Chili Cocoa Crusted Venison with Berry Reduction
Chili Cocoa Crusted Loin
Valentine’s Day meals do not have to be difficult or fussy. This recipe is beautiful, elegant, full of flavor and best of all easy to prepare! Chocolate is amazingly awesome with venison, believe it or not. Well, chocolate on almost anything is irresistible. I knew Scott was the man for me when he was able to resist Alaskan chocolate covered berries after losing 20 pounds in 2 weeks on an Alaskan hunting trip just to bring me my favorite ingredient and treat! There is nothing that says Happy Valentine’s Day more than chocolate!
CHILI COCOA CRUSTED VENISON WITH BERRY REDUCTION
Servings
6 people
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup coffee grounds
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 2½ tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ venison loin
- Olive oil for browning
Berry Reduction
- 1½ cups blackberries
- ½ cup blueberries
- ½ cup red wine cabernet-sauvignon
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix coffee grounds, cocoa, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Rub mixture into loin.
- Heat cast iron skillet to almost smoking. Place loin into skillet and brown on all sides.
- Place loin in 350-degree oven 4 to 5 minutes, depending on size of loin. Remove to a cutting board. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.
- Slice into 1-inch pieces on a platter and spoon berry reduction on top of venison. Serve with collard greens.
Berry Reduction
- Place blackberries, blueberries, red wine, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and reduce by half. Season with salt.
[…] Chili Cocoa Crusted Venison with Blackberry Reduction […]
Bake in the oven only 4 to 5 minutes? Is that correct?
Hi Lisa! Great question. If it is the tenderloin like I call for in this recipe, I never need to put it in the oven at all. I should clarify and will clarify in the recipe that if you use the backstrap to put it in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes or until medium rare. Thanks for asking. Sounds like you are going to be eating great sometime soon!