Backstrappyness

So, after the high of the surprising deliciousiocity of the liver, and the low of the tasty cardboard of the grind, it came time to tackle what every damn website and live human has declared the most delicious part of the deer:  The Backstrap (AKA, loin).

I was, of course, terrified.

I poured over many recipes online, only in the end to do it the simple way: season, fire, eat.  This was a half backstrap, I believe but cannot swear it was the right anterior portion.  I did, fortunately, remember what FC warned me of and carefully sliced the "silverskin", AKA connective tissue sheath away from the outer side of the piece. 

I started to use some oak charcoal I salvaged from the remains of a bonfire a few months ago, but I thought the oak oils might be too much for it.  A trip to Home Depot (we needed a new hose anyhow) yielded a bag of natural lump charcoal that actually worked better than my usual brand from the Ace hardware out in Melrose (that I shortsightedly ran out of). 

When that got good and going, I pulled out the loin portion, washed it well, then patted it dry with paper towels.  I seasoned it with classic Mrs. Dash (you laugh but that stuff is pretty good, its basically black pepper, garlic, and other herbs in convenient shaker form) and put in on the grill.  My plan was to sear both sides and then cook it indirectly for about 10 mins. 

However, good old FLA had other plans, and it of course commenced to rain as soon as I put the piece on.  I was scrambling to find oven mitts in an attempt to move the Weber without frying my own hands when I received a kindly text from the Significant Other as he languished on the bed with his laptop and beagles: "There is some heavy rain coming maybe bring the grill closer to the house and let the big dogs in".  No shit, Sherlock!  By this time I moved the Weber the rain had slightly doused the coals, so I basically used a more direct method to take advantage of the reduced heat.

To cut to the chase, I somehow accidentally cooked that lovely chunk 'o deer exactly as I had imagined it should be.  This sounds like a stupid complaint, but the only thing that I would have liked was for it to be just slightly gamier, honestly if nobody had told me I would have just assumed it was beef.  Very tender, very juicy, and, well, it made me feel that the deer didn't die in vain.

BTW,we ate it with a mix of roasted parsnips (try it, you'll like it), carrots, and red potatoes and some sweet corn on the cob.  Oh yeah, and with a Snakedog IPA, which once my standby beer but nowadays is a bit to rough for my daily tastes.  I like to drag them out occasionally though, just to reminisce.  And for the alcohol content, of course :)