Description:

We all know the traditional Beef Wellington dish made famous by the 1st Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. This is a similar preparation but made with venison instead of the traditional beef. Don’t be scared of the “fancy-ness” of this dish. It is much simpler to prepare than it seems, and if you have trouble pronouncing some of the components, just rush through and mumble these parts, and no one will know the difference.

Ingredients:

• One-pound Mule Deer backstrap 
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite yellow mustard
• 1 pound of the mushrooms of your choosing (I used Shiitake for this recipe)
• 4 thin slices of ham 
• 1 7-8 oz sheet of puff pastry (thawed)
• 2 egg yolks to beat
• Flaky salt to the top dish

Cooking Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
• Sear Backstrap on a cast iron skillet using the olive oil (brown on all sides 2-3 min per side)
• Remove meat from heat and set aside until cool
• Add mustard to a small bowl and brush a thin coat all over the meat
• chop the mushrooms into very fine pieces and then add to a food processor until mushrooms are very finely chopped
• Heat a small saucepan over medium heat
• Add mushrooms to the pan and stir over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until all the moisture has been boiled away.
• remove from heat and let cool
• Lay out your 4 ham slices in a shape similar to your Backstrap, slightly overlapping
• smear mushroom paste over ham slices
• Set Backstrap on top of ham slices and wrap ham and mushroom past around the mustard-coated meat.
• Wrap meat and wrappings in plastic wrap and set in the fridge for 20 minutes
• roll out your puff pastry dough into a sheet that will wrap around the meat.
• place meat, mustard, ham, and mushroom onto puff pastry (don’t forget to take off the plastic wrap)
• Wrap the pastry around the meat, trying not to overlap pieces of pastry (cut away excess)
• Brush pastry with beaten egg yolks all over.
• let cool for 10 minutes
• Score the top of the pastry, or feel free to attempt to draw a mule deer on top.
• Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
• Test meat using a meat thermometer (you are looking for a temperature of 125 degrees in the middle for medium rare.
• remove from oven and let rest for 10 min before slicing and serving. 

Cocktail Pairing:

This dish will pair best with rich red wines, fruit flavors, and tannins. We recommend a Bordeaux balanced with rich black fruits and oak tones.

Get Cooking!

As always, good luck this winter, and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected]. You could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the Mule Deer Foundation, the Blacktail Deer Foundation, or both. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/ or https://www.blacktaildeer.org/