We all want fancy meals but let's face it, we don't always have the time to invest in doing something over the top. But you're in luck! There is a class of meals I like to call 15-min fancy... looks like it should've taken hours but was actually quick!
Shortcuts you ask? Of course there are shortcuts... it's 15-min fancy after all. You can do everything from scratch for the 2-hour fancy :-)
I'll preface this by saying y'all know I'm not a chef. I'm barely even a foodie... so techniques and processes might not be "correct." Feel free to drop a comment on social media if you know a better way!
Alright, let's get into it.
Ingredients
- Venison loin (or any wild game backstrap really)
- Chili-roasted shelled pistachios (I get mine from Costco)
- Honey mustard (we use Honeyville)
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic (Kinder's Prime Steak seasoning is my go-to for that hint of black truffle)
- fresh ground black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- Neutral oil (if I'm out of bear fat, I use avocado oil)
- Idahoan Baby Reds Instant Mashed Potatoes (yes! you read that right!)
- Room-temp Butter
- Smoked paprika
Recipe
- Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF.
- Season your venison loin with the salt, pepper, garlic mixture. You can be VERY liberal here.
- Add some fresh, coarse-ground black pepper. I like to go heavy on the fresh black pepper but you do you!
- Crush up some of those chili-roasted pistachios into small-ish chunks and save for later.
- In a (preferably cast iron) skillet, heat your neutral oil over medium-high heat
- Once the pan is hot, turn heat down to medium if using cast iron (it holds heat!), then sear the venison on ALL sides and get a GOOD CRUST. Crust = flavortown so make sure it's good!
- While the meat is searing, toss in your two garlic cloves and get a little bit of color on them, remove and set aside for later.
- Once you gave a great crust, turn off your heat and remove the venison from the pan. Baste the meat liberally with your honey mustard.
- Coat all sides of the meat with your crushed pistachios
- Put the meat back in the skillet (if oven-safe, if not, transfer to oven safe dish) and then put into your pre-heated oven.
- Bake until the meat reaches an internal temp of 125ºF or your preferred temp before resting. I highly recommend the Thermapen One for checking meat temps!
- Once you're getting close to that final internal temp, prepare your instant mashed potatoes per the instructions. I like to add an additional knob of butter into the boiling water before adding the potatoes for a little extra richness.
- When your meat reaches your target internal temp, pull it and remove it from the baking dish to a cutting board. Let the meat rest AT LEAST 5 minutes. You can cover with a bit of foil to retain heat. The resting time is CRITICAL for tender tender melt-in-your-mouth meat.
- While the meat is resting, whip up some compound butter by taking your room-temp butter and:
- Mince those two garlic cloves and add
- Sprinkle a bit of that SPG
- Add a few dashes of the smoked paprika
- Add a couple turns of the fresh ground black pepper
- Mix well
- With the rest done, and potatoes made it's time to plate up and enjoy! Add a dollop of the compound butter to your sliced venison and head to 15-min flavortown!
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