Mule Deer Carpaccio

Published with the permission of Harvesting Natures Justin Townsend!

Read more from Justin at: https://harvestingnature.com/

Description:

Carpaccio is one of my favorite dishes of all time. It’s an Italian dish of beef tenderloin sliced paper thin with a deli slicer and served raw. I’ve never seen a recipe of carpaccio done with mule deer and seeing as how it’s my favorite meat, there is no way it could be bad. My adaptation to this recipe can be done in any home. If you can’t get it deli slicer thin with a knife don’t worry, you can pound it after and it comes out great.

Ingredient’s:

1 (about 8oz) Deer Tenderloin, Cleaned

1 cup Arugula

Capers

Parmesan Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Sauce:

1 cup Arugula

1/2 lemon, juiced 

1 oz olive oil 

1 1/2 Tb Dijon mustard 

3 Tbsp Parmesan

Pinch grated salt

Pinch pepper

1 Tbsp capers

Directions:

1.  Trim off all the silver skin from the tenderloin. Pat dry with paper towels and place it in the freezer for an hour so its easier to cut.
2. With a sharp knife cut the tenderloin in round slices as thin as possible. Place a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board and arrange the slices about 1/2”- 1” apart. Lay them out about the size of the plate you will be putting the carpaccio on.
3. Place another piece of plastic wrap on top of the meat. Using a meat mallet (or the bottom of a small pan) gently pound the meat until it’s very thin and translucent.
4. Gently take the top piece of plastic off. Lay your plate on the meat upside down. Carefully slide your hand under the plate and plastic and flip the whole thing over so the meat is laying nice and flat on the plate. Place it in the fridge while you make the sauce.
5. Put 1 cup Arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.
6. Carefully remove the plastic from the top carpaccio and make sure the meat is covering the whole plate.
7. Place 1 cup of arugula in the center of the plate. Drizzle about 2 table spoons of the sauce over the plate and reserved the rest for dipping. Sprinkle capers, Parmesan, salt and pepper over the pate to garnish. 
8. Finish it with a little bit of olive oil. Enjoy immediately with a baguette or crackers.

Cocktail Pairing:

The best cocktail pairing for this dish is an Italian Manhattan.

1/2 cups bourbon

1/2 cup amaro liqueur (such as Amaro Montenegro)

8 teaspoons orange blossom honey

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

8 fresh thyme sprigs

Combine 5 ingredients in a pitcher blend and add ice.

Get Cooking!

As always, Good luck this fall everyone and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and 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 for only $35 dollars a year. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/

Justin Townsend @Harvesting Nature

Justin Townsend (Choctaw) has been a culinarian and raconteur in the wild food world for over a decade. His passion for hunting, fishing, foraging, and the outdoors stems from his upbringing in Southeastern Oklahoma and his cultural heritage as a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Some of his first memories are bass fishing trips with his grandfather and cooking deer meat at home with his grandmother. Justin loves spending time with his family, teaching them to hunt and fish, rewatching Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown for the umpteenth time, and traveling around North America meeting new people, hunting, fishing, exploring, and tasting new food. 

You can connect with Justin via email: [email protected]