Because First Light yearling venison is young and tender there are a wide number of cuts you can use to create some magic. This is your opportunity to get to know the cuts so you can make the most of every piece.
Tips & Advice
Venison is best cooked quickly over a high heat, ideal for barbequed steaks or a stir-fry. During the cooler winter months it really shows its versatility, being well suited for hearty pies, roasts and casseroles.
Shoulder & Neck Fillet
Neck Fillet — This little treasure is perfect for long slow cooking. Caramelise in a hot pan, add your favorite ingredients and slow simmer until all the connective tissue has melted to become a sticky, flavor explosion.
Boneless Shoulder — Dice it, mince it, cook it any way you would beef chuck or mince. The beauty of First Light venison shoulder is that it is super lean and gentle flavoured. First Light venison ground shoulder makes the best gourmet burgers ever.
Striploin
There are 2 ways of dealing with a venison saddle, the most common is to prepare a venison backstrap, which in the trade is called a venison striploin. Venison striploin is the perfect cut to make into steaks, cook it as you would a beef fillet steak - like a beef fillet venison striploin steak is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Frenched rack & shortloin
The second way of dealing with a venison saddle is to turn it into a rack and a short loin. The Frenched rack is the king of the cuts on a red deer, cook it as you would a lamb rack and serve with a gentle sauce. Remember Venison’s great friends are earthy like mushrooms and sweet like blueberries.
As with the striploin, the boneless loin is a beautiful, tender cut ideal for roasting whole or preparing as steaks. Salt liberally, sear the outside to golden brown in a hot pan and finish to medium rare in a medium oven.
Short ribs
Venison short ribs aren’t well advertised because there aren’t many to go round and those in the know aren’t sharing. Slow cook in a sticky sweet salty sauce, they are absolutely delicious.
Tenderloin
Tucked away up under the ribs the tenderloin or fillet is super tender and delicate. Always in hot demand because they are as scarce and hens teeth, if you do manage to get one roast or pan fry and eat it really quickly
Haunch & Osso Bucco
The wonderful thing about First Light yearling venison is the fact all four muscles are tender enough to be used as steaks. The four main cuts are the Topside, Knuckle, Silverside and Rump.
Cook First Light venison leg steaks cook hot and fast and match with one of First Light venison’s great friends — earthy like mushrooms, sweet like blueberries.
Osso Bucco — Red deer can jump a 10-foot fence without breaking a sweat so it stands to reason their shanks are going to need some cooking. The good news is the outcome of 10 hours in a crock pot is a gelatinous, juicy stew that will keep them coming back.
Humans have been eating venison for as long as we have been out of the trees — they were the original ‘fast food’. Venison became the food of kings for good reason, it has the magic formula of being nutrient dense, super lean and ultra-tender. Not enough people know venison is actually four times more tender than beef. At First Light we decided good wasn’t enough, we made it our mission to take venison to the next level. So we process our deer young. The result is delicious, delicately flavoured meat that wants to be cooked quickly and served rare. Your first mouthful of First Light venison will be the first day of the rest of your life, you will live longer and be much more interesting to be around.