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Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Steak Diane. What can I say? This dish was already passe when I first began going to restaurants as a boy in the 1970s; its heyday in America was in the 1950s and 1960s, when French cooking was all the rage. (thanks, Julia!) Most people who remember this dish remember it as beef filet mignon with a piquant sauce of mustard, Worcestershire sauce, demi-glace, cream and shallots — all flambeed at the table with cognac.
Ritzy, eh? Well, my version of steak Diane is a little less flamboyant, and it hearkens back to the dish’s roots. Diane, you see, is really Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. And Sauce Diane, at least in its proto-form, was first mentioned by Escoffier in his Le Guide Culinare back in 1907. And it was a sauce not for beef, but for venison.
It is a classic for a reason. This sauce is so good you must have lots of bread around to sop it up. If you don’t, you will find yourself licking the plate, and that’s not very polite.
I developed this recipe after working with Elise at Simply Recipes on her version of steak Diane, and I am more than happy with my version, which is a little stronger flavored than hers; it seemed appropriate considering that venison is more strongly flavored than beef. Steak Diane is absolutely a date-night dish, but it is also so damn easy to make you can whip it up on a Wednesday night. So I suppose if you have a Wednesday night date it would be perfect…
Anyone else have any stories to tell about steak Diane?
photo by Holly A. Heyser
Venison steak diane
Steak Diane really needs a tender cut, and with venison that means backstrap, loin in non-hunter vernacular. The best way to cook this is with a large piece of backstrap that you then cut into medallions right before you serve. If you have regular medallions, it will still work. While it is important to use heavy cream for this recipe (lighter creams will separate), it is not that important to have fancy brandy for this recipe — just use something you would drink, OK?
Serves 2, and can be doubled.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
- 1/2 pound piece of venison backstrap, boned lamb loin or beef filet mignon
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup venison stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Enough heavy cream to turn the sauce the color of coffee-with-cream, about 1/4 cup
- Minced herbs for garnish (basil, parsley, chives, etc)
- Bring the venison loin out of the fridge, salt it well and let it come to room temperature, at least 20 minutes.
- Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat for about 90 seconds. Pat the venison dry with a paper towel and cook it on all sides. Turn the heat to medium so the butter doesn’t scorch, and take your time. It should take about 8-10 minutes or so to get a nice brown crust on the venison without overcooking the center. Remove the venison, tent loosely with foil and set aside.
- Add the shallots to the saute pan and cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Don’t let the garlic burn. Deglaze the pan with the brandy, scraping off any stuck-on bits in the pan with a wooden spoon. Let the brandy cook down almost to a glaze, then add the venison stock, tomato paste, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Let this boil down until a wooden spoon dragged across the pan leaves a trail behind it that does not fill in for a second or two. This should take about 3 minutes on high heat.
- Turn off the heat and let the boiling subside. Stir in the cream until the sauce is as light as you like. Don’t let the sauce boil again or it could break.
- Slice the venison into thick medallions. If you find you have not cooked it enough, let the meat swim in the sauce for a few moments to heat through. If the venison is to your liking, pour some sauce on a plate and top with the meat. Garnish with some chopped herbs. Chives is traditional, but basil and parsley are also nice. Serve with a big red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Petit Verdot or Graciano.
This looks spectacular, Hank! Just in time for deer season!
Thanks.
I am supposed to stay at work for another eight hours, after seeing THAT!
I might have to get ‘sick’, go home, and get out some venison….
…that just looks amazing.
(Thanks, Great job, Hank!)
I just happen to have a backstrap in the freezer! I can’t wait to try the recipe this weekend. Thanks!
My mom used to serve this with a huge amount of thick cut onions encircling the medallions. She added them about five minutes before adding the cream. Thanks for the memories!
Wow. As if I didn’t have reason enough to try for my own deer this year, you present me with this luscious dish. Thanks for sharing!
This year I’m making sure I keep my back strap whole so I can prepare this! It’s been, umm, decades since I’ve had it.
Venison STEAK DIANE! Wow, sometimes I think Ive lost my memory.
As a young woman I worked as a hostess/table side chef at a schmancy dining establishment. One of the dishes I cooked was steak Diane. Ummmmm, I can still taste the rich, deep sauce (that was 30 yrs ago too). I used to flame it at the end for presentation.
70 % of what we eat is venison. I actually do have a whole tenderloin in the freezer that I meticulously trimmed during the annual deer processing. I will be making this as soon as it thaws. All these years of cooking venison and I never thought to make this. I can hardly wait. Thanks for the head rush.
PS! Wheres the mushrooms Hank!
Great suggestion Hank. I’ve got a nice cut of Oryx just waiting to be eaten.
Great looking recipe. We’ve got some good venison down here in South-Western Australia, so I’m keen to give this a try. Cheers.
This is my go to sauce for red meat since I had it on the menu of a restaurant in San Francisco in the late ’90′s. I also use it for a base for au poivre, just heavily pepper the protien and add green peppercorns to the sauce. Love your blog Hank Keep it up!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try the recipe. Thanks for sharing Hank.
Love Steak Diane!
I’m so retro, it’s hilarious!
Great idea for what to do with a backstrap!
Looks delicious!
I never tire of venison and can never get enough, it’s what we grew up on! : )
~Martin
I feel compelled to reply to this recipe.
I cooked it up for my wife, and followed the recipe nearly to a T. The only thing different was replacing the shallots with onions…not because I felt this would improve the dish, but because it was all I had.
Let me first say that I’m by no means a food savvy person. I only recently (within the last 5 years or so) learned the proper way to cook wild game. That said, I have a few go-to dishes that I use for the myriad of game I use, and tend to not vary from the trend.
HOWEVER, I decided to make Venison Diane, mostly because I had virtually all the ingredients handy and I actually had a 3/4 pound hunk of backstrap still in the freezer.
Without getting too detailed, I’ll just spell it out for everyone: incredible. That’s it. This recipe is, without a doubt, the most delicious, perfect, most amazing way of serving venison I have ever tasted. The sauce is rich and succulent; the meat, tender and juicy. I served it with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans, and used a huge hunk of bread to sop up all that heavenly sauce.
If I didn’t feel I’d burn myself out on it too soon, I’d probably cook all of my backstrap this way. It really is THAT good! Thanks a ton Hank!!!
Wow! Thanks for this recipe. I was cleaning out the freezer in anticipation of this year’s season when I found an overlooked piece of backstrap. I had stumbled across your recipe a few days earlier, but thought it would have to wait until a deer was down this year.
Anyway, followed your recipe closely, and the result was simply delicious. My wife and I enjoyed it immensely. Served with maque choux, a crusty baguette, and a fine pinot noir. Great meal; thanks again.
I found this site while looking for venison consomme and came across the other venison recipes. I knew I had a half backstrap from a younger spike in the freezer. This venison Diane was incredible, this recipe is wonderful and fun to cook. I also made some with a beef filet. I like the way you write and the advice you give on the meat etc. It is great to see various ways to cook game. Looking forward to trying the others.
Made this last night using farmed venison medallions. It was the best venison dish i have ever made, will be making this more often. great recipe!
I made this the other night and it was amazing!!!!the best venison I have ever made by far. Highly recommend.
My husband proudly presented me with a piece of deer tenderloin, having never cooked let alone eaten Bambi my reaction was not what he expected…..I was terrified, what if I get it wrong! After scouring the internet for recipes I found Hank’s Venison Diane recipe and put my life in his hands…..wow what an easy recipe and the venison was heavenly we will be having deer again……Thanks.
After reading all of the great reviews I knew I had to try this! This was the most excellent venison recipe I’ve tried to date….I followed the recipe to a T other than adding some fresh mushrooms. All I can say is I had to make myself stop eating because the venison was tender, cooked to perfection, and the sauce was just extraordinary! I will certainly make this again and again, and then some more! Thank you for sharing what is now “the best venison recipe ever” in my book! And by the way, I do have your book! Great stuff
damn best best recipe I have ever made!
Outstanding recipe, thank you very much! I used it to convert my skeptical sister in law, she raved about it. I can’t wait to have it again.
This recipe is amazing! My bf and I eat a lot of venison so I’m always looking for new recipes. It was so good my bf served himself 2 full plates! Just out of curiousity, what kind of mustard do you use? I wasn’t sure so I did a 50/50 yellow mustard/spicy brown mustard. Thanks!
[...] Venison Steak Diane: Used this to eat my venison tenderloin (story to follow) and it was also INCREDIBLE. Seriously, this was the perfect way to eat venison. Would probably be just as great with steak, and best of all it wasn’t difficult at all! We didn’t have brandy so we used some apple wine, and onion instead of shallot. [...]
[...] P.S. This recipe was adapted from the one here. [...]
It is a good and easy recipe. I put mushrooms in mine and they soaked up some sauce and went well with it. Very good and different from Mom & Grandma’s chicken fried deer steaks with gravy that I had always had.
[...] The inspiration for the recipe was found here: http://honest-food.net/2011/08/11/venison-steak-diane/ [...]
Yet another great recipe from Hank. I found yhe site a year ago while looking for something to do with geese. Now after a few batches of goose mortadella(a family favorite)I cook all that Hank posts. Great, and I mean truly great work. Happu new year.
A high of -8 today in northern Wisconsin…a great day to make venison stock. I then made steak Diane…my wife thinks I’m a hero…another wonderful dish from your website. Thank You
I have some back strap handy, but was wondering if anyone can advise as to what kind of mustard to use? Thanks
Cristy: I’d use Dijon. Go for a smooth mustard.
I just had an orgasm in my mouth, this was quite possibly the best dish I have had in a while. I used Elk backstrap and paired the dish with a Primitivo wine by Layer Cake (vintage 2010) Thank you for sharing this recipe as it will be a moment in time I will never forget.
[...] loves to use cooking as an outlet for her creativity and uses a recipe on this blog to make Venison Steak Diane paired with roasted sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. She and her [...]
It’s a wonderful recipe for deer meat. This justifies the purchase of my husband’s new rifle
I am a novice at preparing game. I used white tail loin from Southern Illinois. Very mild flavor. I did salt it first – don’t think I need to do that next time. This recipe was excellent served over steamed potatoes with green beans. BF said this was the best venison recipe he had ever tasted. Thank You!