Coffee Brined Venison for Dad
with Winter Squash Gratin from Tyler McNabb to his dad, PD McNabb
Get yourself yourself a deer, or find someone who has one and talk them out of a choice piece of loin. Once you have your venison loin, prepare your brine and settle your piece of meat (cleaned of silver-skin) in there to rest for a bit. After it’s had a good long soak, start off by getting the Squash Gratin together, and cooking your glaze. Now, when you’re mentally prepared, get your skillet hot and sear that loin.
Coffee Brine
Ingredients:
1 cup coffee (leftover from breakfast will do fine, no need to brew a fresh pot)
¼ cup bourbon
1 star anise pod
5 whole juniper berries
5 whole allspice berries
¼ teaspoon pink peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons kosher salt (preferably Diamond)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 cups ice
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except ice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then strain liquid over ice. Submerge venison roast in brine and refrigerate overnight, for a minimum of 12 hours, but no longer than 24 hours.
Winter Squash Gratin
I’ve opted for a Delicata or acorn squash for this recipe, both of which have edible skins so you can save yourself some peeling time. However, just because something is edible doesn’t always mean it will be delectable.
Ingredients:
1 Delicata or acorn squash (preferably from your local farmer’s market), split and deseeded
1 semi-sweet or tart baking apple, such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Winesap (preferably from your local orchard), cored, halved and sliced thin (¼ inch)
1 small russet potato, peeled halved and sliced thin (⅛ inch); a mandoline works great for this
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup heavy cream
½ small yellow onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 dried bay leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
Small pinch crushed red pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (preferably Diamond)
1 cup good quality semi-firm cheese (white Cheddar or Gruyere would do well)
¼ cup grated, good quality hard cheese such as Pecorino or Grana Padano
Directions:
First you must char your squash skin, either over an open flame on a gas range or in a ripping hot cast iron skillet which has been lightly oiled. This will accomplish a few things:
The skin of the squash will become more tender and pleasurable on the palate.
The charred skin will add a slight smokiness to the gratin, pairing well with our other flavors and adding additional depth to the dish.
You get to play with fire!
Once the skin on your squash is lovely and burnt, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly before slicing crosswise into ¼ inch-thick half moons. Now you’re ready to proceed with the rest of the recipe.
In a medium-sized (2-quart) saucepan, combine the whole milk, heavy cream, onion, celery, rosemary, thyme and crushed red pepper. With the burner on high, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and allow to gently simmer for five minutes. Once your flavors have steeped and infused in the cream, discard the bay leaves, thyme and rosemary sprigs.
Add the sliced potatoes to the pot and return to the boil (this will give your potatoes a bit of a head start in the cooking process so that all the components will be fully cooked at just the right moment)
When your cream has returned to a full boil, remove from the heat and add to the pot the remaining ingredients (charred and sliced squash, cored and sliced apple, salt, semi-firm cheese) and gently stir to combine.
Pour everything into a small, greased casserole dish or 9-inch cast iron skillet and bake in a 350℉ conventional oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes your gratin should be golden and bubbling and the vegetables can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
Sprinkle the ¼ cup of hard cheese over the top of the casserole and return to the oven for five minutes.
Remove the dish from the heat and allow it to rest before serving with your venison roast.
Coffee-Sorghum “Glacé”
Ingredients:
½ cup coffee
¼ cup bourbon
¼ cup sorghum
1 tablespoon Worcerstershire
1 cube beef bouillon
1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Directions:
Combine coffee, bourbon, sorghum, Worcestershire and fish sauce (if using) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and heavy cream to make a slurry.
Whisk the cornstarch/cream mixture into the boiling sauce. The sauce should immediately thicken as it returns to the boil.
Remove from the heat and taste for seasoning. (The sauce should be slightly sweet, slightly acidic, slightly salty with just a hint of indefinable umami ~ thanks fish sauce!)
Pour this warm sauce over your carved venison roast.
Venison Loin Roast
Whether you are harvesting your own game or buying from a supermarket, you’ll want to make sure the venison loin roast is cleaned of all silverskin (the pearlescent membrane that separates various muscles). Just ask your butcher to remove it from your loin roast and they will know what to do.
Ingredients:
1 16-20 oz. boneless venison loin roast, brined overnight
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
2 tablespoons whole butter at room temperature
Directions:
Remove your venison from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
Cover the roast with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour (this will temper the meat and allow you to achieve a more even cook)
About 10 minutes before you plan to sear your meat, season the roast generously with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Place a cast iron skillet (or your favorite frying pan) on a burner set to medium high heat and add cooking oil to the pan.
Once oil shimmers and is very hot, but not smoking, carefully place the roast in the pan. Venison is an extremely lean meat and should therefore be cooked at high heat for a short amount of time.
Sear your roast on each side for no longer than 30 seconds, you should achieve a light brown color all over the roast. If you sear for too long you will risk drying out the meat and could end up with a very disappointing dinner.
While searing the last side, move the roast to the far side of the pan, and add the garlic, shallot, thyme, rosemary and butter to the pan. This is where the fun begins! The butter will immediately begin to melt, brown and bubble, and in doing so will activate the important flavor molecules found in our aromatics.
Using an oven mitt, grab the handle of your pan with one hand and tilt the pan toward you at a 45* angle. Simultaneously with your opposite hand, use a large spoon to ladle the bubbling, browning butter over your venison roast.
This technique is known as basting and will accomplish a few things:
As moisture in the butter and on the surface of your roast rapidly evaporates, it cools the outside of the roast which will prevent over-cooking.
The flavor molecules which are being released from the aromatics into the butter will perfume and flavor the roast.
You get to play with your food!
Baste the roast on both sides for about 30 seconds per side. At this point, your roast should have been in the pan for no longer than five minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the roast to a plate to rest for 10 minutes.
Once rested, put the roast back into the cast iron skillet and place in a 350℉ oven for about 10 minutes. The roast should read an internal temperature of about 110℉ on a meat thermometer. Remove roast from the oven and once again transfer to a plate to rest for 10-15 minutes. Your roast is now ready to carve and serve.
Bone Apple Teeth!
© 2021, Holly Hill Inn/Ilex Summit, LLC and its affiliates, All Rights Reserved
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