Jerry Smith killed his first deer some 20 years ago with a bow and arrow on the grounds of the Carmelite Sisters residence in Towson.
The deer was grazing the vast garden, and attempts to shoo it out of the vast vegetable pen with pots and pans had failed.
“A hit sanctioned by the nuns,” laughed Smith, a 47-year-old Parkville resident who recently returned from a hunting trip in Wyoming, terrain somewhat more exotic than the grounds of a Catholic monastery on Dulaney Valley Road.
“I have a picture of me and a nun in front of a dead deer in the back of a pickup truck. I’d like to say she was wearing a habit, but it would be a lie.”
Smith is the seventh of nine children born to Glenna Stout Smith, now of Glen Burnie, and Bernard Alfred Smith, who died in 1973.
While Jerry was growing up, the Smiths lived in various working-class Baltimore neighborhoods, beginning in Pigtown before moving to several homes near Memorial Stadium.
Jerry believes it was all of the concrete, chaos and noise of the city that led his older brothers to become hunters. He followed, preferring a bow to a rifle.
“It’s more peaceful,” he said of bow season, which runs from mid-September to Jan. 31. “Less people in the forest . . . you really have to meld with your surroundings . . . a path less traveled.”
Adept at dressing, butchering and cooking his game, Smith — a single father — recently prepared a venison dinner for his teenage daughter, Alison. The roast came from his brother, who shot the deer in the Darlington area of Harford County.
“Venison is not beef, you can’t process it like beef,” said Smith, noting that clean kills and proper butchering factor into the taste — how strong or how mild — as much as cooking.
“Venison is an exotic meat that can bring extra zip to your menu if prepared with care,” said Smith. “Our family has grown to enjoy venison in our regular diet — it’s very lean and not injected, radiated or processed mechanically.”
Jerry Smith’s open-flame venison tenderloin
(Feeds four)
• One venison tenderloin roast
• Plastic wrap
• Olive oil, salt and pepper
• Barbecue grill and charcoal
1. Thaw roast.
2. Lay several layers of plastic wrap on large cutting board.
3. Place meat on plastic wrap and liberally coat with olive oil. Salt and pepper.
4. Wrap meat in plastic and place overnight in refrigerator.
5. The next day, bring coals to white heat in grill. Move most hot coals to one side and sear exterior of tenderloin until well done. This should not take long.
6. Move meat to side of grill with fewer coals and cook until interior meat is done to medium. Smith confesses to “guessing.” You may want to use a meat thermometer.
7. Slice into half-inch thick strips and serve with side dishes of your choice.
Rafael Alvarez can be reached at [email protected]
