by: Joanna LaBounty, founder of eatmewild.com
The sweet, tart jamminess of a blackberry picked right from the bush is hard to beat. You brave the thorns to pluck each tiny berry, staining your lips and fingers a deep purple as you play the “one for me now, and one for me later” game of picking. Those special berries that do manage to make it beyond the wood line deserve to be treated with some serious love. Here, they are paired with red wine and venison for a feast that will take you from summer to fall. Fancy enough to serve guests, but easy enough to make at camp too.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 venison steaks
1 small sweet onion, finely diced
1 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup wild Maine blackberries
Spring of fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil
Directions
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan (do not use a non-stick pan) to medium-high heat. Brush venison steaks with oil and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place steaks into the hot pan and leave untouched for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness. Flip the steak over and cook this side for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Remove steak and allow to rest. This should achieve a well-seared venison steak cooked to medium/medium-rare.
To make the sauce, reduce the heat to medium after removing the venison steaks. Be careful, as the pan will still be holding a lot of heat!
Add onions to the pan, stirring quickly, scraping any of the brown bits left from the steaks. Add wine, vinegar, honey and mustard; stir to combine and again, scrape any of the seared venison from the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Finally, add blackberries and rosemary and continue to cook for roughly 10 minutes until sauce is reduced by half and slightly thickened.
Serve sauce on top of venison steaks and enjoy.
