Venison with Forest Mushrooms and Quince Sauce
Autumn is hunting season
Venison steak is one of my favorites. It’s a very unique meat. Venison’s meat has a finer texture and it’s leaner than beef. Anyone who doesn’t really like beef steak, should taste venison, and I’m sure they will be pleasantly surprised. Served with forest mushroom and quince sauce, it’s simple perfect.
It is not possible to buy fresh game meat all year round in Europe. The most you can get is deep frozen. And that is because hunting is controlled by very strict laws and legislations. Hunting season is from October till January in Europe. But even within the countries in the European Union there are different rules. The focus is on creating sustainable practices of hunting in order to maintain biodiversity.
Forest mushrooms
Wild mushrooms are simple and unassuming, but amazingly varied in shapes and flavors. You can distinguish between chanterelles, morels, shiitake, trompets and many more. They enhance and perfectly accompany many dishes, adding delicious flavor and great texture. Forest mushrooms are absolutely perfect with game meat.
Quince
When I was little girl, we had a quince tree in our garden. And my grandma made sauce, jam and special sweet “cheese” with walnut from its fruit. Everything she made was so delicious! Most varieties of quince are too hard and tart to be eaten raw. But they may be cooked or roasted and used for jams, marmalade and jellies.
Quince is cultivated on all continents in warm-temperate and temperate climates. Nevertheless, we can call it a forgotten fruit today. It is rarely available, and unknown for lot of people. It’s interesting to know, historically, marmalade was made from quinces. The English word “marmalade” comes from the Portuguese word marmelada, meaning “quince preparation”. For this dish I made a sauce from it. It is easy to make and it’s very delicious together with venison steak. You should definitely try it as they are a perfect match.
Venison Steak with Forest Mushrooms and Quince Sauce
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 2 slices venison steak about 180-200 gram each
- 300 gram forest mushrooms mixed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Quince sauce
- 800 gram quince
- 600 ml water
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 5 pcs cloves
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 2 tbsp honey or more if you like sweeter
- 3 pinches salt
Instructions
Quince sauce
- Start with the sauce. Peel, seed and cube the quince.
- Immediately put quince into saucepan and pour 600 ml water on it to prevent browning. (The water has to cover the quince.)
- Add lemon juice and zest, cinnamon sticks, cloves and 2 pinches salt. Cook for 30-35 minutes on medium heat, until quince is soft.
- Pour off the cooking water but keep it, because it’s very delicious cold drink. Throw the cinnamon and cloves out.
- Add honey, 1 pinch salt and blend cooked quince with immersion blender for 3-4 minutes until its texture is homogeneous, creamy. You can serve warm and cold. Store in sterilized jar in the fridge.
Mushroom side dish
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes, stir often and gently.
- Add 2 tbsp coconut aminos and sauté for 2-3 minutes more, until golden brown and most of the water is evaporated under the mushroom.
- Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley before serving.
Venison steak
- Venison has to be room temperature before cooking. Drizzle olive oil over the venison on both sides. Season with a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Heat up a frying pan. When it’s hot, place venison in it and fry for 3 minutes each side, then keep rest for some minutes. It will be medium rare.
- Serve venison steak with forest mushroom and quince sauce. Enjoy!