Steak Diane. What can I say? This dish was already passé 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 zippy sauce of mustard, Worcestershire sauce, demi-glace, cream and shallots — all flambéed 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 Culinaire
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 more than a decade ago, and I am more than happy with my version, which is a little stronger flavored than a typical steak Diane; it seems appropriate considering that venison is more strongly flavored than beef.
Over the years it has become one of my most popular recipes. Not a week goes by that I don’t get a note from someone who made this and loved it. I am very happy to have played a small part in reviving this classic.
Serve steak Diane with a big red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Petit Verdot or Graciano.
This is absolutely a date-night dish, but it is also so 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…
Venison Steak Diane
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound piece of venison backstrap or tenderloin
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup venison stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon mustard (I use Dijon)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Minced herbs for garnish (basil parsley, chives, etc)
Instructions
- 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 to 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 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 are traditional, but basil and parsley are also nice.
This has become my favorite non-grilling method for preparing venison loin.
I never review recipes, but I had to with this one. When my boys decided to take up hunting I knew I needed to find ways to prepare what they brought home. I found your book, and have never been disappointed in any of the recipes that I have tried. My husband continues to insist that he doesn’t care for venison. That is until I made this for dinner last night with a smallish blackstrap from a young deer. I cut it into approximately two in thick steaks and wrapped in bacon (may have hinted that they were filet steaks). He polished off two and could not stop raving. Other than that modification, I folllowed your recipe exactly. Lick the plate good for sure! Thank you!
Solid solid recipe.
I love venison in many, many different preperations. This is my favorite, and my family agrees. So delicious.
Love this recipe. It’s my hubby’s favorite venison meal. Mine is stroganoff, but this is kinda similar and way easier/faster! It’s versatile and you can use many different cuts.
Super easy and delicious! Need to make this again soon!
Amazing every time!
Just made this this evening, wife and kids loved it. My son went back for thirds! Was going to use the back strap for chicken fried steak, so glad I did this instead. Thanks!
Amazing recipe and simple to make. I like to wait until spring and use ramps in place of shallots and wilt the greens at the end.
Made this last night with a backstrap from a young doe. Just excellent. Thanks Hank
Hank Shaw simply has the best wild game recipes! Simple & Easy to read. This Diane was Creamy rich & bold!
Super simple and clean. Followed the instructions exactly and got amazing results.
Delicious and simple!
This is the recipe I make when someone says venison is “too gamey”. It’s an outstanding recipe!
This recipe was next level for me. Recently jumping into this amazing place of wild food, Hank has guided me into otherworldly flavours through recipes like this wonderful Steak Diane, which I made with beef tenderloin. Very simple to follow and make quickly for the spouse (who stole all my sauce! ?) Highly recommended for a date night surprise. ?
Made with antelope. Came out awesome. Everyone ate it up.
Incredible recipe. Made this with venison backstrap for a special family/friends dinner and everyone loved it.
Love
This dish. Always a hit with our family and everyone we’ve introduced it to. Could drink this sauce for days. Always have extra bread for dunking/mopping.
I’ve made this recipe numerous times, including several New Year’s Eves. It’s absolutely delicious. I can’t think of anything that could be changed to make it better.
Just beautiful – thanks so much
I grew up eating venison as a staple and now cook it regularly. But I gotta say, this beats every recipe for venison I think I’ve ever had. This will be a regular in my recipe book! And that lovely sauce is great over rice.
Hank Shaw, may I use your Venison Steak Diane recipe in my recipe column video which I do for our small town newspaper website? Every other week I do a recipe column and a video to go with it. I wouldn’t use your recipe in the print version (it requires too many instructions for our printed space I think) but I think it would visually be more appealing than the venison pot pie or venison meat loaf recipes I intend to include.
I made this using bourbon for the deglazing and Stubbs Sticky Sweet barbecue sauce in place of tomato sauce.
Covered the tenderloins with carmelized Vidalia (last one of the year) and poured the sauce on top. It’s a nice southern twist, really good.
Hank, my brother John who took you duck hunting last year at his club in the Suisun Marsh, made this recipe last night from his harvest this past fall-and it was outstanding! We toasted you and he said, “Gotta love Hank.”
I have sent your book to friends in Colorado and Indiana, who both thanked me once they read and cooked with.
MJ: Thanks a heap! Hope his new kid is doing great!
This is my favorite recipe to make when I get venison. I have made this for family and friends so many times I have lost count. They all LOVE IT!
Thank you, Hank. It’s simple to make & easy to prepare.
Classic steak recipe, my wife loved this preparation.
Hi Hank from Australia. Must say this is an absolute favourite of ours. I hunt fallow deer, but am trying to get out for red deer and sambar deer this year. I made this with some fallow backstrap and my wife literally licked her plate clean.
Anyway, friday night here right now, drinking a few beers, some crazy prepping video comes up on youtube, watch it for a little bit, and I see a venison dish come up and think, gee…that looks familiar, and sure enough this guy has used the picture from your venison diane recipe as his depiction of a venison meal. HAHA I guess the preppers are gonna eat well at least!
It comes on at 4.27min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLLwfFKenIw
I made this last night, incredible! Wife said it was the best venison I’ve ever made and she typically is t a huge fan of game meat.
I am a traditionalist when it comes to tenderloin; slat pepper and sear. Looking for something a little different I ventured off to my trusty cookbook.. As is typical for the writings of Mr. Shaw, I was not disappointed. The resulting meal left me throwing manners to the wind, licking the plate clean.
I ended up eating what little leftovers remained the same evening before heading to bed.
Off to search for a recipe for the other half of the tenderloin..
A friend gave us some venison. I tried this recipe and it was delicious. Our friend tried some and said it was perfect and better than he had ever done. Thanks!!
I tried this recipie recently with a 1 pound, whole piece of venison (mule deer) loin/backstrap, and tried to follow it to the letter.
The result was perhaps the single best tasting venison I can recall ever tasting, much less cookink myself. Thanks, Hank, as it will certainly be one I’ll do again and recommend to others.
I typically make my venison roast very simply, just some flour, slat, and pepper and fired. Tried this recipe and was blown away. Quick, easy, and so delicious.
Are we talking dry mustard powder or prepared yellow mustard here?
Ty: Dijon is what I use.
Can I pre-cut the medallions, vac seal, and freeze them beforehand?
Earl: I wouldn’t. But if you really want to, cut the medallions at least an inch thick.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I’ve served it to those who “hate” venison and they were licking their plates. Had to assure them it wasn’t raw, though, as the meat comes out very red and juicy when cooked properly.
We tried this for the first time tonight and it was really good. It makes a nice presentation. Both my husband and I commented on how guests would never know it was venison if you didn’t tell them. I was afraid the sauce would taste like brandy but it didn’t. I served it with rice this time but would do garlic mashed potatoes next time. My husband was afraid we would overcook the meat so we stopped a little short of complete browning and then had to cook more later so – follow Hank’s instructions! YUM. Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious, thanks.
What kind of mustard should be used? Regular yellow, stone ground, etc?
Mary: I use Dijon, but it works with any mustard.
Should this recipe be done with a cast iron pan or a non-stick?
Barry: I prefer cast iron or stainless steel.
I cook Venison tenderloins a lot. My wife and kids think I’m pretty good at it too, because they all love eating it. However, the Diane sauce elevated my status in my family a great deal. Thank a million. We all loved the sauce! It really kicked things to the next level. I garnished with chives. It looked and tasted great.
I did not pan sear anything, instead, I cooked my salt and sugar brined loin on my smoker with peach wood and then finished it in the oven until I had an internal temp of 135. All that too say that the sauce was great even without the fond in the pan. Fast, delicious and easy. Officially in my bag ‘o tricks!
Going to try this out in about two hours. Mustard? Seed, powder, or the condiment?
Tim: The condiment.
I made this on the night before opening season for a buddy and me with two vacuum packed doe tenderloins that I missed in my freezer for two years. I pan seared the tenderloins, then used port barreled Glenmorangie Scotch instead of the Cognac to scrape the frond. It paired nicely with a Los Alamos Selezion Malbec.
This recipe was really, really good. In fact, I attribute it to my success the next morning. I got about 10 inch thick t-bones and four nice rib racks, both of which would go really well with this sauce. You have a great website and great recipes!
How do I prepare the back strips to cook them.? the ones I cooked tonight still had a game-y taste.
My son and I made this last night – it was excellent even though the garlic got a little darker than I wanted.
One question; the recipe calls for one tablespoon of mustard – are you using ground mustard or prepared mustard?
Paul: Prepared.
Well Mr.Shaw.. you are now two-for-two. Your game recipes are incredible. The first I tried was the Thai green curry with Pheasant but the above Venison was a masterpiece. Wow. this was possibley the best “red meat” meal I’ve ever made… and I’ve made a LOT of them!!
(note: the only alteration I made was that I used Red Wine because I did not have any brandy “Michael David Freakshow”)
My boyfriend hunts and we have more venison than I know what to do with! This is great. I think I’ll give it a try this week. What kind of mustard do you recommend?
Taylor: I like Dijon.
use it with duck excellent
Have made this half a dozen times or so with venison and goat. A fast, easy knockout of a dinner every time. Used this recipe to introduce highly sceptical in-laws to these non-mainstream proteins – this sauce made converts out of them.
Thanks Hank. Another home run. I’ve hunted for many years and you get into a rut with how you prepare venison. Backs straps have traditionally been used for schnitzel type breaded cutlets (which are very good) but this was a big hit for Easter dinner. I will definitely make this again.
What a classic. And so fast and easy. I not only make this for fancy dinners, but quick lunches for myself!
Have made this with venison and also with beef. It’s excellent both ways.
My first time ever cooking venison and I was so nervous it wouldn’t turn out. This was my stepson’s kill, so I didn’t want to disappoint. Turned out amazing. He wanted me to make sure and copy down the recipe so we can have it every season! I think it would be great with beef or pork too! Thank you!!
I made this for dinner last night and it was SOOOO delicious! My husband said it was gourmet, and even my 2 year old who hates meat, had several bites without complaint. My 1 year old kept asking more “Mo, more!” Best recipe I’ve tried with my family!
I just started hunting. Today I harvested my 2 nd deer. Just before Christmas I harvested my first. Got it back from the butcher frozen. Today I had over a couple. For dinner. My buddy hunts but his wife dosent like venison. I cooked back straps. First time ever cooking venison. I used you recipe. It was awesome. My buddies wife cleaned her plate. I had stop her from liking the plate. Lol. Thank you.
Wow best venison I ever ate!
Awesome! I have trouble using my backstrap in recipes because I enjoy it so much by itself but this looks yummy. I can see it now on top of a mountain of mashed potatoes.Yum.
Absolute slam dunk. My brother: “Best venison meal I’ve ever had.”
Sauce is amazing, thank you for posting.
Have you tried sous vide for any venison recipes? I’ve had great success with sous vide resulting in perfect beef rib eye, as it’s near impossible to overcook.
I’ll give sous vide a try with some venison backstrap and let you know results; I’ll set it for internal temp for med rare, like beef, 134F.
I make a good sauce au poivre vert, so I’ll use that on the venison.
Awesome, thanks for posting. If ya garnish with a few pink peppercorns it finishes the diane sauce out perfectly. Good stuff!
We made it this evening with mule deer and antelope back strap. Doubled the recipe for 4 adults and it was the perfect amount. Everyone enjoyed it, so it will get added to the rotation.
Is the mustard dry powder or prepared?
Mike: You can use either.
Delicious! I was cleaning out my freezer and found already sliced tenderloin that had been in there for a long time. I had never fixed tenderloin and came across this recipe here. Even with already sliced up pieces, this turned out delicious. Definitely a keeper!
We made this for dinner this evening and it was wonderful. I was really impressed with how easy your directions were to follow right down to really helpful hints like colors to look for. Thanks so much for this yummy recipe.
This was delicious! The sauce complimented the venison perfectly.
Hello Hank!
This looks so yummy, but here is my problem: I am out of backstrap and was trying to alter this recipe that looks to-die-for into a successful recipe for a tougher cut of meat. I have stew meat left. How would you suggest I minimally alter this to make a “Stew Diane” that I could cook for an extended time to tender up, but not lose the gist of your recipe. (Obviously I could hold the cream until the meat was tender, but what else to keep the flavor and have more liquid avail for stewing the meat…)
Thanks!!
-K
Kay: I wouldn’t. I’d use some other tender meat. Maybe duck breast?
My husband and I were given a venison backstrap, and I had no idea what to do with it. I found your recipe, and since we’re not hunters, all I could think is how am I going to get more of this! It was incredibly good. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Made this for my hunters tonight— they loved it. The blackstrap came cooked PERFECTLY and like filet mignons. I showed them you can actually cook deer in something other than chili tacos spaghetti or sloppy joes!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Ok, this was beyond Amazing! I work in fast food ans a guest o min gave me venison back strap, no idea how to prepare it. My husband said it was quit a cut of meat. So searching for a recipes I came upon yours, yes, my husband and I just finished our Venison Steak Diane, Amazzzzzzzzing!!! I followed the recipe to a T as they say. This IS my recipe for the trophy dinners I will make! Can’t thank you enough!!
ps i, we are still licking are lips for the very last drop!
Wanted to prepare venison tenderloin for Christmas dinner and looked up your page to see what my best options were. Looked at all your recipes and decided to go with the Steak Diane. Holy smokes!…this was sublime! My company was raving, and later asked for the recipe. I sent a link to your site, since all your recipes are amazing. And I love all what you write to go along with it.
I prepared Venison Diane using this recipe a couple of years ago and it was superb. Everyone loved it! Now with fresh venison backstrap in the freezer I’m ready to do it again for this Thanksgiving weekend.
Made last night. Super sauce Hank. Thanks so much.
Hank, I’ve been trying ev recipe you have. I came back to this one last eve not for venison, forgot to thaw but for the sauce. I put it on homemade pasta. oh my gosh! I’ve tried Diane’s in the finest European restuarants, nothing as fine. You nailed this one!
Wow!! Everything I read from your excerpts are absolutely great! It takes a good writer to really keep my attention especially when all I am looking for is a great venison recipe on how to cook it best. And I find myself copying and pasting everything you have written about venison. Thank you for taking the time to post what you have posted on venison. It has made day knowing that I have a lot to learn and can thru your experiences and know how. Yes, I read where you don’t know it all… but you truly know more than most. A great big thanks!! Joanne
I just made venison steaks for the first time and your cooking instructions, including the resting time during sauce prep were SPOT ON. Perfect medium rare!
But I also found that the sauce was a bit too strong for the venison. Maybe only a teaspoon of Worcestershire and add the mustard bit by bit–to taste. The recipe as is would be perfect for steak but is too strong for venison. I also added sauteed mushrooms to the sauce. Mmmm. Thanks for this great recipe!
Whoa! This is fabulous! I’ve tried various recipes for Steak Diane over the years (started out with Betty Crocker’s ages ago), but this… THIS is the best ever!
Made it last night with backstrap from the 8 point buck hubs got this year, and he did, indeed, lick the plate. Agree that doubling the sauce is a good idea.
I made this last night but cooked the backstrap sous vide. Hands down the best meal I’ve ever prepared. Thanks Hank!
My wife and I enjoyed this last night, and it was absolutely wonderful! I shot a young 4×4 whitetail buck this season that was nice and fat from farm living – the steaks were marvelous with this recipe.
my wife Wendy and i loved it,thanks for sharing
In the end I made wild boar steaks, but except for that I stuck to the above recipe and the sauce turned out amazing – beautiful with some German Servietten Dumplings and braised red cabbage. Fabulous fall food! Thanks for the recipe!
I was thinking about making Venison this weekend – could not think of how to prepare it, but now finding your recipes I am spoilt for choice – love this version!
I made this tonight and it was RIDICULOUSLY delicious!! I’m new to learning how to prepare venison and this recipe makes me feel like I could honestly grow to love venison! I appreciate the way you word your recipes and I found this one very easy to follow. Waiting for the husband to get home now…can’t wait to see his reaction! Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.
Made this tonight. I’ve been hesitant to make the loins in the freezer. I haven’t made any venison like this since I was training to be a chef so many years ago. One of my instructors was a big fan of wild game and we made a loin with a wild mushroom veal demiglace. So, I thought I’d have to make a demglace in order to like it… WAS I WRONG! I really liked this.. couldn’t get enough! My new sweetie is a hunter and I’m glad! We will be enjoying more recipes from your site. Thank you.
I have no idea the age of the doe this came from but the meat was tender and delicious. The sauce is great..and with the tomato and mustard is reminiscent of a veal demiglace. Great Idea.
Amazing recipe. I will definitely make again (and again). I think that I am probably going to make all of your recipes eventually (I made your German Rabbit Stew and put it over homemade pasta—absolutely wonderful. It was the best rabbit I have ever had and I have had some pretty great rabbit dishes in the past).
I am going to be cooking this dish for a few friends and one of them cannot have alcohol of any kind. How can I substitute the brandy?
Excellent Steak Diane recipe! I have done Steak Diane with 3 or 4 different recipes over the years and this as good as it gets. I did add some sauteed mushrooms because I had a handful that needed used up but otherwise followed recipe exactly. This is now my “go to” edition of Steak Diane.
Delicious. Very rich, but going in the recipe book for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Hank,
Excellent! We made this for eight for a Boxing Day dinner last night, only suggestion is to double the sauce, it’s that good.
TIP: our venison loins this year were quite large, so we wanted to cut them, frozen, to have just enough for last night. This Wusthof meat saw is amazing: like cutting butter through frozen meat and on Christmas day, to cut bone-in ham in half. Might be good to ask Santa for! http://www.wusthof-foodservice.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-190/445_read-4049/52_view-648/categories-648/country-usa/wlang-2/categories-210
QUESTION: The loin we cut was a gift and wrapped in a light paper that followed the form of the meat just beautifully, no apparent air pockets. I’d love to get more of this for wrapping meat before going in the freezer. Any idea what it might have been?
Many thanks for all you do – –
I made it today for dinner with venison. It was very good. Whoever likes steak/meat should try this. The sauce is to die for. Definitely a keeper. Thank you
For my taste buds, and my beautiful young doe, this is wayyyyy too much flavor. Totally overwhelms the delicious flavor of the deer, and this one I shot was so tender and young it really had no game flavor at all. I LOVE the flavor of venison, don’t need any mustard on it, will keep to a super rare grill or pan sear and a little dab of soy or Worcestershire sauce, if anything.
What a great recipe. My wife who I cannot get to eat venison absolutely loved it! My 21month old sons first experience with deer and finished his plate. Thank you for posting the most delicious venison recipe I have ever made or had!
Shot my first deer this year. I used this recipe for the backstraps. Delicious !
My husband is die hard hunter, therefore my freezer is full of deer meat. I am not a fan of venison but I cook for my him. I prepared this recipe and it was a hit and we had no leftovers. I have to admit it was very good and I found a way to enjoy venison.
Thanks Hank, this is one I am definitely going to try.
Can’t wait to try it. One question: The recipie calls for mustard. Is this just plain ‘ol prepared yellow mustard or dry ground mustard?
My wife and I made this tonight, and yes it is a Wednesday night. The aroma in our kitchen drove us nuts and when it was done, well, we didn’t talk at the table. This is by far the BEST recipe we have found for back strap as well as one of the easiest. Well done Hank, well done. I highly recommend this to anyone. Perfect.
This is delicious. Just made it last night and brought left overs to work. Not a speck left and everyone loved it. I doubled the recipe but did not double the garlic. Fantastic!
thanks, this worked beautifully for a backstrap from my son’s first pronghorn. My wife does not much care for venison as a rule but cleaned the plate this time..
We’ve eaten all the good bits now, have to check the other receipts for the less tender bits..
We had about 100# of mahi that we were trading for venison and assorted goodies. A friend gave us a bavkstrap and ham for some mahi. Last night I made the venison diane and holy moly, this has just become my favorite dish I’ve ever made. My father in law just took a 8point last night so hopefully I can make this dish for the family.
That was fantastic. Thank you Hank for coming through again. I couldn’t stop mopping up the delicious sauce with the delicious bites of venison. I will make this again!
This was so good I bought my own copy of Hunt Gather Cook instead of borrowing my neighbor’s.
I really have never left a comment for a recipe but this was outstanding!! I made it last night exactly as written. I used regular mustard but might try next time with Dijon. Very very good recipe. Thanks for posting and sharing.
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!
It’s a wonderful recipe for deer meat. This justifies the purchase of my husband’s new rifle
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.
Cristy: I’d use Dijon. Go for a smooth mustard.
I have some back strap handy, but was wondering if anyone can advise as to what kind of mustard to use? Thanks
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
damn best best recipe I have ever made!
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 😉
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.
I made this the other night and it was amazing!!!!the best venison I have ever made by far. Highly recommend.
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 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.
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 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!!!
Looks delicious!
I never tire of venison and can never get enough, it’s what we grew up on! : )
~Martin
Love Steak Diane!
I’m so retro, it’s hilarious!
Great idea for what to do with a backstrap!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try the recipe. Thanks for sharing Hank.
🙂
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!
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.
Great suggestion Hank. I’ve got a nice cut of Oryx just waiting to be eaten.
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!
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.
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!
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!
I just happen to have a backstrap in the freezer! I can’t wait to try the recipe this weekend. Thanks!
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!)
This looks spectacular, Hank! Just in time for deer season!