Grilled venison steak with cherries

Prepare
less than 30 mins
Cook
10 to 30 mins
Serve
Serves 2

Summer cherries can be delicious in savoury dishes too, especially when served with rich meat, like venison, to add a little bit of sweetness.

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the venison steak

  • 30g/1oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for frying
  • ½ garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 juniper berry, smashed
  • 1 rosemary sprig, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • 250g/9oz venison haunch steak
  • sautéed or steamed rainbow chard, to serve

For the cherry sauce

Method

  1. To make the venison steak, mix the softened butter with the garlic, juniper and rosemary.

  2. Heat a griddle pan on a high heat and add the venison steak with a little of the extra butter.

  3. Chargrill the venison on all sides and cook until medium rare, about 6–8 minutes depending on the thickness of the steak. Remove from the heat and add the garlic butter, basting the steak. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

  4. To make the cherry sauce, add the cherries to a medium saucepan on a medium heat with the red wine, Madeira and port. Increase the heat and reduce to a syrup, this should take around 5 minutes.

  5. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the vinegars to taste and whisk in the butter just before serving.

  6. To serve, carve the steak and serve with the rainbow chard and cherry sauce.