Warm Venison and Mushroom Salad
Warm Venison and Mushroom Salad
Mushrooms and venison are a great match, especially if you know your way around the woods and can forage, rather than shop, for local shrooms. High-dollar mushrooms such as morels and chanterelles can be gathered by the buckets in some parts of the country, but it’s critically important that you can tell the difference between the edibles and the ones that will make you really sick. When in doubt, don’t eat them. I use trimmed venison backstrap, tenderloin or hindquarter muscles for this dish.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pecan pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 dash Tabasco
- 1 1/2 cups cooked venison, thinly sliced rare to medium-rare
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 4 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 lemons, juice only
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 4 handfuls arugula
- 1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup diced tomato
Instructions
- Toss pecans with 1 tablespoon olive oil, kosher salt and Tabasco. Place on a baking sheet, and place sheet in a preheated 325-degree oven. Toast pecans until darker brown, but not burnt. Remove from oven and cool.
- Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Mushrooms should still be a little firm. Stir in basil, mustard and sliced cooked venison. Heat to warm, and blend ingredients.
- For each serving, mound arugula on plates. Spoon mushroom and venison mixture over. Top with cheese, onion and tomato. Drizzle any remaining dressing over.