Venison Medallions with Gin and Juniper
February 15, 2012 | Updated June 06, 2022
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The man who got me into hunting, former St. Paul Pioneer Press outdoor writer Chris Niskanen inspired this dish. “I recently shot a 200-pound whitetail (field-dressed) and would like simple recipes on fixing it,” he wrote. This recipe is reasonably simple, but elegant all at the same time.
It’s of Belgian origin and combines the classic flavors of juniper, rosemary and sour cream you see a lot in Northern Europe. I mostly do it with venison backstrap, but would work equally well with filet mignon, pork loin, a bear or deer roast, and possibly even a lighter meat like pheasant. Play around with it.
Belgian Venison Medallions
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds venison backstrap or loin
- 3 tablespoons lard or butter
- Salt
- Pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)
SAUCE
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 shot of gin (not the good stuff)
- 1/4 cup demi-glace or reduced beef or venison stock
- 1 teaspoon ground juniper
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
Instructions
- Salt the venison and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Heat the lard or butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat and sear the venison on all sides. This should take 3 to 4 minutes on each side of the loin. “Kiss” the other sides of the loin for 1 minute to get a good sear. Remove the venison and let it rest on a cutting board.
- Add the shallot to the pan and saute for 2 minutes, stirring often. Off the heat, add the gin to the pan, then set it back over high heat. Flame it if you’d like. Either way, let it cook down a bit then while deglazing the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the crushed juniper and rosemary, then the demi-glace or reduced stock. Let this cook down over high heat until a spoon dragged through it leaves a trail, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, let any bubbling stop, then whisk in the sour cream. Strain the sauce if you want to.
- To serve, slice the venison loin into medallions. Lay down some sauce, then top with the medallions. You can add some fresh cracked pepper and some pomegranate seeds if you’d like.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Dear H.A.G.C.,
I just cooked this recipe this evening using a backstrap from a small Texas whitetail I shot a week and a half ago.
I googled “how to cook venison backstrap,” and after sorting through some random recipes, I came across yours.
I’d just like to thank you, the recipe was wonderful.
I drank a Spaten Oktoberfest along with it, then afterwards, already having the gin bottle out, had a nice gin martini.
Cheers,
Dan
Austin, Texas
Hank, I stumbled on your site earlier this year in search of recipes for rabbit. Made the hasenpfeffer at that time, which came out perfect. For New Years we were able to get some Venison Tenderloin (we don’t hunt and getting access to game is not always easy). I used this recipe last night and everyone loved it. Thanks for de very detailed instructions on how to prepare/actually cook the various cuts.
Can’t wait to get our hands on some more game to try another one of your recipes.
This sauce is THE PERFECT complement to venison. I cook all the time and have experimented with all kinds of ways to doll up venison, but this recipe is JUST right. It doesn’t hide or mask venisons’ flavor but really enhances it. Bravo.
PS – I used the good stuff. Don’t cook with anything you wouldn’t drink.
Cooked this tonite and absolutely loved it. When the rest of the family’s out of town I get to play in the kitchen and this seemed like the perfect game, an initiation into juniper berries. The smell reminds me both of summertime gin and tonics and the eastern red cedars we used to cut down for Christmas trees when I was a kid.
I just made a batch of your Venison sausage w/porcini mushrooms. Had to use Morels (awww shucks), as porcini never last long here (my pantry that is). The results were sublime. Doubled the amount of gin and mushrooms. Wowie!
Thanks for the recipie it’s my new favorite.
Wow. Did not know you could actually use those berries for much other than gin. We have juniper bushes growing on most of the hilltops in gilmanton NH, so this definitely evokes memories of deer hunting. Mostly vain attempts to track a deer that my uncle was “sure he hit” with dying flashlights, the stuff is a nightmare to track through. The first time I had a shot of gin my first thought was “wow, that tastes like deer hunting.”
Try using Dubonnet instead of the gin. Very nice addition. Also very good with
veal calves liver.
Wow, First time here and I already love this site. But I need to learnhow to make my own demi-glaze. LOL kind of rich for my blood!
Todd: You use the berries.
Have some moose loin in the freezer and might just give this a rip! Are you using ground juniper berries, or ground juniper greens?
Kevin: “The piano has been drinking…” 😉
I will give the local Juniper a whirl. If it’s no good, I’ll just take another shot of gin.
Cue “Gin soaked boy” – Tom Waits
Kevin: I was lucky enough to forage for some juniper in Montana, but you can buy juniper berries online or in fancy supermarkets. When I buy it, I get my juniper from Penzeys.
“?1 shot of gin (not the good stuff)”
I would argue that as long as you pour yourself 1 shot too that it is acceptable to use the good stuff.
While my freezer is well stocked, most everything now is down to ground or stew meat. The loins always go so fast.
I love the combination of venison and juniper – so classic! This looks perfect.
Oh, and eleventy bags of okra.
As to the juniper, where do you obtain it? Do you use the fruit or the leaves? The only common juniper in the SE is Juniperus virginiana(Eastern Redcedar; not a true cedar).
Sweet jeebus! Looking at this is torture when the season is closed and the freezer has nothing but ground venison and catfish staring back at you.
Gorgeous! Wow. And, “kiss the loin” should be in every recipe or perhaps every butcher’s manual. It’s like getting married to your food: you may now kiss the loin.
I really miss having access to venison.When I was a kid, hunter friends of our family’s gave us their extra every year. I had a friend in CA who would share or trade with me too. This recipe sounds like a perfect flavor combo- I’m going to file it for next time I get my hands on a nice backstrap.
Why not the good stuff? If the venison is as good as it looks there, it deserves the best. Not the very best, mind you. I’d not go beyond Tanqueray. But I’d not use some of the low grade fusel oils sold as gin.
You seem to combine both the Japanese and Chinese approaches. One time on a job in Japan I was taken to a Chinese restaurant by my Japanese host. “We Japanese,” he told me, “prepare food to look at. The Chinese prepare food to EAT!”