Garlic Studded Venison Roast

If you are looking for a different spin on baking or smoking your Venison roast, try adding whole garlic cloves to the roast to give the interior of the meat a unique flavor and an intense aroma.

First of all, I always tenderize the meat using a meat mallet. This helps to breakdown some of those tough cuts and helps to cook the meat faster and more evenly. Next, I cut 5-6 small incisions into the roast and place a clove of garlic into each one. I have a lot of garlic from last years garden harvest and I am always looking for creative ways to be able to add them into our meal plans.

This garlic studded venison roast was simple to prepare. After adding the cloves of garlic, I lathered the roast with olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and sweet paprika. Then I placed the roast into a plastic bag and let it marinade in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

I chose to prepare this venison roast with a vegetables including carrots, sweet potatoes, onions and fresh herbs. I also opted to bake everything outdoors on my Traeger Grill. I set the temperature to 350 degrees and decided to use Cherry pellets to keep give the meat a hearty smoke flavor. (You can also bake in your indoor oven at the same temperature.) When the temperature of the grill reached 350 degrees, I preheated my cast iron skillet before adding the meat, vegetables and then I topped the vegetables with a few tablespoons of butter. Setting the skillet on the grill, I then placed a piece of tinfoil loosely over the top to help steam the vegetables while baking.

Ready set bake! Well not so fast. Don’t forget to use a meat thermometer when you bake or cook any type of thick cut of meat. I’m looking for an internal temperature of 125/130 degrees for this roast. So while I patiently waited for an hour and a half it finally hit 125 degrees. I removed the skillet from the grill and set it on a cutting board while I waited for the meat to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

As a side note… heat up the remaining juice in the skillet over medium heat and add a few more tablespoons of butter. This will give you a rich gravy that you can then serve over your sliced venison roast and vegetables. ~Enjoy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 pound venison roast (hind quarter)
• 5-6 whole garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 6-8 carrots, peeled
• 4-5 cipollini onions
• 2 white sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• fresh rosemary and thyme