2 Whole venison backstraps,
Rolled out 1/4 in. thick
1 qt Whole milk
2 ts Wild game seasoning
1 lb Velveeta cheese
1 cn Rotel tomatoes with diced
Chiles
2 lb Thinly sliced lean bacon
1/2 c Thinly sliced green onions
8 Cloves garlic, finely mince
First, prepare the backstrap fillet. It's an extremely tender tubelike
piece of meat about 12 inches long and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. And
because of its shape, it can be cut around the perimeter, 1/4 inch thick,
and rolled out flat. To do this, you need a very sharp knife.
Start by laying out the fillet perpendicular to your body and making a
shallow slice about 1/4 inch deep in the meat. Then, as if slicing through
and unrolling paper towels from a roll, begin working around the outside
perimeter of the fillet until the backstrap comes out looking like a round
steak. It takes a little practice to do ... but you can do it!
When the meat is ready, place both pieces into a glass or plastic
container and cover them with whole milk. You want to marinate the venison
for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. The milk tenderizes the
deer and helps to remove any unwanted gamey flavor.
After the marination process, remove the meat from the milk (you can
discard the milk), and pat the venison dry with several paper towels. Then
liberally sprinkle both sides with wild game seasoning and rub it briskly
into the meat.
At this point, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, in your food
processor, mix together the Velveeta cheese and the Rotel tomatoes until
smooth and creamy.
When you're ready to make the pinwheels, spread a thin layer of the cheese
mixture evenly over one side of the deer. Then place a layer of bacon
strips - side by side - on top of the cheese. Finish up the preparation by
lightly sprinkling on a little sliced green onions and a little minced
garlic.
Now tightly roll up the flattened fillets and set them aside momentarily.
Then on the same work surface, lay out another 8 to 10 strips of bacon
side by side and put one of the rolled backstraps on top of them. Now wrap
the bacon strips around the venison and pin them in place with toothpicks.
When you are finished, the backstrap should be completely encased in bacon
strips. Repeat with the other backstrap.
All that's left is to take a sharp knife, slice the rolled venison into 2
inch thick pinwheels, position them on a shallow cookie sheet, and bake
them - uncovered - in the oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. You'll notice
that a light sauce will form in the bottom of the cookie sheet; you can
use this to baste the pinwheels as they cook. The one thing you don't want
to do is overcook the venison - it will come out dry and chewy instead of
juicy and tender if you do!
Chef's Note: If you don't have wild game seasoning on hand, you can
lightly sprinkle the venison with salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic
powder, and sweet basil as a substitute. Unfortunately, most spice
manufacturers don't make a premixed wild game seasoning, but my company
does. If you'd like me to send you some, simply call 1-800-742-4231
