Pan-seared Venison Loin with Roasted Root Vegetables and Cranberry Port Reduction
The term ‘foodshed’ is similar to the concept of a watershed: while watersheds outline the flow of water supplying a particular area, foodsheds outline the flow of food feeding a particular area. Your foodshed encompasses the farm, your table and everything in between. –foodroutes.org
Our foodshed, the Edwards Plateau of central Texas, offers an amazing abundance of food from deer, rabbit and feral hog to freshwater crayfish, bass and catfish and every manner of fruit and vegetable.
This local dish features whitetail deer, smoked bacon, sage, cranberries, sweet potatoes, parsnips and green garlic..
Pan-seared Venison Loin with Roasted Root Vegetables and Cranberry Port Reduction
For the Reduction
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1/3 cup filtered water
1 teaspoon clarified butter
1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed Mayer lemon juice
1 teaspoon more-or-less guajillo honey
1 teaspoon shallot, minced
1 tablespoon port wine
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Heat butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes. Add cranberries and water and simmer until cranberries pop and begin to soften. Add port wine and simmer until reduced in volume by about half. Stir in lemon, season to taste with salt and pepper and add just enough honey to smooth out the tartness (the sauce should be balanced rather than sweet). Keep warm.
For the Vegetables
A seasonal variety of root vegetables, perhaps including sweet potatoes, green garlic, carrots and parsnips, cut in smallish pieces
1 teaspoon pastured butter, melted
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Toss vegetables in melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then remove and set aside. Vegetables will be underdone at this point.
For the Venison (serves 2)
12 oz fresh, unsliced venison loin (backstrap)
2 pieces applewood-smoked bacon, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons sage, crumbled
1 tablespoon pastured butter
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Fry bacon in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat until crisp and all the fat has rendered. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon and sage to a side dish, leaving the hot bacon fat behind. Rinse the venison, pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium and add butter to bacon fat fat. Once shimmering, add the venison and sear until well browned, about 3 minutes per side. Add par-roasted vegetables to the pan and place in a 400 degree oven until the venison is about 125-130 degrees at the thickest part (use a thermometer). Remove from oven and allow to stand at least 5 minutes.
To serve, spoon cranberry reduction onto the center of a serving plate. Slice venison into 3/4 inch-thick medallions and arrange around the plate along with roasted vegetables. Garnish with crumbled bacon and sage and dress with a spoonful of pan juices. Offer coarse salt on the side.
Potatoes Gratiné
A slightly different take on a classic dish, these Potatoes Gratiné forgo the usual cheese and cream in favour of bacon, onions and fresh tri-color sage..
Potatoes Gratiné
Serves 2-3 as a side dish
approx. 18-20 fingerling potatoes, quartered
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 pound un-cured bacon or fresh pork belly, diced
1 small bunch tri-color sage (Salvia officinalis Tricolor)
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground smoked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 pieces of stale bread
1 tablespoon pastured butter
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Sauté bacon or pork belly in a heavy skillet until about half cooked, then add potatoes. Cook, stirring often, until the potatoes are golden brown and tender and the bacon is nearly crisp. Add onions, garlic and sage and cook until onions are translucent. Pour of excess fat then season potatoes to taste with sea salt and smoked pepper. Transfer to a small casserole and set aside.
Cut or tear stale bread into small pieces and combine with chopped parsley and melted butter. Scatter the gratin over the top of the potatoes then place the casserole 8 inches under the broiler until toasted.
Pan-Roasted Quail with Wild Rice Stuffing and Blackberry Jus Lie
Semi-boneless quail seasoned with sea salt and smoked pepper and stuffed with wild rice, pecans, scallions and porcini mushrooms. Served with blackberry jus lié.
I wish the plate presentation were better, but I was scrambling like mad before losing the light. Oh, well..
Pan-Roasted Quail with Wild Rice Stuffing and Blackberry Jus Lie
Serves two
For the Rice
1 cup wild rice
chicken stock instead of water, in the quantity specified on the rice package
2 whole porcini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 chopped pecans
1 clove garlic, minced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
sea salt and black pepper
Cook the rice and set aside to cool. Sauté mushrooms, pecans, garlic, scallions and sage until the pecans are golden brown then stir into the cooled rice. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
For the Quail
4 semi-boneless quail
2 tablespoons pastured butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon poivron rouge
sea salt and smoked blacked pepper
Rinse and pat dry the quail. Tuck the wing tips. Use a teaspoon or your fingers to stuff in as much rice as the bird will comfortably hold.
Transfer the birds to a skillet. Mix together the melted butter and paprika and use that to paint the birds with. Place in a 375 degree oven until golden brown and the juices run clear, about 18 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil.
For the Jus Lié
2 pieces uncured, applewood-smoked bacon, diced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup blackberries
2 oz port
2 tablespoons glace de poulet
2 tablespoons filtered water
Sauté bacon and shallots in a tablespoon of the drippings from the pan that the quail was roasted in. Once the bacon is crisp, de-glaze the pan with port and add the blackberries. Stir and cook until the berries begin to break apart, then add demi-glace and water. Cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, then strain or not, as you see fit.
To Serve
Split quail in half lengthwise and spoon sauce over the top. Serve immediately.
Loin of Rabbit with Pancetta, Porcini and Wild Onions
Loin of rabbit with pancetta, porcini, wild onions, garlic and sage..
Sauté pancetta in a teaspoon of clarified butter until most of the fat has been rendered. Turn the heat up to medium-high, then add thick pieces of porcini mushroom and continue to cook until golden brown.
Season strips of rabbit loin with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper and add to the hot pan with garlic, onions and sage. Let the rabbit brown, but keep it to no more than medium doneness.
De-glaze the pan with an ounce of Armagnac and stir up all the brown bits with the edge of a wooden spoon. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock and reduce slightly.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add a couple of ounces of fresh cream and a good spoonful of coarse mustard. Stir until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Toss in some coarsely-chopped curly parsley and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
Serve over rye spaetzle or egg noodles.
Sunday Chicken
You might also like this recipe for Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad
Roast chicken and vegetables is a densely nutritional, healing meal. Here’s a really tasty all-in-one-pan recipe using olive oil, lemon and fresh herbs..
Herb Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables
Partially peel and par-boil a few potatoes in salted water. Drain, bash and set aside.
Wash a fresh, pastured chicken inside and out with plenty of kosher salt and cold, filtered water. Pat dry.
Stuff the cavity of the bird with fresh rosemary, sage and thyme and set in a large heavy skillet.
Surround the bird with potatoes and coarsely chopped garlic, leeks, purple carrots, beets or whatever root vegetables you have on hand.
Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the contents of the pan. Add fresh herbs and drizzle everything with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper.
Roast at 400 degrees until juices run clear, about 1 hour. Allow to rest 10 minutes before carving and serving with pan juices.
Save the bones for soup stock.
(not your average) Liver and Onions
Sometimes described as metallic or overly strong tasting, mushy or tough or simply uninteresting, beef liver has gotten a bad rap over the years. It doesn’t have to be that way..
Liver and Onions with Bacon and Sage
click to enlarge
Pastured beef liver fried with bacon, just-dug onions, brown mushrooms and fresh sage leaves brings this inexpensive, nutritional powerhouse back to the dinner table. Even the kids will dig it.
Select only the freshest, pastured beef liver, never the frozen feed-lot stuff from the supermarket. Cut into 1/2 strips and lightly dredge in sprouted flour seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper. Set aside.
Fry uncured, pastured bacon until crisp and all the fat has rendered out.
Add sliced onions and continue to cook until well browned.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon grease and reserve for another use.
Add 2 tablespoons pastured butter to the hot pan and swirl to combine with the remaining bacon fat.
Add sliced brown mushrooms (I like the dark, earthy-flavored varieties) and sauté until they begin to crisp on the edges.
Make sure that the skillet is still good and hot, then add strips of floured liver and coarsely chopped fresh sage and flat-leaf parsley. Cook until well browned, turn and brown on the other side.
Arrange on a plate, drizzle with pan juices and enjoy.
Pan-fried beef liver is a good source of Iron and Zinc, and a very good source of Protein (approx. 22g per 4oz), Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Copper and Selenium.
This post is part of the Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet
