Venison steaks with blackberry sauce

3
Points®
Total Time
45 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Difficult
Finding large venison steaks for this recipe may be difficult to track down on the fly, so be sure to order the steaks at your local store or with your butcher ahead of time. The venison pairs perfectly well with a puréed blackberry sauce, which also consists of vegetable broth, fresh thyme, and orange juice. It can be prepared with almost any other kind of frozen berry if you can't happen to find blackberries; you'll love how versatile and delicious it can be. The sauce is also delicious with chicken breasts, pork chops, or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, ostrich steaks.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 tsp, extra virgin

Uncooked fennel bulb

1 medium, thinly sliced

Radicchio

2½ cup(s), shredded, 1 small head, shredded

Blackberries

2 cup(s)

Vegetable broth

½ cup(s)

Fresh thyme

1 Tbsp, 2 sprigs

Cornstarch

1 Tbsp

Orange juice

¼ cup(s)

Uncooked venison

12 oz, 2 (6-ounce) steaks

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the fennel and radicchio and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, spray a broiler rack with nonstick spray; preheat the broiler or grill.
  2. Reserve 8–12 blackberries; combine the remainder in a small saucepan with the broth and thyme; bring to a boil, then cook until the berries are easily mashed, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl; press the berries with the back of a spoon, taking care to scrape the residue from the outside of the sieve into the bowl. Return the puree to the saucepan.
  3. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice. Add to the puree. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, bubbles, and turns translucent, about 2 minutes.
  4. Broil or grill the steaks 5 inches from the heat until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of each steak registers 160°F for medium, 145°F for medium-rare, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Slice into thin strips.