It's that time of year again. Not Halloween. Not Bonfire Night. Bambi Deer season :)
I love venison. I mean really love venison. Have I mentioned a few times in this blog how much I love venison?!
My friendly butcher got a new deer in this week. I usually stock up on loads and put it in the freezer. Steaks, noisettes, diced for casseroles; I'm generally happy to take whatever they've got.
Normally, the deer they get in are pretty small, but they got a big one in this time, so I was able to try out cooking a new cut - tenderloin. Normally, my butcher rolls the tenderloin into noisettes, but they were big enough to cut separately this time. So of course, I kind of had to.
Venison is extremely lean meat, which works well if you are on a low-residue diet and need to keep fat down. It's also very high in protein (and naturally free range to boot!). Its leanness means that it needs to be cooked carefully to prevent it from turning into shoe leather. It is not meant to be cooked to well done. Ever. My butcher suggested pan cooking it very rare.
So, I decided to give it a little extra, and used some parchment to roll it in some fresh ground pepper and dried rosemary.
I got the pan quite hot, then added a tablespoon of olive oil. Lots of people say that butter is the way to go with venison, but I'm quite happy to use extra virgin olive oil instead.
I seared it on all sides, then turned the heat down a bit, and left it for about 5 minutes turning frequently.
I took it out of the pan and let it rest for about five minutes while I dealt with the sides (leftover couscous and a bit of spinach I needed to use up).
Then I cut it very thin, as the butcher suggested.
Oh my, was this ever nice! So lean and flavourful! Should I admit that I easily ate half of it in one go?
And I have leftovers for tonight, om nom nom!!
I love venison. I mean really love venison. Have I mentioned a few times in this blog how much I love venison?!
My friendly butcher got a new deer in this week. I usually stock up on loads and put it in the freezer. Steaks, noisettes, diced for casseroles; I'm generally happy to take whatever they've got.
Normally, the deer they get in are pretty small, but they got a big one in this time, so I was able to try out cooking a new cut - tenderloin. Normally, my butcher rolls the tenderloin into noisettes, but they were big enough to cut separately this time. So of course, I kind of had to.
Venison is extremely lean meat, which works well if you are on a low-residue diet and need to keep fat down. It's also very high in protein (and naturally free range to boot!). Its leanness means that it needs to be cooked carefully to prevent it from turning into shoe leather. It is not meant to be cooked to well done. Ever. My butcher suggested pan cooking it very rare.
So, I decided to give it a little extra, and used some parchment to roll it in some fresh ground pepper and dried rosemary.
I got the pan quite hot, then added a tablespoon of olive oil. Lots of people say that butter is the way to go with venison, but I'm quite happy to use extra virgin olive oil instead.
I seared it on all sides, then turned the heat down a bit, and left it for about 5 minutes turning frequently.
I took it out of the pan and let it rest for about five minutes while I dealt with the sides (leftover couscous and a bit of spinach I needed to use up).
And I have leftovers for tonight, om nom nom!!
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