Sweet Bacon-Wrapped Venison Tenderloin

TCSmoooth's Note:

The #1 rated deer recipe on RecipeZaar since 2005! It's deer season again, and you know what that means - a lot of 'Zaar chefs trying out THE venison recipe again or for the first time. Thanks for all the reviews. Hands-down, this is the BEST deer meat recipe in America. Even those who don't like wild game meat will fight for a piece of this. **I will warn you, that this creates almost a "candy tenderloin." You can see from the reviews how many people love it, but if you're looking for a gamey dish that brings out the purely meaty taste of your venison, this is not for you.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 2 lbs venison tenderloins (a single deer loin or Moose or Elk or Pork or Beef)
• 1/2 lb bacon (Plain, thin-sliced Bacon is best)
• 3 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 cups soy sauce (Regular NOT low-sodium. You'll want the saltiness)
• 1/4 cup white sugar (Optional for added Sweetness)

Directions:

1. Mix brown Sugar and Soy sauce together in a bowl. They should combine nicely into a soupy soy liquid.
2. Put Deer Loin in a cooking tray and pour Brown Sugar/Soy Sauce mixture over loin. Roll tenderloin over in mixture, completely covering it.
3. Let meat marinate in mixture at least 3 hours or overnight in fridge. It's best to marinate for 8 hours if you have the time. Also GREAT to use a Food Saver or other Vacuum device to Vacuum pack/seal the meat with Marinade. With this method, you can achieve Overnight-level marinade in just a couple hours!
4. Remove loin from tray, and place on a slotted bake sheet with a drip pan or aluminum foil below to catch dripping. Don't throw away marinade.
5. Wrap a piece of bacon around the very end of the tenderloin, securing the bacon strip with a toothpick.
6. Repeat this process until the entire loin is wrapped in ten or so bacon "loops." The tenderloin should look like an arm with a bunch of wrist watches on it, the watches being the bacon strips.
7. Drizzle remaining marinade over deer loin. You can continue to baste the loin with the marinade throughout the cooking process with either a brush or a turkey baster.
8. Place on center rack in oven and bake at 350°F for 30-40* minutes. *This should cook the meat to about Medium. For those of you who prefer rare meat (like me), cut the time to 25-30 minutes and then follow with the "OPTION 2" step below regarding searing.
9. OPTION 1 - with about 10 minutes of cooking time left, you can lightly dust the top of the loin with white sugar. This creates a sweet crust on top of the bacon. Might be too sweet for some. Try doing it on just HALF of the loin to see if you like it!
10. OPTION 2 - For a crispier crust and crispier bacon, remove Loin from oven and place the Loin(s) directly on a Grill over medium-high heat to sear the bacon and outer loin. (Thanks to all of you reviewers who taught me this. It's a great step for those of us who like a cooked crust and a pink center).
11. Remove from oven and place on cutting board. Using a knife, cut the loin between each strip of bacon so that you have many pieces of meat, each with their own toothpick.
12. You can eat these pieces directly from the toothpick or remove the toothpick and eat like steak. You can thank me later.
13. The next day, try the leftovers on a wheat bun with spicy BBQ Saucefor an awesome leftover sandwich.

Reviews

[mindgardener]

Perfect! I can't eat soy so I sbstituted 3/4 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce instead. Also added sweet paprika, powdered garlic, 2 tsps. powdered curry, etc. to the sauce. Baked 20 min. (tenderloid pieces)--perfect, medium rare.

[jedi218]

Definitely a must try dish, very tender, easy to make and only requires a few ingredients. I also turned the stove on broil for the last 5 minutes to get the crispy edge of the bacon.

[CindySe]

This is a family favorite! Something I make AT LEAST a couple times a month. I am now on a low-sodium diet for health reasons. So I sub the Mrs. Dash Spicy Teriyaki marinade for soy sauce now. Still turns out great!