Let’s be honest, if you’re reading this you Love tacos! It’s ok, I’m right there with you on that.

Now if you’re like me, homemade tacos were as basic as they get. Ground meat, taco seasoning packet, flour tortillas and load it up with cheese and salsa. That’s great and all, and no offense to all those who have fed their kids this meal (love you mom), but I really can’t stand to eat tacos this way anymore. So it was time to expand my cooking skills to a more flavorful option.

Now again, if you’re like me, you probably have a ton of venison just sitting in the freezer and need some ideas on how to cook it so that it’s not the same boring recipe. So I have taken the time to write down some of my favorite Deer and Elk steak recipes for you to give a try and I can promise you that Elk (Venison) Steak Al Pastor Street Tacos (the easy version) will be one of your favorite dishes to make at home.

Prep: 1 hour

Marinate: 4 to 24 hours

Cook: 1 1/2 hours

You will need 4 skewers cut to ¾ length; if using wood skewers, soak them in water 30 minutes first.

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds Elk Steak (any venison)
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 cup boof stock
• Diced pineapple
• 12 corn tortillas
• Salsa of Choice

Instructions:

1. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Toast minced garlic for 1-2 minutes with ½ TBSP of olive oil. Add 1 cup water and beef stock cubes or 1 cup premade beef broth. Add in seasonings and bring to slight simmer. Transfer to a bowl and add in 1 cup orange juice and 1 freshly squeezed lime.
2. Slice Elk (venison) steaks to ¼ inch thick slices, preferably a couple inches wide
3. Place steak in marinade and let refrigerate for minimum of 4 hours up to 24 hours. Remove from fridge roughly 1 hour before cooking.
4. Once you’re ready to cook everything, preheat grill to 250 degrees.
5. Slice a whole onion in half to create the base for the meat to sit on. Run a skewer from the bottom out so that the sharp end is facing up and onion is at the bottom of the skewer for both onion halves; set flat on cutting board
6. Pull steak slices from marinade and stack on the skewers to make two equal height stacks of meat. Place stacks on grill and close to cook for 45 minutes
7. Check on meat stacks after about 30 minutes and brush on marinade if everything seems dry. Rotate and let cook for another 15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, go through and slice up the pineapple, avocado, onion, cilantro, and cut limes into wedges.
9. Go back and check on the meat. If the edges look slightly charred pull the meat to slice edges. If not lay meat on slide and turn grill temp to high. Rotate every 30 seconds or so to a slight char on the edges.
10. Pull meat skewers and with a sharp knife, slice edges of steak off, roughly ¼” at a time all the way around. (You may choose to continue to slice the meat this way but I will place stacks back on their side on the grill to char the edges again. I’ll repeat this twice so that all the chopped steak is cooked the same)
11. If you prefer, place tortillas on the grill as you finish slicing the steak to warm them and create a crisp street style tortilla. Now add steak and toppings, squeeze lime wedge over your tacos and enjoy.

(Quick note: You don’t have to stack the teak vertical to grill but I find the meat holds flavor better when stacked and then flipped on its side at the end, similar to how you might pan sear a roast or steak before placing in the oven or on the grill)

Recipe by: Jeff Moran; @relentlesshntr_208