Guys:

Did a search, but didn't come up with anything useful. I have four nice sized venison tenderloins (inner loins) in the freezer. Want to prepare them as a part of a special wild game dinner.

Most recipes for "tenderloin" on the 'net, are actually describing the backstraps; NOT the same piece of meat at all.

So, what are your favorite ways to prepare venison tenderloin?? THKS.

NB

Floured and fried. Make milk gravy and pan fried potatoes. Homemade biscuits if you can. If not there are some good frozen ones. A couple of slices of a good onion goes well with it.
miles

I didn't think anyone else on this planet did that to theirs when they cook them. I use flour with season salt (lawrys) and fresh cracked peppper, a touch of garlic powder and sometimes a pinch of basil in the mixture. I'll let the tenderloins sit in a bit of olive oil for a while as they come up to room temperature and then dredge them in the seasoned flour. I little olive oil in the pan at a med heat and brown them up but don't let them cook past med. once done and I go to serve them I'll cut them into 1" thick medallions as I place onto the plates. A nice cab goes well these.

Pat dry
Rub a LIGHT coat of olive oil over them
Season to taste (I've been on a Brown Sugar Bourbon Grillmates kick lately)

Have your charcoal grill set up 2-zone (coals banked and hotter than [bleep] on one side)
Sear 1 1/2 - 2 minutes per side - don't over do it
Move to indirect side to reach desired finish temp - if you go past rare you're wrong
Let rest a few minutes

Slice into medallions, marinate in teraki and smoke with alderwood. Finish on the grill with a slice of thick sliced bacon wrapped around each.

A couple nights ago I made sort of a Parmesan using butterflied loins. Rolled the pieces in Italian breadcrumbs, pan fried them in olive oil for a couple minutes, threw in some mushrooms, covered it in tomato sauce and baked for about an hour. Topped it with shredded mozzarella during the last few minutes. It was beyond good.

Dinner here tonight is a backstrap and a tenderloin. I will be broiling medium rare on a bed of bacon wrapped asparagus.

THANKS for the reply's. My mouth is watering already.

My favorite is to make saltimbocca with them (mine have been elk).

i fry 2 homemade burger size sausage patties then cut them into strips. split the loin long ways almost in 2. stuff the sausage in the loin,season with montreal steak seasoning .rap in bacon. cook on grill until the bacon is done. loin will be med to rare. cut into 1inch thick slices and serve. it won't last long.

Seems we've got things confused again. Lots of replies talking LOINS.

Tender loins are best kept super simple.

Here's how we do them;

Cut cross grain & salt & pepper.

Into a pan goes good quality thick bacon chunks & 2 sliced onions & cook down, add 200gr sliced cremini mushrooms & cook down. Deglaze pan with good splash of bourbon & raise heat. Add tender loin piece & basically stir fry. Add thin matchsticks of sweet pepper & toss a couple of times.

Serve with mashed taters.

Simple & delicious !

P.S. Use quality bacon, not streaky bacon, you do not want to end up with a greasy/oily mess.

I just had elk tenderloins last night.

Seasoned Salt, Greek seasoning, and ground sage. All very lightly, then lightly sprits with EVO. Cooked on the gas grill at medium heat. I like all my meat with a tad of pink in the center.

I don't like to coverup the taste with a lot of seasoning

This. I've tried it many other ways and keep returning to this.

Best to keep it simple as there shouldn't be a need to cover/mask for the best cut of meat on the deer. Rub it with olive oil, season how you like steak (salt, pepper, onion power, garlic powder, maybe a touch of red pepper is a good start), or use italian salad dressing as a marinade, cook on the grill until medium rare at most. The ends will cook a bit more, which is good for those that don't like their meat red (ie, picky kids, etc).

We're in the middle of a blizzard and I just cooked the loins out of my 9 year old son's first buck last night.

Hard to beat a classic.

Bring meat to room temp. Salt to taste. Melt a good dob of butter in hot cast iron. Put in meat. Sear to a good crust on each side, careful not to overcook. Remove meat from pan. Put a healthy splash of good red wine (I like cab sav or shiraz) in pan to deglaze. When all the wine is bubbly add a couple tablespoons of current jelly (or huckleberry like I did the other night). Stir til sauce starts to thicken. Turn off the heat and spoon sauce over the rested meat. Serve with whatever sides you like and drink the rest of the red wine with your dinner.

For the love of god, don't cut it up before you cook it

Salt and pepper, pan fry in butter. Anything else messes up what nature provided.

You guys are making me hungry.

BTW...I cook all my venison rare to black & blue.

-Ken

Tag

Very nice, ryoushi. This is pretty much my go to for tenderloin. Never overcook. Just destroys the natural flavor, IMHO. I've done many like this. Never tried the jelly, though. I usually just add a bit of fresh herbs if I have them and maybe thicken the sauce a bit, but not much. Spoon sauce over rested meat. Incredible. Yeah, open another good bottle, too.

Gonna have to try the jelly idea.

for the inner loins this is the ticket. they don't need anything else and too much seasoning/process just blunts the natural flavor. this is always dinner on butchering day.

for the backstraps i do a jaegerschnitzel recipe.

I just ate some that were good a couple hours ago. I killed a doe Monday and cut the saddle out of it.Sawed the hind quarters off and sawed the backbone in 2 right behind the ribs. So you end up with the big end of the loin on top and the tenderloins underneath on the bone. Aged it in ice for 3 days then put in a marinade of shredded onions, garlic, celery, carrots, a couple bay leaves, Tymne, Savory, Black pepper, Worchestershire, olive oil and most of a bottle of red wine. Flipped it several times a day. Put on a broiling pan with some bacon strips on the top 20 minutes at 450 and then turned down to 375 till the loin was 138. About an hour and a half total. Let it rest 15 minutes then filleted the loin and tenderloins off the bone to serve. Loin was medium rare and tenderloins underneath were rare. the knife practically fell through the meat slicing it up.
This is what we have for our family Christmas or Thanksgiving most years. Everyone really likes it and we have had non venison eaters try it and enjoy it.
The vegetables and marinade is strained into a saucepan a can of beef stock is added and it is reduced by half.
salted, A tablespoon of plum Jelly added then thickened with a little flour. and any pan drippings for the gravy.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that likes it this way...

Easy answer. Keep whole and allow to reach room temperature. Salt and pepper or use your favorite rub. Wrap with thick slice bacon and toothpick in place. Grill over Mesquite coals until bacon is done. Remove from grill and allow to rest for several minutes. Loosen belt and enjoy.

I like 'em filleted into thin strips and fried up with garlic and onoins. Serve 'em up on a bed of hash browns with eggs on the side...perfect for breakfast day after your deer kill.

I've never seen 'em stick around long enough to get frozen...How did that happen???

Simple & delicious !

keep tenderloin whole
room temp
pre-heat oven to 500*
cast iron skillet or equivalent on stove high heat
couple splashes of EVOO
rub loin with salt & pepper
sear on all sides, no more than 45 seconds per side
leave in pan and put pan in oven for 7 minutes
take out of oven and take out of pan
let it rest for 7-10 minutes
slice across grain into medallions
taste heaven

Fried
Grilled
Stroganoff
One of our favorites is on the grill whole until med rare and rest and then cut into bite size pieces then tossed in a skillet that has purple cabbage that has been sauteing with EVOOO, garlic, onion, S&P.....there will be none left.