One Great Venison Steak

It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but I have had well-meaning folks bring me bone-in, gristly deer steaks that are about a foot in diameter. Some misguided soul has taken a deer hindquarter or, even worse, shoulder roast, and cut it into steaks with a band saw.

If all you plan to do is cut it up and throw it in the slow cooker, I suppose it’ll do, but there really is a much better way to create a mouth-watering, tender venison steak.

This steak is topped with compound butter, which is just a softened butter with some crumbled blue cheese, chives and garlic mixed in. I keep an assortment of compound butters in my freezer for grilled fish and game.

Picture a hot, seared venison steak topped with a melting disc of flavorful butter running down the sides. Not only does it look and taste great, it contributes added fat to an otherwise very lean piece of meat.

Print Recipe

One Great Venison Steak

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: big game recipes, grilling recipes, venison recipes

Ingredients

• 4 10 ounce venison steaks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, minced
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Blue Cheese Compound Butter

• ½ pound softened salted butter
• ⅔ cup crumbled blue cheese
• ¼ cup fresh chives, minced (or sub green onions)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• waxed paper, foil or plastic wrap

Instructions

Blue Cheese Compound Butter

• Combine all blue cheese butter ingredients in a bowl, and blend with a spatula. Transfer to the center of a 12-inch sheet of waxed paper, foil or plastic wrap, and form into a rectangle about 4 to 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. Roll waxed paper over butter, forming a cylinder. Twist paper at both ends and place in the freezer for 1 hour or until very firm.

Steak

• Combine olive oil, wine, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl or zipper lock bag. Add steaks and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.
• Remove steaks from marinade and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling. Re-season with additional salt and pepper. Remove compound butter from freezer.
• Place steaks on a white-hot, well-lubricated grill for about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a platter, cover loosely with a foil tent, and let the steaks rest for 5 minutes.
• While steaks are resting, slice butter into four ¼-inch thick rounds. To serve, place steaks on plates, and top with compound butter.