Recipe: Venison Steak and Eggs

PREP TIME: 5 MIN | COOK TIME: 15 MIN | FEEDS: 2-4

One of the most iconic breakfasts known to humans is steak and eggs. Whether it’s tenderloins from a recent harvest, a butterflied backstrap, or a whole top round cooked up and sliced for the crew — it’s something we all love and crave. Furthermore, it inspired this recipe: venison steak and eggs.

I have an industrial quantity of shredded cheese in my fridge right now from a photo shoot, so I’ve been experimenting with it to find some unique uses. One thing I’ve realized is you can toss a pile of it into a cast iron and fry eggs on top of the cheese. The oils in the cheese brown it all up, and once it’s done, it’ll pry up whole (in one piece) with a metal spatula.

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If you cover the pan, the eggs will also cook on top to a nice over easy, and it makes for a fantastic base to toss some steak onto. The gooey yolk mixed with salsa, crunchy cheese, and a bite of steak will surprise you. It’s simple, quick, and a great way to impress people in deer camp or start the conversation to convince your loved one that, in fact, you should get that new deer lease.

Included in this recipe is my go-to venison steak seasoning. To start, I like to cook the meat with just salt. Once on my last couple turns, I’ll start adding the spices, so nothing burns in the pan but all the flavor has time to mix with the oils. I also add more after the meat is sliced. That said, I’m not in the camp of meat only needs salt. (You can eat it that way, and you’ll probably even enjoy it, but venison has a lot of personality and it’s really hard to use too much seasoning with it.)

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I also like adding a little bit of the rub to the top of the eggs with the salt. This ties the meal together. (I’ll give you a general guide for the rub below, but over time, change it up to give it more of the flavors you prefer.) Of course, you’ll probably have some left over, so toss it into a leftover spice shaker or jar for future steaks.

If you want to go the extra mile and learn a thing or two by making a lacto-fermented pepper sauce, give mine a try. The way I approach hot sauce is to use more sweet peppers than hot peppers for flavor and use a variety. I grew all of these but that’s not everyone’s reality. It was about 5% chilaca, 5% habanero, 10% Jalapeño, and the rest were sweet varieties. When you go into your grocer, and make your pile of peppers, use no more than 25% hot ones. (If you’re using habanero, and variety is a good thing.)

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Fire roast them all. Peel some skin. And remove seeds (with gloves on, trust me here). Include an onion and a whole skin-on garlic.

Then, skin the garlic and onion, and weigh all your ingredients. You will need 2.5% salt added to the mix by weight. Multiply by .025 on a calculator for that weight of salt.

Vacuum seal the salt and vegetables in a bag. Put the bag in a cake pan or bowl in case any liquid comes out. Put it somewhere dark and warm for a few days.

Once the bag expands with air, the natural fermentation process has occurred, and you can blend up the ingredients with a little extra water to reach your desired thickness. Add salt to get the flavor popping. It will last quite a long time in the fridge, but the fire-roasted pepper flavor will keep calling you, and I doubt it’ll stick around more than a few months.

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RECIPE INGREDIENTS

• Tablespoon lard or oil
• Eggs (two per person)
• Venison Steak (4-8 ounces per person)
• Shredded cheese (enough to cover bottom of pan, about a cup per four eggs)
• Kosher Salt (enough to cover your steak and a little to sprinkle on the egg)
• Hot sauce or homemade pepper sauce for garnish

STEAK RUB INGREDIENTS

• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon onion powder
• ½ tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

DETAILED STEPS

1. Mix up steak rub.
2. Salt your steak, but don’t add any rub yet.
3. Heat the pan on medium.
4. Add a small amount of lard or other cooking fat.
5. Cook steak to medium-rare and set aside to rest.
6. Add a nice coating of your rub to absorb into the fat.
7. In a cast-iron skillet, add a pat of butter, lard, or tablespoon of olive oil.
8. Heat on medium-high.
9. Sprinkle on a layer of grated cheese.
10. Crack your eggs on top of the cheese.
11. Salt eggs and add a bit of steak rub.
12. Cover skillet and cook on both sides.
13. Uncover every 30 seconds to make sure eggs aren’t overcooking. (You want a runny yolk but cooked whites.)
14. Once cooked, the cheese should nicely lift off the pan (all crunchy yet pliable).
15. Fold over half the cheese and egg onto itself like a half-moon shape. Slide out of the pan.
16. Slice your steak. Add a bit of salt to finish (and more rub if you like).
17. Lay on top of folded eggs on a plate.
18. Garnish with some hot sauce or salsa, and serve.

Enjoy your meal!

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