up half an avocado per person.  Make the pieces bite size chunks.  Lay two medallions onto each plate.  Place the roasted cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and avocado around the steak.  Pour the sauce over everything and garnish with a little fresh cilantro.

So, if you are looking for fresh twist on steak, give this recipe a try.  I love the heat you get from the jalapenos, the spicy little kick of the ginger, and the sweet hints from coconut aminos.  Enjoy!

Happy Hunting!

Yield: 4

Author: a 12 Gauge Girl

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Deer Steaks in Cilantro, Lime, Jalapeno Sauce

Perfectly seared deer backstrap drowning in a sweet and spicy cilantro and jalapeno sauce with a kick of lime.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Ingredients

• 4 deer steak medallions cut about three inches thick (or elk, pronghorn, moose, etc)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Cup chopped cilantro
• 1 Jalapeno, sliced into rings
• 2 Teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of two limes
• 4 Tablespoons coconut aminos
• 2 avocados
• Cherry tomatoes
• Asparagus
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place cherry tomatoes and asparagus on a baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil for easy clean-up). Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
3. Roast in oven for 12-15 minutes until the cherry tomatoes start to burst.
4. Prepare the cilantro jalapeno sauce in a large bowl. 
5. Add chopped cilantro, diced jalapenos, two teaspoons fresh grated ginger, the juice of two limes, and four tablespoons of coconut aminos to the bowl. Stir and set aside. 
6. Let steaks come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before cooking.
7. Heat medium skillet over high heat. Cook steaks three minutes per side for medium rare.
8. Once steaks are cooked to liking, pour the cilantro jalapeno sauce into the hot pan around the steaks.  Allow to cook for one minute.
9. To plate, place a steak medallion on a plate. Top with half an avocado, roasted cherry tomatoes, and asparagus. Pour quarter of the cilantro jalapeno sauce over the entire plate.  Enjoy!