The “gamey-ness” of wild game is one of my favorite flavors to play with. Many people describe when first experiencing wild game describe it as having a “gamey” flavor. It is hard when you eat wild game on a regular basis to define what exactly people are calling “gamey,” but for the most part I think it comes from looking at a piece of venison, your brain thinking it should taste like beef because it looks similar to beef, and then your tastebuds telling your brain that something has gone afoul because what you just put in your mouth was not beef.
I can’t disagree with people when they say wild game has a “gamey” flavor, because it does taste different from farmed animals. The animal lives an entirely different life with a completely different diet. You can quickly decipher between farmed raised duck and wild duck in a dish. They taste different. Where I start to pull away from the argument that wild game is “gamey” is when there is a negative connotation to what “gamey” is. Many people say they don’t like wild game because it is “gamey.” I prefer to think of it as you just haven’t highlighted the unique and delightful flavors of the “gamey-ness.”
One of my favorite ways to highlight the flavors of venison is to pair it will blueberry. The slightly sweet, hints of sour, but also subtle earthy flavor of a blueberry perfectly accentuates the herbaceous essences of the venison. Add in a few carefully selected fresh herbs, such as thyme and sage, and you are on your way for a tantalizing taste bud experience.
Working with wild game really motivates your mind to seek out the base flavors of a piece of meat, such as rabbit, moose, bear, venison, elk, and see where the aromas, flavors, and textures can take a dish.
For this venison steak salad, I decided to use kale for the base. I like the hearty texture of kale and also the mild flavor it adds. Kale is also very nutrient dense and packed with antioxidants.
Start with cooking your bacon. In a heavy bottomed pan, preferably cast iron or something that can go directly into the oven, cook the bacon until crispy. Set aside to drain on a paper towel and when cooled crumble into bite size pieces. Leave the grease in your pan for cooking your steaks.
Let the steaks rest at room temperature for ten to fifteen minutes. Season the piece of steak generously, maybe what you would consider too generously, with salt and fresh cracked peppercorns. To cook the deer steak, heat a heavy bottomed pan, preferable cast iron if you have it, over medium high heat. Leave the steak in a large piece, like a six or more inch piece, and cook it whole. We will thinly slice it after cooking.
Cook three to five minutes per side, depending on how well-done you would like your steak. Then set the entire pan into the oven at 500 degrees for five minutes. Let the steak rest on a cutting board for a few minutes before slicing.
Since the oven is already hot from the steak, it is the perfect time to toast your walnuts. Place them in a dish and toast for a few minutes. Mine took about five to start to lightly brown, but I kept checking about over minute and a half so things didn’t burn, which happens quickly at 500 degrees.
Plate each salad starting with the kale. Top with fresh blueberries, crumbles of tangy goat cheese, salty bacon bits, toasted walnuts for a little crunch, fresh cucumber, and grated carrot for sweetness and color. Add on a generous helping of the sliced deer steak.
Alright! Dressing time!
This salad dressing is fantastic! It is one of the best vinaigrettes I have tasted actually. It is slightly sweet but still has that lovely acidic balsamic bite. In a sauce pan, add a half cup of port wine, a 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon honey, some thyme, and a minced shallot. At a simmer, reduce the sauce by about half, which takes about seven to ten minutes. Let cool.
In a dressing shaker of some type, add two tablespoons olive oil and two tablespoons dijon mustard. Season with a little salt and black pepper. Once the port wine reduction has cooled add it to the olive oil. Shake until well combined and pour ALL over your salad.
I hope you enjoy this super flavor and actually healthy (it’s packed full of super foods!) salad.
Happy Hunting!
Venison Steak Kale and Blueberry Salad with Port Wine Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 inch chunk of favorite wild game (venison, elk, moose, etc)
- 6-8 cups chopped kale
- 4 slices bacon
- Shredded carrots
- Diced cucumber
- 2 cups toasted walnuts
- Pint blueberries
- Pint goat cheese crumbles
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup port wine
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Few sprigs thyme
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, add the port wine, balsamic vinegar, honey, thyme and minced shallot.
- Simmer over low to medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until reduced by about half.
- In a dressing shaker, add the dijon mustard and olive oil. Mix together.
- Once port sauce has reduced to half and cooled, add to olive oil mixture.
- Shake and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 500.
- In a heavy bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron or at least something that can go from stove top to oven, cook the four pieces of bacon until crispy.
- Drain the bacon a paper towel, reserve the juices from the bacon for cooking the steak.
- Let the steak rest at room temperature for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Season liberally with salt and fresh cracked peppercorns.
- In the skillet with the bacon grease, heat over medium high and cook steak for three minutes per side.
- Place the entire skillet directly into the preheated oven and allow steak to finish cooking for five minutes.
- Pull steak and let rest. Then thinly slice against the grain.
- Toast walnuts in preheated oven for five minutes.
- To assemble salad, generously fill with chopped kale.
- Top with thinly sliced steak, carrots, cucumber, walnuts and blueberries.
- Sprinkle on a serving of goat cheese and crumbled bacon bites.
- Drizzle with port wine balsamic vinaigrette.
- Dig in!