While everyone automatically thinks of turkey for the holiday meal, the very first Thanksgiving likely featured more venison and fish. This year, why not re-create a portion of that early meal with a delicious grilled backstrap? Grill it medium rare, glaze with a blend of maple syrup and soy sauce, and slice before serving over a savory homemade cornbread stuffing. It’s quick, easy, and, dare I say, even tastier than a turkey. For this one, I used an entire backstrap from a young doe. Since the backstrap was on the skinny side, I doubled and tied it with butcher’s twine. If you use the backstrap from a big buck, you can skip the double and tie portion.

Serve up venison backstrap in place of turkey for your Thanksgiving meal.

For the cornbread dressing, you will need some cornbread. Break out your iron skillet. Put a tablespoon of lard, bacon grease, or vegetable shortening in and put the skillet into a pre-heated 375 degree oven. While the skillet heats up, in a large bowl mix 2 cups self rising cornmeal mix with one beaten egg, a half teaspoon of salt and one and a half cups buttermilk. Stir in the oil. It’s ok if it’s still a little lumpy, don’t over mix.

Make a skillet of cornbread up to a day or so in advance before cooking this dish.

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven. Swirl the now melted grease around to fully coat the skillet and pour in the cornbread batter. Place the skillet back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cornbread is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Bake the cornbread until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

When the cornbread is finished, turn it out onto a cooling rack. While it cools, brown 1 pound of spicy breakfast sausage with 2 stalks of celery, diced, and one medium onion, finely chopped. When the sausage has fully browned and the onion and celery are soft, move the pan off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Brown the sausage, onion and celery.

To make the dressing, crumble about four cups of the cornbread into a large bowl.

Crumble the cornbread.

Mix in the cooked sausage, celery, and onion. Add the parsley, sage, chicken broth, beaten egg, poultry seasoning, and melted butter. Stir well to blend. The mixture should be moist. If it isn’t, add a bit more chicken broth.

Blend the dressing ingredients in a large bowl.

Turn the dressing mixture into an oiled or buttered 13×9 Pyrex dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes.

Turn the dressing mix out into a bowl and bake until golden brown.

While the dressing bakes, pre-heat your Pitboss Grill to 350 degrees. Bend the maple syrup, soy sauce, and garlic. Season the backstrap all over.

Season the backstrap.

Brush on a layer of the maple glaze. Place the backstrap on the grill for 25-30 minutes or until it reaches your desired doneness. I like to pull mine at 125-130, knowing it will continue to rise a few more degrees as it rests.

Grill to medium rare, basting with maple glaze as it cooks.

Move the backstrap to a cutting board and tent with foil for ten minutes. If you tied your roll, you can remove the strings after the backstrap rests.

Rest the backstrap before slicing.

To serve, turn the dressing onto a serving platter. Fluff it up with a fork. Slice the backstrap into medallions and layer over the dressing.