The Perfect Cast Iron Venison Steak

Before I moved to New York City and now, bouncing around cramped apartment Airbnb's, I would fire up the grill 2-3 times per week - at least. You know, like any real American should! As much as I miss grilling, I did get one amazing benefit from having to adapt to apartment living - Mastering the Cast Iron Steak.

Now, I don’t want to be one of those annoying recipe blogs that spend 5 paragraphs telling a life story before giving you the dang recipe. But I will say, your choice of meat matters. Leave that vegan shit outta here, and get some REAL meat to grace atop your cast iron. 

I love Belcampo for my beef, but for this recipe I’ll be using Force of Nature’s Venison Steak Medallions. All of their venison is grass-fed, grass-finished, and raised on pasture year-round. They’ve never been treated with antibiotics or growth hormones, from birth to slaughter. Some of it is even wild-caught from the Texas Hill Country! And I can attest, it’s just as good as the deer that you killed last hunting season. 

Ingredients:

8 oz of Venison Medallions

Ghee, Tallow, or Olive Oil (Choose one that you have on hand)

Redmond’s Sea Salt or MeatEater’s Saber-Tooth Slayer Coffee Chili Rub

You will also need a cast-iron skillet of course - But that’s it! Recipes don’t have to be complicated.

Step 1: Take the venison out of the refrigerator 4 hours before you want to cook it (it should be defrosted beforehand) and remove it from the packaging.

Step 2: If you are using ghee or tallow, warm it up so that it turns to a liquid state and pour over the medallions and rub on all sides.

Step 3: If you want to keep it simple, add a healthy serving of Redmond’s Salt to each side of the medallion. If you want to spice it up, use MeatEater’s Saber-Tooth Slayer Coffee Chili Rub - It’s amazing!

Now let it sit on your counter for 4 hours. Yeah, some of you food safety experts might not like that, but there is nothing wrong with aging your meat, especially one of such pristine quality. This will allow a nice, rough crust to form on the meat that will help to add the perfect seared taste and texture - Trust me!

Step 4: When it’s time to cook, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Once it’s at 400, turn your stove on HIGH to begin warming the cast iron.

Step 5: Once your cast iron starts to smoke, it’s game time! Place your medallions on the cast iron for 1 (ONE) minute PER SIDE. Once that time is up, make sure you rotate it on it’s edges for a quick second before popping it into the oven.

Step 6: 

• Rare: leave in the oven for 1 Minute
• Medium: Leave in the oven for 2-3 minutes
• Well done: 4 minutes+ … Then leave my page forever you whacko. Just kidding, but seriously, eat your steak Medium to Rare 

And there you have it! The PERFECT cast iron venison medallion. Serve with a side of roasted vegetables drenched in extra virgin olive oil and another heavy dose of salt. It’s Bull Moose Co. and Lincoln approved!

Let me know if you give this a shot and how it turns out!