Crawfish stuffed venison backstrap

I first discovered this wonderful blend of flavors a few years back.  It was a combination of a successful late season archery hunt on public land and the remainder of tails from a crawfish boil for my birthday.  After peeling several pounds of tails, I began to think…this would be really good paired with some backtrap.  The seed had been planted.  Ever since that day, I reserve this recipe for special occasions.  It’s easy to do but just takes a bit of time and patience to perfect.  You are sure to impress your friends and family with this recipe.  It pairs well with both red wine or cold beer. 

Saute your onions and bell peppers in butter until softened.  Then add your crawfish tails to warm though.  Next add plain bread crumbs and enough water to get the consistency of thick oatmeal.  Season your stuffing according to your specific taste.  You will need to let the mixture cool long enough so that you can use your bare fingers to stuff the backstrap.  You also don’t want to start cooking the meat with hot stuffing.

You will need to make a pocket into the thick end of your backstrap.  I like using a filet knife for this work.  Make sure that you don’t cut all the way through to the bottom of the backstrap.  Season the meat really well.  Spray a disposable meatloaf tin with non-stick spray.  Place the backstrap into the tin.  You will then begin to fill the pocket with your stuffing. 

Place your dish into a pre heated 350 degree oven.  Bake uncovered for approximately 18 minutes for a nice medium rare temperature.  This will vary depending on the size of your backstrap and the amount of stuffing that you use.  I suggest that you err on the side of medium rare.  Enjoy.

½ length of backstrap (the large end)

2 Tbs butter

¼ cup Guidry’s mix

½ lb Louisiana crawfish tails

½ cup plain bread crumbs

¼ cup water

Seasoning to taste

Chef’s Note: You can substitute shrimp for crawfish