Simple Tenderloin

[pa257]

I stole this recipe from Good Eats, only his was for steak.

1 loin ~8" long, silver skin removed
roll loin in a little canola oil
season both sideswith fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

Heat a cast iron skillet at 500 F in an oven
Put burner on high
Take skillet out of oven and place on burner (use oven mitts)
place loin in hot dry skillet
sear 30-50 seconds a side
put back in oven and cook 2-3 minutes a side (med. rare)
take out and put on cutting board and cover with foil
rest for 5 minutes (very important)
Slice into 1/2" thick slices
optional peppercorn sauce can be served on side
Make yummy noises while eating

[throwingStarr]

Try a little drizzle of good sherry in that..

..i don't know where you shoot yours from but mine don't come drunk.

[Fletch NY]

..i don't know where you shoot yours from but mine don't come drunk.

lol I had to comment on that line.

I do a bit of hunting on land near a bigBudweiser brewery. The land abuts the railroad tracks where they stage the hops and grains in big train tankers. The deer really love when some of this leaks on the tracks. So no my deer are not drunk but a few of them have been Budweiser fed!! And good too!!

[Pygmy]

Pa257...I tried this recipe tonite with a chunk of backstrap....

It was so good it ought to be ILLEGAL.......

Tender, juicy, and wonderfull...Only problem was, it set off the smoke detectors in my kitchen...

That's OK, because in my opinion, if the smoke ain't rollin' and the blood ain't flowin' , you ain't COOKIN' right.......

[pa257]

Pygmy, glad you liked it. I should have mentioned the smoke factor, it can be pretty brutal. I've also made them on the grill and it comes out good but the cast iron gets a more even sear. I've also put the cast iron pan in my weber bbq to keep the smoke outside, little tough to do that in winter though.

[Pygmy]

pa257.... I'll put up with the smoke... NOTHING sears meat like cast iron...It's been my favorite way to do venison ( or elk or caribou or moose) for years...In my opinion a cast iron pan sears the meat much more efficiently than doing it on the grill..

I have a skillet that I bought in 1971 that is myfavorite ..It's done a lot of game meat and fried a lot of fish over the years...I've never put it in the oven before..That's a great idea...

So many people overcook venison.. It is at it's very best seared to seal in the juices and then served medium rare...So many people ruin the flavor by overcooking it or soaking it in some marinade, which is fine if you prefer the flavor of the marinade, rather than the flavor of the meat...

[jerseyhunter]

[quoteI have a skillet that I bought in 1971 that is myfavorite ][/quote]
When I'm butchering my deer ,the skillet is on the lit stove till the end. I may turn the flame down when not in use but that only a temporary situation till I make another slice.