Barbecued venison flatbreads

This recipe is one of our signature foods. We have been doing our venison flatbreads for a number of years now, and they are always extremely popular. We often run them parallel to our lamb flatbreads, but in the past couple of years they have overtaken the lamb sales, which is great news — I am always pushing and promoting venison. We use the haunches for our flatbreads — we cut out the thigh bone and butterfly them. Once you cut down the inside of the haunch and remove the bone, you can work in-between the paves, releasing the muscle until you get a flat, even slab of meat, perfect for cooking over the BBQ grill.

One of the most important things in this recipe or technique is to marinade your meat. A good, punchy marinade gives a lot of flavour and crust to the outside. This one works so well for venison.

Barbecued Venison Flatbreads

Ingredients

Up to 2kg butterflied venison haunch

For the marinade

• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1tbsp coarse black pepper
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 lime, halved
• 60ml olive oil

For the cabbage

• 500g cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt

For the sauce

• 200ml mayonnaise
• 1/2 Tsp paprika
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp garlic puree

For the salad and bread

•  15 to 20 flatbreads
• 300g lettuce, sliced
• 5 large beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced

Method

1. For the marinade, mix together all of the ingredients in a large container or a food-grade bag, then place your butterflied haunch in and rub in the marinade all over. Place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours to let the meat absorb the marinade. It’s best to do this the morning you plan to have the barbecue. To make the shredded cabbage, mix in the olive oil, lemon and salt with the shredded cabbage, then place in the fridge in a container.
2. An hour before you plan to start cooking, take out the cabbage and the meat. You will want the meat to have reached room temperature before you begin. This will help get an even cook all the way through.
3. When your coals are ready, the temperature should be a medium heat. An easy way to check is to see if it’s hot enough to hold your hand over the grill for 6 to 8 seconds. Place the butterflied haunch on the grill.
4. Meanwhile, make the sauce, combining all the ingredients together in a bowl. Place to one side.
5. Turn over the haunch every 10 minutes or so. I like to take the meat off when the internal temperature gets to around 53°C — this will be medium rare once you have wrapped it in foil and rested for 20 minutes. For best practice, use a temperature probe. Medium rare is perfect for venison, as the more well done you go the drier the meat can get, since there is no inter-muscular fat.
6. When ready, carve up the haunch in slices against the grain and start to build your venison flatbreads. I put the salad first, then add the lettuce and zesty cabbage, followed by the venison and tomatoes. To finish, drizzle over the lemon garlic mayo, and if you are anything like me, a good dash of hot sauce or sriracha goes really well with it too.

Read more of our suggestions for barbecuing venison here.