This was literally one of those nights that I just started taking items out of the refrigerator to see what we had left over. I had one chunk of elk steak that needed to be cooked and worked around other items in the fridge.
We always have onions on hand and I had just bought some Baby Bellas (Mushrooms) so it wasn’t too hard to figure out what to do. Deb (my wife) and I both love balsamic, so I used it as the base and went from there. This would actually classify as one of our “Quick Recipes” from prep time to ready to eat was about 45 minutes.
This would be great served with some noodles or rice but we just sautéed some zucchini and yellow squash and called it good!
Recipe by : Greg Ray
All of our outside cooking is done on RecTec Grills and we use Made With Meat equipment for all of our wild game processing.
Elk Steak Recipe (Backstrap)
Ingredients:
- Your favorite venison tender cut (We used Elk loin or backstrap)
- Oil (Avocado or olive works)
- Seasoning (We used RecTec Freakin Greek)
Balsamic Mushrooms & Onions
Ingredients:
- One whole sweet onion (sliced)
- Oil (We used avocado)
- 1/4C Soy Sauce
- 3T Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 1/2 T Brown Sugar
- 2 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 1tsp Dijon Mustard
- 2T Butter
Method Steaks:
- If you have a pellet smoker, turn on low for a heavy smoke
- Place steaks in smoker for half an hour
- Pull steaks from smoker and turn to 450F.
- We used a cast iron skillet to finish the steaks then used it to sauté the balsamic mushrooms and onions.
- While your smoker/grill is heating up rub steaks with oil and coat with seasoning.
- Once smoker/grill is up to temp, sear steaks on both sides, approximately 2 min per side for rare to medium rare. (Do NOT over cook)
- Pull steaks and place on cutting board, and let steak rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Method Mushrooms & Onions:
- Combine all ingredients (except for oil and butter) in bowl and mix (set aside)
- Slice onion and mushrooms and place in bowl
- While steaks are resting add more oil to cast iron
- Add mushrooms & onions
- Cook until onions become translucent and start to brown slightly (About 4 to 5 minutes)
- Remove from heat and add butter
- Tips:
- Prep your vegetables and your balsamic sauce while the steak is smoking. Once you turn the heat up to sear your steaks everything moves pretty fast. It is a huge advantage to have all prep work completed.
- You can cook your steaks on the grill, stove top in a cast iron skillet or even in the oven. Just be sure to finish with a high heat to get a nice sear on the outside.
- Do not over cook. Venison is much leaner than beef and will cook faster. Always serve Rare to Medium rare
- If using a thermometer, pull the steaks at about 120F
- Let the steaks rest, they will continue to cook and this will redistribute the juices through out the steak.
Elk Steak With Balsamic Mushrooms & Onions
