Venison Fajitas
Venison Fajitas
Fajitas are fabulous made with venison! If you happen to have a freezer full of delectable little round steaks you should make this too. What? No venison? Beef will make a fine substitute, no worries.
My husband hunts so just about every year we have a deer in the freezer. This year our butcher did an exceptional job too so I'm very happy. We have lots of tender little boneless chops and round steak along with some beautifully lean ground venison.
Deer are what they eat and the deer in North Central Oregon eat a lot of wheat and the meat is very clean tasting. I never have a problem with the meat tasting gamey here. If I were eating the deer from an area that was not so lucky this would be a great meal to make with it because the lime and seasonings would help lessen the gameyness.
Don't these look good! I'll also show you how to make the Spanish rice a little later in this blog.
For the rub, I use a basic fajita or taco seasoning that I make up myself. I really need to get that recipe written down, I know. In the mean time, You can make up your own or use a packaged seasoning.
After putting the rub on the steaks I let them sit at room temperature about 30 minutes while I prepare the rest of my dinner. The steaks take only a few minutes to cook so I have everything else done before I start searing them. Click on the pictures above for a better look at the cooking process and some of the finer details. The important thing to remember is to only cook the steaks to medium rare or even closer to rare for these fajitas because the strips of meat will go back into the pepper and onion stir-fry to finish off.
This is my simple recipe for Spanish rice.
Saute one chopped sweet onion in a tablespoon of butter or good cooking oil then add 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup tomato sauce, a shake of garlic powder and a pinch of salt to the pot. Add 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice and bring the pot almost to a boil then turn the heat down to low and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes or so. Check to see if the rice is done and fluff with a fork. If the rice isn't quite done through. Add a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup hot water and continue to simmer on low for 10 more minutes and check it again. Your Spanish rice should be done. Add more butter, olive oil or salt to taste if you like.
Once I have my steaks in their rub and the Spanish rice cooking, I chop up some veggies for the fajitas and gather my sauce ingredients.
I've sliced one sweet onion, 1/2 a large red bell pepper and 1/2 a large green bell pepper and cut up some lime wedges. Sometimes I add a diced jalapeno or finely sliced Serrano chili. Occasionally I'll add a small tomato cut into wedges.
The three ingredients that make this fajita sauce are soy sauce, Worcestershire and lime juice. I like to use dark soy when I have it but regular soy sauce is just fine really. I learned this recipe from a Mexican friend I knew many years ago when I was working in restaurants. I'm sure they used regular soy sauce at the Mexican restaurant where he worked. I recently discovered how much more depth of flavor I get from dark soy that is particularly pleasing in this dish.
For the stir frying of the veggies, I used my heavy copper skillet and heated it to a medium high heat. On my stove using a copper pan I set the burner to medium and let it heat well before adding the oil and then the veggies almost immediately because the oil was shimmering.
I stir-fry 2 minutes then add the soy sauce, Worcestershire and lime juice.
After a minute or so I add the sliced venison and stir just to heat it through and I'm almost ready to serve.
While the peppers and onions were stir-frying, I heated a cast iron griddle pan to medium low heat to warm the tortillas. One at a time I warm them for about 30-45 seconds per side on the dry griddle. No oil or anything is needed.
I'm using a tortilla that's made of a mix of corn and wheat flour here. I prefer corn tortillas myself but these are a little larger and hold together better.
While heating the second side of the tortilla I like to sprinkle on a few tablespoons of grated Mexican cheese and get it melting before I add the rest of the fajita toppings.
Now it's time to get these lovely fajitas on a plate!
Enjoy!
~Melisa
Venison Fajitas
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
For the Fajitas
1 1/2 pounds venison (or beef) round steak
1/2 red bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 green bell pepper cut into strips
1 small sweet onion cut into strips
1 lime cut in half
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tablespoons taco or fajita seasoning
6 tortillas
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Mexican cheese for serving
For the Spanish Rice
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1 small sweet onion chopped
a shake of garlic powder
a pinch of salt
Method
Thoroughly rub the round steak with dry rub and set aside.
Prepare rice:
Saute one chopped sweet onion in a tablespoon of butter or good cooking oil then add 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup tomato sauce, a shake of garlic powder and a pinch of salt to the pot. Add 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice and bring the pot almost to a boil then turn the heat down to low and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.
Pan-sear the round steak 2-3 minutes per side then let rest at least 6 minutes before slicing.
Stir-fry the vegetables 2 minutes, then add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and lime juice. Stir fry 2 minutes more then add the steak trips and stir-fry until heated through.
Serve with warmed tortillas, lime wedges and shredded Mexican cheese.
Pickled jalapenos, sour cream and salsa optional.
