Venison Tartare
A lot of people are grossed out about raw red meat. The fear of disease from domesticated animals is a realistic concern. We as hunters are able to control the environment in which we process our wild game. Wild game in general does not have near the number of diseases that domesticated animals do. I have been experimenting with raw red meat for a while now and have found it to be very pleasing to eat. When your meat is properly cleaned and cared for there is very little risk for illness. For the axis deer Tartare I incorporated coffee. I have made grilled axis deer backstraps with a coffee rub before and it really compliments the meat well. When I was in Hawaii this past fall a well know chef was cooking for the ranch I was staying at and he made an axis tartare that incorporated an espresso aioli and it was amazing. I did my best to recreate it. The parmesan cheese crisp that it is severed on adds a little crunch and saltiness.
Add a little Worcestershire sauce and shallots and you will surprise even the most skeptic of critics, not to mention it carries a large shock factor for people that haven’t tried it.
Ingredients
1 lb finely chopped venison backstrap or tenderloin
1 shallot finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon infused olive oil (see attached recipe)
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp coffee aioli (see attached recipe)
1 tbsp pickled mustard greens finely chopped - substitute 1 tbs dill pickle finely chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp pepper to taste
Lemon Infused Olive Oil
½ cup olive oil
1 lemon
Coffee Aioli
2 tbsp canola oil
1 oz or 2 tbsp espresso coffee, cooled to room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Parmesan Crisps
5 oz fresh grated parmesan
Directions
Scrub your lemons with water and scrub brush thoroughly before peeling them. Peel your lemons avoiding any of the white pith. Place the lemon peel and the olive oil in a sauce pan and cook over a very low heat for 10-15 mins. Make sure the mixture does not boil as the flavors need to infuse slowly. Remove pan from the heat and allow the olive oil to cool down completely. (you can also buy lemon infused olive oil at many boutique markets.)
Coffee Aioli
Add all ingredients to blender and blend until creamy.
Parmesan Crisps
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. Make mounds of 1 ½ tablespoons of parmesan on the parchment paper leaving roughly 2 inches between each mound. Cook at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until starting to brown. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let it come to room temperature. Do not try to remove the parmesan crisps from the parchment paper and cookie sheet until completely cooled.
Meat Tartare
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the parmesan crisps together. Take a small, 1 inch round cookie cutter and lighty place it on a parmesan crisp. Fill with the tartare mixture. Pull up removing the cookie cutter and the tartare should stay in a cylindrical form. Continue to place cookie cutter tartare helpings on all the crisps. Serve immediately. (alternatively you can just spoon about a tablespoon of tartare onto each crisp and serve)