Venison in Blackberry-Thyme Sauce

Venison in a Blackberry-Thyme Sauce

I haven’t made this very often because venison isn’t widely available in the San Francisco Bay Area. But when it is, I buy it and use this recipe. You don’t have to be experienced at cooking venison to make this dish. You just brown the meat on all sides in your skillet then transfer it to the oven for 20 minutes or so. After that, it’s just making the blackberry-thyme sauce while the venison roasts in the oven.
Servings

4

Prep time

60 min

Ingredients
  • 2 pounds venison tenderloin
  • ½ cup Port wine
  • 3 2” strips of orange peel
  • ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 4 juniper berries
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ cup butter, divided
  • ½ cup diced leaks
  • 3 shallots, minced
  • ⅔ cup dry white wine
  • 3 tablespoons blackberry jelly
  • 1 cup fresh blackberries
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
Preparation
Place venison loin in a Ziploc bag. 

In a small bowl, combine the port, orange peel, Kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, juniper berries, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and thyme. Pour the marinade mixture over the venison in the Ziploc bag. Refrigerate overnight.  

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat olive oil in a 10” inch skillet over medium heat. Add the venison, and brown on all sides. 

Transfer the venison to the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, swirl in 2 tablespoons of butter. Add leeks and shallots, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the port, and cook for an additional 12 minutes or until reduced by half. Reduce heat to low and add the blackberries and the 2 remaining tablespoons of butter. Stir until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Cut venison into ¼” slices. Drizzle with blackberry sauce and garnish with fresh blackberries and thyme.

Source: Adapted from Cast Iron Cooking by Dwayne Ridgeway © Copyright 2006 by Quarry Books.
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