Grilled Garlic-Rosemary Elk Roast

This is a recipe from one of our favorite cookbooks, The Complete Hunter: Venison Cookery. I have posted another recipe from this book on The Cowgirl's Kitchen blog. Every single recipe we have tried from this cookbook has been excellent, so I'm hopeful for this one as well. Right now I have an elk roast marinating. I will post a picture and let you know how it turned out later this evening.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

MARINADE:

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 oz. fresh rosemary sprigs, cut into 1-inch pieces (1/2 cup) *(my fresh rosemary is currently at the house in town, where it receives more sunlight and I hope will recuperate from accidentally getting too cold this winter. I used a bunch of dried rosemary, that I crumbled into the bag)

4 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


2-lb. venison top round roast, 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick (obviously, I am substituting elk)


In 4-cup measure, combine all marinade ingredients. (I just combined in the bag) Stir to dissolve sugar. Place roast in large sealable plastic bag. Add marinade, seal bag and turn to coat roast. Refrigerate roast several hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill for medium direct heat. Drain and reserve marinade from roast. (I have a problem with this. They recommend basting your roast with the marinade every 10 minutes, but that is raw meat juice! I'm not going to do it. Possibly in the beginning, but not near the end.)

Grill roast, covered, for 30 to 40 minute for medium-rare, or until desired doneness, turning roast every 10 minutes. Tent with foil. Let roast stand 10 minutes before carving.


Now, for those of you who may not know this: "Tent with foil" does NOT mean to cover it tightly with foil. It means to take a sheet of tin foil, and loosely place it on top of the meat. You can conform it to the top of the meat a bit so it doesn't fall off, but DON'T tuck it underneath as you may be tempted to do.