The best thing you can do with that venison you harvested this season is to make it into jerky! This spicy (or not) recipe has a fantastic original jerky flavor that won't last long if you share it with friends!
Trim all visible fat from the venison or beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag. If adding peppers, blend the peppers with the marinade in a blender before adding to ziplock bag.
Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for an easy chew. Cut with the grain for a more chewy jerky. Visit my page on slicing jerky for more information. I used my Weston Jerky Slicer when making this recipe.
Add sliced venison or beef to the mixture in the ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.
Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator and dried for 4.5 hours at 165F.
The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. White fibers will also be seen when the jerky is bent.
Notes
Marinate for 24 hours for best flavor.
Ziplock bags make the best container for marinating. Release all the air from the bag and roll up so all pieces are totally covered when marinating. Rotate several times throughout the 24 hours for even marinated jerky.
Allow jerky to cool for 5 minutes before checking to see if it is finished drying.
Use more than 1 pepper for a more spicy flavor. Habanero peppers would also be great with this recipe.
Use a blender to chop up peppers into the marinade if adding to the recipe. (I recommend adding some!)