Venison with Morel Sauce
Mar 13th, 2008 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Foraging, Mushrooms, Recipe, Venison, Wild Game | Comments | 7 Comments |
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
I am happy to report that the morel mushrooms in this venison steak were not the only ones we found in our front yard. Since I cooked this dish last weekend, we’ve found six more. Woo hoo!
Morels are the best mushroom to pair with red meat like steak or, in this case, whitetail venison. They just smell so…woodsy. That aroma, mixed with the dense richness of medium-rare venison, still makes the Cadillac of game dishes – at least to me. I’d serve this to even the most jaded or discerning palate.
Venison with morel sauce is simple, but not cheap. It can be done with filet mignon if you cannot find venison or antelope medallions, but it needs to be this kind of cut. I suppose you could use wild boar loin, too.
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VENISON with MOREL SAUCE
Morel mushrooms and venison, or antelope, or bison, or even the common steak, are a marriage far more successful than most pairings between mushrooms and meat — which can often compete with one another. This dish is simple, deep and delicious.
But don’t skimp on the morels, or the quality of any ingredient: You — and your guests — will notice. Can’t find them? You can buy morels online, or you can substitute shiitakes from the supermarket.
My original version was made with venison loin (backstrap) and mostly dried morels. I’ve also done it with venison tenderloin and fresh morels. Both versions are below.
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
- 1 1/2 pounds venison medallions, cut 3/4 to 1 inch thick, or the tenderloins from a large deer
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or canola oil
MOREL SAUCE
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1/4 cup dried morels, soaked in water for several hours – or about 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh morels
- 1 cup venison or beef stock or 1/4 cup veal demi-glace
- 1/2 cup Port wine (something you would drink)
- Salt to taste
- In a small saucepan, reduce the stock and the water you soaked the morels in over high heat until you are left with about 1/2 cup of liquid. Turn off the heat and set aside. Obviously skip this step if using fresh morels, and do not include the demi-glace if using.
- Take the venison out of the fridge and salt it liberally. Let it rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Heat a pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-high and place the fresh morels down on the pan to heat. They will release their water quickly. Let this simmer until the water is almost all gone, then add 3 tablespoons of butter and shallot. saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Remove and set aside. If you are using dried morels,you do not need to dry-cook them first.
- Either wipe the pan down or use another one. Heat it over high heat for a minute or two and add the grapeseed oil. Heat this for 1 minute.
- Pat the venison dry with a paper towel and place it in the pan. Sear it for 3-4 minutes on one side, then flip. Let it cook through to your taste on the other side without flipping again. Look for about another 1-3 minutes. Remove meat from pan and set aside under foil to rest.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and let it melt over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to combine to make a roux. Cook this for 2 minutes.
- Add the port wine and stir to combine. It will thicken immediately, and if it turns to a paste add the morel water-stock mix you reduced in step one. If it does not turn into a paste, let the port boil a minute, then add the stock or demi-glace. Add the morels.
- Once the morels are heated through, lay down a pool of the sauce on the plates, then top with venison. Arrange the rehydrated morels around the meat, and top each steak with a half of a fresh morel.
- Grind black pepper over all and serve at once.
Buy Fresh or Dried Morels Online:
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Beautiful photo! I’m thrilled at the possibility of preparing something like this. The venison will have to come from my brother or nephew. There are thousands of deer here, but a petting zoo mentality prevails. We’d hate to be run off the island.
That sounds really good. Makes me think I need to go morel hunting when they come up here. Then all I have to do is figure out how to afford filet mignon.
Skip the filet and find some venison medallions. Much better, IMHO, and probably easier to find lurking in either your freezer or that of someone you know, yes?
Wow, we don’t get morel around here til May.
Just made this recipe with some fresh giant morels I found in North Carolina last week. I grilled the venison backstrap and sliced it thin across the grain, substitued madiera for the port, substituted garlic for the shallots, and dropped in a sprig of fresh rosemary, but otherwise stuck to the recipe (that’s as close as I ever come…use what you got). It was some of the best venison I’ve ever eaten, and definately the best sauce I’ve ever made. Thanks for the recipe. My daughter and I found several pounds of oyster mushrooms yesterday. We fried some with breadcrumb breading for lunch yesterday and had an omlet with the rest today. Do you have any additional ideas for oysters? We should have several more months of good oyster picking before it gets hot and the maggots take over.
Thanks for the website. I love to hunt and forage and it’s given me lots of great ideas and inspiration.
John
we made this last night w/ thimble cap morels and venison back strap. it was INCREDIBLE! we are saucy people so i doubled it and there was about 1/4 leftover.
for a snack today i toasted 1/4 of a baguette (sliced) and topped it with the leftover port sauce and a small sliver of the single leftover slice of venison. what a treat!
this was excellent.
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