Venison loin medallions with red wine and berry sauce
A quick and easy dinner recipe using venison loin or beef fillet, a sauce made with red wine, berry preserve and served with cavolo nero
Ingredients
Red Wine and Berry Sauce
- 1 banana shallot peeled and chopped finely
- 75 ml red wine
- 75 ml chicken or beef stock
- 50 g butter
- 2 teaspoons of your choice of red berry preserve.
- Salt and pepper
Venison Medallions
- Four venison medallions or two beef fillet steaks weighing around 350g - 400g total
- 1 handful of fresh thyme or rosemary Pick the thyme or rosemary leaves from their stems. Chop rosemary leaves finely as possible
- 5-6 juniper berries
- 1 small head of cavolo nero to serve - or vegetables of your choice.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 glug red wine to deglaze the pan
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
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Chop the shallot very finely.
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Melt half the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the shallots to soften for 8 minutes or so over a low temperature
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Crush the juniper berries and herbs in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt. Add the olive oil and use the mixture to coat the venison medallions well on all sides.
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Add the stock, red berry preserves and wine to the shallots, bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes until it has reduced by about 50%. You may prefer to strain your sauce to remove the shallot and berry pieces, but I think they add to the dish.
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Steam the cavolo nero in about an inch of water for about 6-8 minutes. Once tender, remove from the heat and drain.
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Heat your frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the oiled venison medallions with any remaining oil.
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Sear the medallions quickly on both sides then continue to cook for around 2 minutes on each side until they are cooked (for a rare steak). Adjust the cooking time depending on the size and thickness of your medallions. Beef fillets will take longer
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Take the medallions out of the pan and put to one side, covered with a foil tent, to rest.
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Deglaze the frying pan with a little more red wine then pour the juices into the red wine sauce.
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Reheat the sauce and once nearly boiling whisk through the butter.
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Slice the venison medallions and serve arranged on a bed of drained cavolo nero. Drizzle over the berry sauce.
