Venison & Red Wine Sauce
To serve 2-4 people.
INGREDIENTS
Loin of Venison - as large as required
Smoked streaky Bacon - 5-6 rashers
Shallot - 2 average sized shallots
Garlic - 1 bulb
Red Wine Vinegar - 3-5 Tbsp
Red Wine - 250ml
Chicken Stock - 200ml
Butter - 1-2 Tbsp
Thyme - 1 small handful
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Remove any small bits of sinew or silver skin from the Loin of Venison, and cut it into portions.
2. Cut the Bacon into small lardons.
3. Add the Bacon to a frying pan, set to medium.
4. Slowly render out the fat from the Bacon, and start to get a little colour.
5. Cut a bulb of Garlic in half, and add one half to the pan with the Bacon.
6. Next, finely dice 2 Shallots.
7.Add the Shallots to the pan once the Bacon has a little colour.
8. Season with black Pepper, but no Salt at this point.
9. Sweat down the Onions until they are soft, sweet and translucent.
10. Add a small bunch of Thyme, along with a small knob of Butter.
11. Stir the herbs into the pan, then deglaze with a small dash of red Wine Vinegar.
12. Reduce the Vinegar to a syrup, then add the red Wine.
13. Reduce the Wine by around a third, then add a splash of Beef stock.
14. Strain the Sauce through a sieve into a Saucepan.
15. Add a knob of Butter to the Sauce and swirl the pan to gently emulsify and mix the Butter through the Sauce making it nice and glossy.
16. Season the Sauce to taste, then place it to one side ready to re heat.
17. Add a frying pan to a high heat, and add a dash of Oil*
*you can use any oil, my preference is canola, but you can use tallow, peanut, avocado etc, olive oil is fine but will impart some flavour and can burn easier
18. Season the Venison with fine Salt and lay it into the pan.
19. Turn the Venison every 40 seconds until you have a nice crust on the outside.
20. Add a very generous knob of Butter, the other half a bulb of Garlic, and a bunch of Thyme.
21. Baste the Venison in the foaming Butter, while turning it every 30 seconds.
22. Remove the Venison when it is cooked to your preference, I always go medium rare with Venison*
*for medium rare I remove the loin from the pan at 43 degrees, the heat will continue to rise and will reach around 52.
*for rare, remove it at 38 degrees,
medium, 47 degrees
medium well, 53 degrees
and well done, 60+ degrees
23. Once out of the pan, allow the Venison to rest for 10 -12 minutes*
*this is very very important, as the heat will continue to rise for around 3 minutes, then will start to very slowly come down, but very slowly