INGREDIENTS for 6-8 people
4 wonderful 2 cm thick venison or venison steaks*
a little soya oil, for brushing
2 tsp sunflower oil
80 g Greek yoghurt
Flame caramel crunchy salt (e. g. from King of Salt)
freshly ground black pepper
Favourite barbecue sauce (my favourite is my great “Kakato Seven Pepper Sauce”)
CHIMICHURRI:
100 g flat-leaf parsley, washed and coarsely chopped with stems
20 g preserved lemon
1 spring onion, cleaned and coarse rings
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 g chilli flakes
10 g fresh thyme leaves
10 g fresh oregano leaves
100 ml olive oil
4 g salt and freshly ground pepper
Freshly squeezed lime juice (to taste)
* For the recipe I used rump steaks from fallow deer. You can also use red deer or roe deer steaks. Alternatively ask your local ask your local butcher to cut 2 cm thick steaks on the bone. This will deliver a more intense flavour thanks to the different muscle structure and the taste of the bone marrow!
PREPARATION
Brush the steaks all over with a little soybean oil, then season strongly with flame-caramel crunch salt and pepper. I’m a real pepper junkie but I leave it up to you how much pepper you think is enough.
Heat the ceramic grill to 250 °C.
In the meantime prepare the chimichurri (even better, prepare the sauce the day before so that it can fully develop its flavour) in a large mortar and pestle.
Grind all the ingredients, except the olive oil, for 1 minute, so that they form a happy liaison…
Now add the olive oil (100 ml should be enough, but the amount can vary, depending on how you like the sauce – more of a creamy pesto vinaigrette; this recipe is somewhere in the middle) in a fine stream.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Perhaps a few squirts of lime juice can give the sauce an extra freshness.
Grill the steaks directly over the embers on a cast-iron grill for 2 minutes on each side, then move the steaks to the other side of the grill without the embers. Let the steaks rest until the cooking process is complete.
When all 4 steaks are cooked, close the dampers. Cook for another 10 minutes if you want the steaks to be pink (medium) or well done, and and 5 minutes if they are to be served medium rare.
To better control the cooking process, select a core temperature of 53 °C for medium and 56 °C for pink.
Serve the perfectly cooked steaks generously with yoghurt and chimichurri.
Enjoy the juicy steak, which is one of my absolute favourite cuts, in all its glory!