Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
02-08-2008, 09:46 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lake County, Il
Posts: 2,205
Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
I usually have no pre-set amounts and cook off the cuff. Here it goes!
Cut some trimmed backstraps into 1/2" thick slices and pound gently until 1/4" thick season with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and shake off the the extra flour.
In a skillet with some olive oil and butter saute' the venison for a couple of minutes per side. remove and put on a plate.
Next saute' some onion or shallots and some garlic until just transluscent then add your mushrooms (any kind will so but wild shrooms are best). At this point I add some herbs (thyme,basil work best)
Add a little brandy/cheap cognac and stir well.
Next add some beef stock or chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Once everything is bubbling nicely crumble in some blue cheese and stir.
Put the venison back into the skillet and let it all come together and serve with your favorite starch (potatoes, noodles or rice)
The amounts here will vary depending on how much you're making. I eyeball everything and it's really hard to screw this up!
Cut some trimmed backstraps into 1/2" thick slices and pound gently until 1/4" thick season with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and shake off the the extra flour.
In a skillet with some olive oil and butter saute' the venison for a couple of minutes per side. remove and put on a plate.
Next saute' some onion or shallots and some garlic until just transluscent then add your mushrooms (any kind will so but wild shrooms are best). At this point I add some herbs (thyme,basil work best)
Add a little brandy/cheap cognac and stir well.
Next add some beef stock or chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Once everything is bubbling nicely crumble in some blue cheese and stir.
Put the venison back into the skillet and let it all come together and serve with your favorite starch (potatoes, noodles or rice)
The amounts here will vary depending on how much you're making. I eyeball everything and it's really hard to screw this up!
02-14-2008, 12:20 PM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
Dr Andy:
Any preferred wine combination with this dish? I tend to save my backstraps for the summer months when I forgo using the oven, thus at this time of year I'm thinking about roasting stuff in the oven. I will probably try your sauce on some lesser preparation as a test. I really like my backstraps, and I already have a recipe that I really like for preparing them.
Just as a very cursory description, details are availabe if you want them, I cut my backstraps into steaks about 1/2" thick, marinade in pinot noir overnight, with some thyme and crushed juniper berries, maybe some coarsely ground pepper. I pat the steaks dry the next day. Salt and pepper and dredge in flour. I cook over high heat in clarified butter (doesnt burn so readily as unclarified butter). I keep the cooked steaks warm on a covered warmed plate while making a sauce. The sauce comprises the marinading liquid, some venison broth, and heavy cream. First the marinading liquid and venison broth are reduced a lot -- often times before the steaks are cooked to reduce the time the steaks are cooling covered on the plate -- and then the heavy cream is added and boiled to thicken appropriately. I LOVE this treatment.
A question, why do you pound out your medallions from 1/2" thick to 1/4" thick? What does this accomplish for you, other than changing the shape/size and cooking time?
Any preferred wine combination with this dish? I tend to save my backstraps for the summer months when I forgo using the oven, thus at this time of year I'm thinking about roasting stuff in the oven. I will probably try your sauce on some lesser preparation as a test. I really like my backstraps, and I already have a recipe that I really like for preparing them.
Just as a very cursory description, details are availabe if you want them, I cut my backstraps into steaks about 1/2" thick, marinade in pinot noir overnight, with some thyme and crushed juniper berries, maybe some coarsely ground pepper. I pat the steaks dry the next day. Salt and pepper and dredge in flour. I cook over high heat in clarified butter (doesnt burn so readily as unclarified butter). I keep the cooked steaks warm on a covered warmed plate while making a sauce. The sauce comprises the marinading liquid, some venison broth, and heavy cream. First the marinading liquid and venison broth are reduced a lot -- often times before the steaks are cooked to reduce the time the steaks are cooling covered on the plate -- and then the heavy cream is added and boiled to thicken appropriately. I LOVE this treatment.
A question, why do you pound out your medallions from 1/2" thick to 1/4" thick? What does this accomplish for you, other than changing the shape/size and cooking time?
02-15-2008, 07:48 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lake County, Il
Posts: 2,205
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
Alsatian, I PM'd ya with details. I don't use venison broth, around here we've had CWD scares and the official line is to de-bone the meat and not use the bones for cooking. Most processors wont cut the bones anymore, just de-bone the meat.
02-16-2008, 10:43 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Central Iowa
Posts: 234
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
My boy and I fixed this up tonight.
I chopped the vegetables and he prepared the rest.
We used about 2 1/5 pounds of venison roast, a bundle of green onions, half a red bell pepper (diced), eight ounces button mushrooms, two whole cloves of garlic chopped, a can of beef broth, sherry, red wine and five ounces of bue cheese.
The meat was sliced, pounded and floured, per your instructions but spices were added to the flour and not seperately. We also used some of the flour mix to thicken the sauce a bit. My boy says he used salt, pepper, granulated garlic, cumin, ginger and curry powder (light on the cumin and curry).
We both liked the result very much and my wife ate two pieces and says she liked it to. I was not sure that I had enough blue cheese but the five ounces really gave the sauce a rich nutty flavor. It made enough for about 2 1/2 meals for the three of us and we are not small people. It really does not have a lot of fat in it but tastes very rich as if it does. It has a good rich creamy texture. We will probably prepare this again; my boy says it would be good in deer camp.
You can see that we too do not follow recipes much but kind of go our own way. Thanks for posting the suggestion. It was great.
Bob
I chopped the vegetables and he prepared the rest.
We used about 2 1/5 pounds of venison roast, a bundle of green onions, half a red bell pepper (diced), eight ounces button mushrooms, two whole cloves of garlic chopped, a can of beef broth, sherry, red wine and five ounces of bue cheese.
The meat was sliced, pounded and floured, per your instructions but spices were added to the flour and not seperately. We also used some of the flour mix to thicken the sauce a bit. My boy says he used salt, pepper, granulated garlic, cumin, ginger and curry powder (light on the cumin and curry).
We both liked the result very much and my wife ate two pieces and says she liked it to. I was not sure that I had enough blue cheese but the five ounces really gave the sauce a rich nutty flavor. It made enough for about 2 1/2 meals for the three of us and we are not small people. It really does not have a lot of fat in it but tastes very rich as if it does. It has a good rich creamy texture. We will probably prepare this again; my boy says it would be good in deer camp.
You can see that we too do not follow recipes much but kind of go our own way. Thanks for posting the suggestion. It was great.
Bob
02-22-2008, 05:15 AM
#7
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Western NY
Posts: 790
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
This is very similar to this recipe. We ofter substitute blue cheese for Boursin & venison for Beef
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 9- to 10-ounce New York steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick)
1/2 of 5.2-ounce package Boursin or other French garlic-and-herb cheese, cut into 6 wedges
1 1/2 cups Merlot or other fruity red wine
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives plus whole chives for garnish
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Add 3 steaks to each skillet; cook about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to platter; top each with 1 cheese wedge. Tent with foil to keep warm.
Pour off drippings from 1 skillet; add wine to skillet and boil over high heat until reduced to generous 1/2 cup, scraping up browned bits, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add butter and stir until melted. Mix in parsley and chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over steaks. Garnish with whole chives.
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 9- to 10-ounce New York steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick)
1/2 of 5.2-ounce package Boursin or other French garlic-and-herb cheese, cut into 6 wedges
1 1/2 cups Merlot or other fruity red wine
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives plus whole chives for garnish
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Add 3 steaks to each skillet; cook about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to platter; top each with 1 cheese wedge. Tent with foil to keep warm.
Pour off drippings from 1 skillet; add wine to skillet and boil over high heat until reduced to generous 1/2 cup, scraping up browned bits, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add butter and stir until melted. Mix in parsley and chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over steaks. Garnish with whole chives.
02-22-2008, 09:24 AM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Central Iowa
Posts: 234
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
Boursin, I've never tried it but it sounds good.
My boy likes his venison rare and I like mine medium rare so I tried to talk him into not pounding and flouring the steaks. He said that we should prepare this the way it is written, the first time anyway. We liked it very much as a sort of chicken fried smothered venison.
We will probably prepare it again, chicken fried, but we may do the steaks unpounded and medium rare too. What makes it good, either way, is the mushroom-bluecheese-shallot sauce.
Bob
My boy likes his venison rare and I like mine medium rare so I tried to talk him into not pounding and flouring the steaks. He said that we should prepare this the way it is written, the first time anyway. We liked it very much as a sort of chicken fried smothered venison.
We will probably prepare it again, chicken fried, but we may do the steaks unpounded and medium rare too. What makes it good, either way, is the mushroom-bluecheese-shallot sauce.
Bob
02-23-2008, 08:57 AM
#9
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Western NY
Posts: 790
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
Here is one of our favorites. Again sub the beef for venision. This works well with strip steaks too. ENJOY...I love to cook!
Filet Mignon Belmont House
1 Tablespoon butter
2 6-oz filtet mignon steaks (about 1 inch thick)
2/3 cup beef broth
¼ cup brandy
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Melt butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Add steaks to skillet and sauté until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer steaks to plate. Add broth, brandy and rosemary to skillet and boil until sauce is reduced to 1/3 cup, scraping up brown bits, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over steaks, add blue cheese. As an option, place plates under broiler until blue cheese melts, about 3 minutes.
Filet Mignon Belmont House
1 Tablespoon butter
2 6-oz filtet mignon steaks (about 1 inch thick)
2/3 cup beef broth
¼ cup brandy
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Melt butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Add steaks to skillet and sauté until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer steaks to plate. Add broth, brandy and rosemary to skillet and boil until sauce is reduced to 1/3 cup, scraping up brown bits, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over steaks, add blue cheese. As an option, place plates under broiler until blue cheese melts, about 3 minutes.
02-23-2008, 08:00 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lake County, Il
Posts: 2,205
RE: Backstrap Medallions with Blue cheese and mushrooms
The recipes are all variations on a theme and can be tweaked any way you like. The original recipe I pirated was for pork tenderloin and well, meat is meat! Your last recipe sounds like a winner to use with backstrap steaks can't wait to try it Thanks!
