One of the joys of cooking and, let’s be serious, joys of eating is to experience new flavors or flavors rearranged.
That brings us to Jack Hennessy this week with Venison Inner Loin With Pumpkin Vanilla Honey Purée in “Braising the Wild.” As always, there are some key tips embedded in his recipe.
Here is the recipe:
VENISON INNER LOIN WITH PUMPKIN VANILLA HONEY PURÉE
It’s that special time of year when we bust out the best cuts of venison and spice up the egg nog as we get relatives to try wild game for the first time. In my case, it’ll be getting dear old mom to bite into Bambi for the first time. “As long it doesn’t taste gamey,” she told me.
The inner loins of a deer are its filet mignon, in case you were unaware. It’s the most-prized cut—incredibly delicious, juicy, and tender—and, chances are, if no one told my mom it was deer, she wouldn’t know any different.
But deer can and will taste “gamey” if cooked incorrectly. Never cook a venison steak past medium-rare, for starters.
These inner loins never saw an oven. They were turned atop a hot cast iron skillet till done, which didn’t take long.
ALWAYS REMEMBER: You can always continue to cook meat if it’s underdone. You can’t go back if you overcook it. ALSO IMPORTANT: Don’t leave venison covered too long before carving. If you leave covered too long, it will raise the internal temperature from medium rare to medium very easily. Five minutes is perfect for inner loins. For backstraps, no more than 10 minutes.
Ingredients (two servings):
Two venison inner loins
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Sunflower oil (or vegetable, canola, peanut)
Purée ingredients:
3/4 cup Libby’s 100% Pure Canned Pumpkin
1/2 cup Firebee Vanilla Honey
2 tablespoon chicken stock
1 teaspoon fried garlic
Salt to taste
Two hours prior to cooking, take fully thawed inner loins from fridge and liberally salt and pepper all sides and leave outside fridge to bring to room temperature.
When ready to cook, peel couple cloves of fresh garlic. In a large cast iron skillet, heat oil to 350 and fry cloves until golden brown.
Turn off heat on oil in cast iron. Once oil is cooled, remove most of it safely, leaving behind only a thin layer in which to cook venison loins.
While oil cools, heat up vanilla honey for 10 seconds and add to food processor (or blender) along with browned garlic, pumpkin, and chicken stock. Blend thoroughly.
Add contents of food processor to small pot and heat on low heat, stirring often, until warm. Salt to taste.
To cook venison loins, heat cast iron skillet with thin layer of oil to 400 degrees. Sear all sides evenly in cast iron until brown. This is likely 2-3 minutes per side.
Typically speaking, once all sides of venison inner loins are dark brown, the meat is likely close to medium rare, but I always recommend probing with a meat thermometer. The tip of your thermometer should touch the middle of the thickest part of the loin.
Once you see a 125 reading on the meat thermometer, pull the loin. Cover with aluminum foil or another plate and allow to rest 5 minutes before carving.
Dollop purée on plate and spread like a comet around plate then slice venison loin and spread pieces across purée for gourmet presentation that will impress both the eyes and taste buds this holiday season!
