Backstrap kabobs: Four days in the marinade, 10 minutes on the grill

Deer hunting season is already open in parts of St. Landry Parish, and Michelle Brown of Eunice already has plans for the coveted venison tenderloins her husband, Greg, and son, Briggs, will be bringing home.
“My husband and son supply the deer meat around here,” Brown said as she began to build the kabobs.
“The kabobs are a good treat.”
“They are easy and not time consuming,” Briggs said.
Brown begins preparing the dish by cutting the tenderloin, commonly known as backstrap, into one inch cubes. She then seasons the meat with an all-purpose seasoning she makes herself, some of her husband’s homemade hot sauce, Italian dressing and places the meat in a re-sealable storage bags for three to four days.
When the marinating time is over, Brown wraps the cubes in 3-inch slices of bacon and skewers the meat and slices of jalapeno, green bell pepper and white onion.
Brown recommends using long kabob skewers instead of toothpicks, eliminating the need to turn each one individually during cooking.
“The kabobs are also good with mushrooms, squash, zucchini or cherry tomatoes,” Brown said. “I would have used cherry tomatoes, but I am out of them in the garden.”
“You can also use duck meat instead of deer meat — it also makes an awesome kabob. Some of our friends used to give us their ducks because they didn’t eat them. I made these one night with duck meat, and the wife loved them.”
“We never get ducks from them anymore,” she added, laughing.
Once the kabobs are built, Brown heats up the grill to 300 degrees and lays a grill mat on the grate.
Brown recommends using a grill mat to prepare the dish, which prevents flare ups from the bacon grease. Brown greased the mat with infused olive oil.
“A friend introduced me to these mats,” she says as she poured infused olive oil onto the mat.
“It keeps the fire from flaring up from the bacon grease.”
Brown cooks the kabobs for 10 minutes, turning them over four to five times while cooking.
“When the bacon is done, the kabobs are done,” she said.
The flavor of the kabobs is excellent, and the dish would be perfect for cooking over a fire at the camp come this winter.

Contact Claudette Olivier at claudette.olivier@eunicetoday.com.