Smoked Venison Twice Baked Potato

Heath Wood

As part of a several-week, online food challenge, one week entailed cooking up my favorite baked potato on the Traeger Grill. These glorified spuds were part of Traeger’s popular hashtag of the #traegergameday contest. The challenge consists of contestants who vote online every Monday between two favorite game day treats; the winning choice must be cooked that weekend with the hashtag #traegergameday. 

My entries for the week requiring baked potatoes included a broccoli and cheese version and a cheesy bacon-covered twice-baked potato. After submitting my entry, I decided to add another spin on the smoked twice-baked potato by adding fresh venison to give it a wild game flavor.

Having harvested a deer with my bow a few days before, I had access to fresh venison backstraps for a recipe. When processing, I sliced several one-inch thick steaks from the backstrap. The backstrap always cooks up a bit more tender than other cuts of meats. However, to add to the tenderness, I decided to put a few slices in a pressure cooker and shred it as a delicious topping for the smoked twice-baked potato. The results were fabulous.

Ingredients for pulled venison:

• 4-6 pieces of 1-inch backstrap venison
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3-4 Pepperoncini
• ½ cup water
• Warmed Traeger Grills’ Traeger Que BBQ sauce

Instructions for venison:

1. Place pieces of venison in pressure cooker.
2. Add water.
3. Season venison with garlic salt, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
4. Pressure cook for 25 minutes or until pieces of venison are tender.
5. Drain liquid and set aside pepperoncini. 
6. Shred venison.

Ingredients for twice baked potato:

• 4 large baking potatoes
• Olive oil
• Coarse sea salt
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
• Pinch of parsley

Instructions for twice baked potato:

1. Wash and dry each potato.
2. Cover in olive oil. 
3. Rub coarse salt all over the potato.
4. Smoke at 400 degrees for 25 minutes on Traeger Grill.
5. Remove from smoker and cut the potato in half.
6. Leaving the skin of the potato intact, gently scoop out the inside and place in a bowl, repeating  with each potato.
7. Add sour cream, butter, and shredded cheese to the bowl with the insides of the potatoes
8. Mix well adding salt and pepper to taste
9. Add a pinch of parsley and stir
10. Scoop potato mixture into each empty shell, overly filling it. 
11. Place filled shells on a baking sheet and place them back onto the smoker.
12. Smoke an additional 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until the tops are slightly brown.

Assembly:

• Place pulled venison on top of the twice-baked potato
• Pour warmed BBQ sauce over the top
• Garnish with the cooked pepperoncini

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