Prep time

30 minutes

Rest time

1 hour

Cook time

1 hour

Ingredients:

• ½ kg streaky bacon
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 med red onions
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 600g venison mince
• 60g tasty cheese, sliced
• 2 jalapeños
• ¼ cup cream cheese
• 2-3 Tbsp cranberry jelly
• 1 tsp salt
• cracked pepper

Glaze

• ¼ cup pineapple juice
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 Tbsp melted honey
• 1 Tbsp hot sauce (optional)

Method:

1. On a chopping board, weave 7×7 bits of streaky bacon. Pop chopping board in the fridge for 15 mins so the bacon firms up.

2. While bacon weave is in the fridge, put oil and butter in a pan on low-med heat, add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.

3. Get bacon weave out of fridge and evenly spread venison mince in a square, leaving 3cm around the edge.

4. Evenly spread cooked garlic and onion onto mince, then sprinkle with salt, smoked paprika and a generous amount of cracked pepper.

5. Slice both jalapeños in half lengthwise and remove placenta and seeds. Fill three of the halves with cream cheese.

6. Lay sliced tasty cheese across centre of mince. Next, layer the cream-cheese-filled jalapeños and any extra cream cheese. Lastly, add cranberry jelly.

7. Tightly fold left and right sides of bacon onto the venison mince, then roll from the top down, folding it almost in half then rolling tightly.

8. Lift it very carefully – it will be fragile. Place on some Glad Wrap, wrap tightly, and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

9. Mix glaze ingredients in a bowl.

10. When you’re ready to start cooking, heat your charcoal BBQ until it reaches 120°C/250°F. Your log needs to cook on indirect heat, so use a plate if possible.

11. Unwrap the cheesy venison log and place in centre of grill.

12. After 30 mins, add ¼ of glaze to the log, then every 10 mins, use same amount of glaze until it’s gone. Check internal temperature of log each time. To check temperature, insert cooking thermometer longways just under the bacon to test temperature of mince. When it reaches 71°C, it’s ready. It’ll take around 1 hour.

13. Slice with a sharp knife and enjoy.

1. You can also add mushrooms. Cook 150g at the same time as the onion and garlic.

2. If you don’t have a charcoal BBQ, cook in oven at 180°C fan bake. Start checking internal temperature after 25 mins, and as for on the BBQ, cook until mince temperature is 71°C.