Venison Au Poivre For Two Recipes

VENISON AU POIVRE FOR TWO

Steps:

• Up to two hours before you are ready to eat, crush the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and press them into the medallions. The pestle and mortar gives the peppercorns the perfect texture for this dish, but if you don't have one, put the peppercorns into a hard-wearing plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin. Leave the meat aside for the pepper flavour to penetrate the meat. Pre-heat the oven to 60C and put in two plates to warm.
• TIP
• The secret is to take the steaks out of the fridge about 10 minutes before you cook them so that they can come up to room temperature. Then, the only other must is to get your pan (a heavy steak at the highest temperature possible. -bottomed frying-pan is ideal) smoking hot before you even add fat to it. That way you can really sear the Five minutes before you are ready to eat, heat a large heavy-bottomed frying-pan until it is smoking hot and then add half the butter. When the butter is sizzling (the pan should now be extremely hot), add the medallions and cook on one side for 2 minutes (if the medallions are thin you could cook for less - say 90 seconds), before turning and cooking for a further 60-90 seconds.
• Venison is very lean so is best eaten rare or it tends to get dry and chewy. When eaten rare the meat is so tender that it is almost like biting through butter. It will continue cooking in the oven while it rests so put the medallions on one of the plates whilst you make the sauce.
• Add the rest of the butter to the pan, turn it down to a medium heat and add the shallots and stock cube. Sweat for five minutes so that the shallots soften but do not colour before pouring in the brandy and water to de-glaze the pan. Simmer the juices rapidly for a few minutes before turning the heat right down and stirring in the crème fraiche.
• Simmer for a few minutes more to reduce the crème fraiche and check for seasoning Serve with a crisp, green salad and some small, waxy potatoes that you can either roast until crisp in the oven, or steam until tender. It is delicious accompanied with some kind of jelly like rosehip, quince or redcurrant.
• About the Author:
• Thomasina Miers is a member of the expert panel of style journalists and trendsetters who vet and select gifts for The Handpicked Collection, a website and catalogue featuring a selection of unique present ideas.
• Thomasina was winner of BBC 2's MasterChef in 2005 and has since co-presented Channel 4's Wild Gourmets and A Cook's Tour of Spain as well as writing books, Cook and Wild Gourmets and opening two Wahaca restaurants in London serving real Mexican market food. A very busy girl, she somehow also finds time to write regularly for Waitrose Food Illustrated and The Saturday Times.

STEAK AU POIVRE FOR 2

Steps:

• Rub steaks with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with peppercorns and salt. In a skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add steaks; cook 5-7 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a thermometer should read 135°; medium, 140°; medium-well, 145°). Remove and keep warm., In same pan, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add shallot; cook and stir about 1 minute or until tender. Add wine and vinegar, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened., Stir in consomme and rosemary; bring to a boil. Add chocolate; cook and stir until melted and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with steaks.

STEAK AU POIVRE

Steps:

• Rub steaks all over with 1 Tbsp. oil and season generously with salt. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil and 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low. Cook shallot, stirring often, until golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully add 1/4 cup cognac. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until cognac is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook, swirling occasionally, until cream is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes; let cool slightly.
• Transfer mixture to a blender and blend until smooth (or use an immersion blender directly in the pot). Add green peppercorns and pulse just to break up (do not blend completely). Return pepper sauce to saucepan; season with salt. Cover and set aside.
• Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high. Add steaks and cook, occasionally lifting steaks to allow hot oil to flow underneath, until a brown crust forms underneath, about 4 minutes. Turn steaks and cook until crust forms on the other side and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 125°F for medium-rare, about 4 minutes. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Reserve skillet.
• Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. fat from skillet and return to medium-high heat. Place steaks, garlic, rosemary, and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and cook, basting steaks with butter and turning halfway through, until butter is very fragrant and golden brown, about 1 minute. Increase heat to high. Lean safely away from pan, add remaining 2 Tbsp. cognac, and immediately tilt skillet toward flame to ignite cognac (if you have an electric stove or cognac doesn't ignite, it's okay). Cook, carefully shaking skillet, until flames die out, about 30 seconds. Transfer steaks back to cutting board and let rest 10 minutes.
• While the steaks are resting, reheat pepper sauce over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until warmed through.
• Slice steak and spoon pepper sauce over top. Garnish with more rosemary sprigs if desired.