Grilled Venison Eye of Round Recipe with Caprese Salad
A flavorful venison steak marinade helps create this perfectly Tender Venison Eye of Round Recipe with Caprese Salad. A meal special enough for a date night but easy enough to serve any day of the week!
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
EYE OF ROUND AND VENISON STEAK MARINADE
- 1 venison eye of round (about 10 - 12 ounces)
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
BALSAMIC REDUCTION (BALSAMIC GLAZE)
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
CAPRESE SALAD
- 1 pound ripe tomatoes (4 medium), sliced ¼-inch thick
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced ¼-inch thick
- 1 bunch fresh basil, about ½ cup
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil, for drizzling
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic reduction
Instructions
- Place the venison eye of round on a cutting board and tenderize it using a Jaccard meat tenderizer.
- Pat the venison steak dry with paper towels and then season it all over with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Combine all the venison steak marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl or freezer bag. Then add the steak and marinate for at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours.
- You can start making the balsamic reduction just before you start cooking the steak or make it ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Add ½ cup of balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon of honey to a small saucepan. Bring that to a boil, then reduce the temperature to low and simmer for 15 minutes. By that time, you'll end up reducing it by about ½, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Just remember that it will continue to thicken even more as it cools.
- When you are ready to start cooking dinner, get your grill hot and ready for direct cooking at medium heat, 350-400 degrees. Clean the grill grates.
- Remove venison steak from the marinade (discard the marinate) and place the steak on the grill and cook for just 2 minutes. Don't walk away! You need to keep a careful eye on the steak and flip it over and cook another 2 minutes, keeping it over direct heat. This will allow the steak to cook thoroughly without burning. Flip the steak one more time and cook until an instant read meat thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of the meat registers 130 degrees F (for medium-rare). Every grill is slightly different, but for me it usually only takes a total of 5 minutes to reach that perfect medium rare.
- Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. While the meat is resting, you can assemble the caprese salad.
- Slice the tomatoes into ¼-inch slices. I usually end up with about 4 or 5 slices from each tomato, depending on their size.
- Do the same size slice of ¼-inch for the fresh mozzarella or do like we do and just buy the pre-sliced version of buffalo mozzarella found in most grocery stores.
- Start by layering slices of tomatoes on a serving platter. Tuck the slices of cheese between each tomato so both are visible then tuck whole basil leaves between the mozzarella and tomatoes. Arrange the slices so you can see every layer.
- Sprinkle everything with kosher salt and black pepper, drizzle all over with really good extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the balsamic reduction.
- Now slice the steak thin against the grain, sprinkle just a little bit more kosher salt and black pepper on top of the slices and serve immediately with the salad. I recommend also having some nicely toasted French bread on the side to mop up all that delicious olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction. Enjoy!
