White-Tail Carne Asada

Back in the early 90's I was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. Outside the back gate was a small Mexican joint called Eriberto's. It was kind of  a dive but they made some damn good food and I would find myself there on a regular basis. Men and my friend Kenny Hohimer would head out there after a night of drinking and order the Carne Asada burrito. It was a massive burrito and had to weigh close to two pounds. The meat was a little chewy and it was drenched in guacamole. The damn thing was so big that you would never make it through the whole thing which was great because it only cost about 5 bucks and you would easily get two meals out of it.



I have thought about that burrito often and have even tried a number of carne asada burritos since then. None of them have compared to the deliciousness Eriberto's would serve up. I finally decided it is time that I try my hand at making a carne asada. Carne Asada translates to "roasted meat" and is usually made with beef. I made mine with a white-tail deer roast that I was given. I cut the roast into 1/2 inch thick steaks and seasoned it liberally with salt and pepper before dropping it in the marinade. 

After sitting for two hours in the marinade I was getting a little hungry so I started the grill and got it up to a scorching 500 degrees. I didn't want to cook this for to long so I just gave about 4 minutes per side. 

4 minutes per side was about the right time and the meat was done to a decent medium rare. There was a good char on the corners and the marinade penetrated the meat fairly well but when I do it again I will probably let the meat sit in the marinade over night.

I sliced the meat about a 1/4 inch thick and gave it a squeeze of lime  before mounding it on to a tortilla with a good portion of guacamole. What I ended up with was about as close to the Eriberto's Carne Asada that I have found.

Venison Carne Asada

1 pound of venison steaks

8 ounces of lager beer

1/4 cup corn oil

1 charred jalapeno chopped

2 cloves of garlic

5 bay leaves crushed

3 tablespoons of fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Lay the steak out and salt and pepper them and let sit out for 15 minutes. mix together the marinade then add the steak and let marinade for at least 2 hours preferably overnight. Remove the steaks from the marinade and grill over high heat for about 4 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Chop the meat into bite sized pieces and use in a burrito or a quesadilla or any way you see fit.