Now I already know what you are thinking: that meat is RAW. It’s mooing. So yes, it is very rare, pretty much blue. But when it comes to a lot of game meats, such as venison or elk, cooking any of them past rare either brings out too much gamey flavor, or they turn really chewy. So yes, I totally get that my cook on the venison is very reminiscent of that filet mignon I got sent home on in Masterchef, but the cook here was entirely intentional. If you want it cooked more, cook the loins for another minute on each side and you will get it more towards that rare to medium rare. But I’m fine with eating it this blue to avoid toughening up the meat too much. In terms of what inspired this dish, I happened to get some venison loins, and wanted to think of ingredients I like to pair with it. Mushrooms were a potential option, but I opted for squash, bacon, and blackberries. Bacon adds fat, squash adds sweetness, and blackberries add tartness, so it all balances out nicely. To ensure that the venison is soft, I marinated it in red miso, which really tenderizes the meat, while seasoning the exterior. With the squash, I didn’t want to just do a butternut squash puree. So instead, I made it into a gnocchi. Searing it in bacon fat and finishing it with crispy bacon makes these squash gnocchi pillowy on the inside, but crispy on the outside. For the sauce, I went with a blackberry sake jus, which has a richness to it and a tartness, cutting through the gaminess of the meat. All in all, while the cook on the venison is going to be divisive, I am fairly happy with how the final dish came out.

Makes 2 servings:
For the squash gnocchi:
10oz butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in medium dice
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt
2 strips bacon, diced

Roast the squash at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Then boil the squash for another 5 minutes. Pass the squash through a ricer and toss with the flour until just coated. Mix the riced squash with egg and salt to form a dough. Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a 1/2-inch wide tip. Pipe the dough, cutting it to 1/2-inch long pieces, with an offset spatula, directly into boiling salted water, boiling the gnocchi until they begin to float. Place the boiled gnocchi onto a lightly oiled parchment sheet until time to finish.

In a pan, render the bacon until crispy. Reserve the crisped bacon for later, and sear the gnocchi on both sides in the bacon fat until golden before tossing with the bacon.

For the blackberry-sake jus:
1 tbsp rendered bacon fat
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp sake
1 pint blackberries
1/4 cup veal demi glace

In a pan, sweat out the onions in bacon fat before adding in the garlic and bay leaf, stirring on low heat until nutty. Add in the sake and blackberries, and reduce on medium with the demi glace by a quarter – you will be reducing this sauce further in the venison drippings. Pass everyting through a sieve to remove any solids.

For the venison:
2 venison loins
2 tbsp red miso paste
1 tbsp shio koji
a pinch of salt
neutral oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Mix the miso, shio koji, and salt to form a paste. Rub the exterior of the loins with the miso paste and allow the loins to sit for 2 hours, refrigerated. Rinse the marinade off the venison and pat the loins dry. Line a pan with neutral oil and start searing the loins on each side for 2 minutes. Add in butter and baste each side of the venison loin for another 1 minute per side. Allow the venison to rest for at least 10 minutes while reducing the blackberry-sake jus in the pan by half, stirring to ensure everything is melted together.

For garnish:
Nasturtiums

Slice the venison loins and start by placing down the sauce, the gnocchi, the loin medallions, and finish with nasturtiums to garnish.