Venison Wellington
Serves 4-6
TIP: Think of this long recipe as a three-part task: First prepare the Bordelaise sauce and the mushroom filling, then prepare the meat. To make it extra simple, you’ll want to prepare the sauce and mushroom filling 1-2 days in advance.
BORDELAISE SAUCE
Ingredients
2 tbsp. butter
1 shallot, minced
1 onion slice
2 carrot slices
6 whole black peppercorns
1 whole clove
1/2 bay leaf
1 sprig parsley
2 tbsp. flour
1 can (15 oz.) condensed beef bouillon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine (Cabernet, merlot, etc.)
1 tbsp. snipped parsley
Sauce Preparation
In hot butter, saute the shallot, onion, carrot, parsley sprig, peppercorns, clove and bay leaf until golden and tender. Add flour, cook over low heat, stirring until flour is lightly browned. Stir in bouillon; simmer, stirring until thickened and smooth (about 10 min.) Strain liquid to remove bay leaf, peppercorns, etc. Add salt, pepper, red wine and snipped parsley. Refrigerate. About 20 minutes before serving venison, sauce can be warmed carefully in a double boiler. We find utilizing the slow heat atop a wood stove reheats the sauce perfectly in a covered glass dish.
MUSHROOM FILLING
Ingredients
1 pound fresh mushrooms, finely chopped (substitute 2-3 cups dried mushrooms)
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup snipped parsley
Preparation
When using dried mushrooms, reconstitute in water 4-8 hours or overnight to make mushrooms completely tender. Drain.
In a large skillet over a medium-high heat, add all ingredients, stirring often until ingredients cook down and liquid is absorbed. Refrigerate until ready to use.
VENISON
1 venison backstrap (not tenderloin)*
3 tbsp. butter or oil
Salt and pepper
Frozen puff pastry sheets
* Note that the actual venison tenderloins are no larger
than a bratwurst and therefore too small for this dish.
The venison backstraps, which many people mistakenly
call tenderloins, are about the size of a man’s forearm
and are perfect here.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 F. Coat vension in oil or butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Since one end of the backstrap will be smaller than the opposite end, fold over the small end and secure with a toothpick to make the meat approximately the same thickness and cook evenly overall. Place venison on roasting rack in oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until meat thermometer indicates no more than 110 degrees internal temperature (the second phase of cooking is ahead.) About 10 minutes before removing venison from the oven, remove the puff pastry sheets from freezer, allowing them to thaw slightly (they’re much easier to handle when they’re not thawed completely).
Remove venison from oven and unfold the partly-thawed pastry sheets. Remove toothpick from venison and place venison on pastry sheets. Pack a generous amount of mushroom filling atop the venison, then carefully wrap the entire “package,” sealing openings with a dab of water or beaten egg.
Bake at 425 F about 15 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven, let rest for 8-10 minutes. Slice and serve. TIP: Keep the gravy boat filled with Bordelaise sauce near your own plate, and offer it around the table reluctantly.
