Grilled venison
with corn, cocoa
and chipotle relish

Corn relish

Place a small amount of olive oil on the ears of corn and place them on a preheated grill and cook until lightly charred. Remove the corn from the grill and allow it to cool (alternatively- cut the kernels off of the cob with a sharp knife and cook in a hot preheated pan until they are lightly blackened and skip the next step).

When cool, cut the kernels from the ear of corn by standing the ear on its end in a mixing bowl and running a sharp knife down each side. The bowl should collect all the kernels and leave you with no mess to clean up. Place the bowl of corn aside

Separately, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, salt, and olive oil in a sauté pan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until the mixture starts to caramelize and go golden brown. 

Add the smoked paprika, cocoa powder, and chipotle and cook and additional 2 minutes. 

Add sherry vinegar and cook until it has evaporated to almost dry.

Remove from the heat and pour the cooked onion/vinegar mixture in with the roasted corn and mix until incorporated. Add the chopped peppadew peppers if using.

Allow the mix to cool and add cilantro just before serving (the acid of the vinegar will cause it to go brown if added too early)

Note - When the mix has completely cooled you can refrigerate it but make sure that it is brought back to room temperature before serving or the flavors will taste slightly muted.

Venison

Preheat the grill to high heat.

Rub the rack of venison with the olive oil and wrap each bone in aluminum foil (this is an optional step that will keep the bones nice and white while cooking).

Place the cumin seeds and black pepper on a cutting board and use the side of a large chef’s knife to break them up into pieces. Use the knife to chop through the spices a few times so that they are chunky (not whole and not a fine powder but rustic chunks of spice).

In a mixing bowl combine the Maldon salt, chunky black pepper, chunky cumin and dark brown sugar. Stir to combine.

Rub the venison with the salt mixture, being sure to cover the entire meat surface. Set the venison aside to marinate for 20 minutes.

Place the venison on the grill to char the meat. Turn occasionally to cook the meat evenly.

Remove the meat when it is rare to medium rare. This could take 8-10 minutes depending on how hot your grill is (do not overcook the meat as it has little fat and will dry out if not tended to in time).

Place the rack on a plate or cooling rack to rest for 6-8 minutes. This is a necessary step that will allow the juice to reabsorb into the meat fibers making for a juicy piece of meat instead of pouring out onto your plate when it is cut making for a messy plate.

When ready to serve, make a cut between each bone to create 6 equal sized pieces, each with one bone connected to it. 

To serve

Simply dress a grilled venison rib chop with a healthy dollop of corn relish and garnish with picked cilantro. Enjoy!