VENISON TENDERLOIN MEDALLIONS WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole venison tenderloin, 1/2 per person (see notes below)
3 shallots, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, Morels, Oyster, Porcini or your choice
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
3 tablespoons unsalted
butter
1/2 cup Dry Sherry or Port Wine
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar made in Modena, Italy, do not substitute
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Wild
Bill's Meat Rub
Meat
Tenderizer
Morton table salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black peppercorns
(Tellicherry)
2 tablespoons Morton table salt (for brine solution)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar (for brine solution)
1 quart water (for brine solution)
Mix brine solution; 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of light brown
sugar in 1 quart of water adding to a one gallon zip lock type bag. Add
tenderloin and place in refrigerator for 3 hours to overnight. Remove
tenderloin from brine solution and rinse off under cold tap water and pat
dry with paper towels.
Rub tenderloin with olive oil and coat with Wild Bill's Meat Rub and
meat tenderizer; let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to
one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, place a medium
sized saucepan on low/medium heat, add olive oil and sauté shallots and
garlic for about 5 minutes until soft. Add mushrooms to pan and
another tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and black pepper and sauté
another 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine and increase heat bringing mixture to a
boil. Reduce heat to low and add Balsamic vinegar simmering uncovered
for 15 minutes reducing sauce. To finish sauce, add butter blending
well; salt and pepper to taste.
Place an oven proof skillet on high heat, add olive oil and sear tenderloin on
all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet with tenderloin to
oven and roast for 10 minutes or until medium rare; 135 to 140 degrees F.
Use a reliable digital meat thermometer to verify doneness; don't guess. Remove from oven and place tenderloin on a serving dish and loosely tent
with aluminum foil for five minutes to rest. To serve, cut tenderloin
across the grain into 3/4 to 1 inch thick medallions and spoon mushroom sauce on top.
Place remaining mushroom sauce in a small bowl for dipping. Serve
with your favorite sides, e.g., wild rice,
roasted
potatoes,
veggie medley and/or
asparagus spears,
toasted garlic bread and beverage of your
choice.
YIELD: 1/2 tenderloin per person
Above prepared on 12-11-14 and was outstanding. I soaked the
venison in a brine solution consisting of 2 tablespoons of table salt, 2
tablespoons of Light Brown Sugar and 1 quart of water in a one gallon zip lock
type
plastic bag and placed in the refrigerator overnight. Rinsed off in
cold water and pat dried. Also, make certain you use real
balsamic vinegar and not the imitation
stuff sold in most food chain stores. You want the balsamic vinegar that is
made in Modena, Italy and aged a few years.
The mushroom sauce has some sweet and sour going on by the usage of the
Port Wine and the Balsamic Vinegar which complements the venison excellent,
highlighting a complexity of flavors. You can
add some heavy whipping cream to the sauce if desired.
Morel
and
Porcini mushrooms have a more woodsy flavor
to them and "high dollar"
compared to the standard supermarket variety; e.g., Baby Bella, Shiitake,
Portobello and White Button to name a few, but
"most of the time, you get what you pay for."
Beef and Venison tenderloin is at it's peak for taste and tenderness when
cooked between rare and medium rare since there is no fat in the tenderloins
and will get tough the longer you cook it.
With this recipe, you can substitute beef tenderloin or venison loin aka
back strap, however if using venison loin you need to
marinate
it for a couple days since it is a much tougher cut of venison.
Click on below thumbnail sequence pixs for a larger screen view: PS
Left a few pixs out, my bad!
NOTES: Many hunters
mistakenly call the loin or back strap the tenderloin which is incorrect
terminology. The
tenderloins are much smaller, only about 10 to 12
inches in length and are located inside the deer's abdominal cavity, beneath
the spine and toward the tail end. The only way to reach them is by field
dressing the deer and cutting them away. The back straps aka loin
straps are the long, round cuts of meat located on the top of a deer's back.
They run along either side of the spine and can be 2 to 3 feet in length.
Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-09-14 with pixs added on
12-11-14.
LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this
moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be
attained.
Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest
any man should boast.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.”
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.”
Open this
link about faith in the King James Bible.
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Open this
link of Bible Verses About Salvation, King
James Version Bible (KJV).
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God;”
Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth
the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?”
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
