Recipes

Bacon Wrapped Venison Loin with Albemarle Pippin, Chestnut, and Cornbread Stuffing

By: Hannah Lee Leidy
Photo by Kip Dawkins

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yields

4 servings

    Bacon Wrapped Venison
  • 1 venison loin, all silver skin removed
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3-4 garlic cloves crushed
  • Small handful black peppercorns
  • 1 bunch fresh rosemary, picked off the stem and chopped
  • 1 pound haricot verts, stems removed, blanched
  • ½ Albemarle Pippin apple, sliced, for garnish
  • Apple, Chestnut, and Cornbread Stuffing
  • 1 pound cornbread baked the day before (recipe of your choosing)
  • 1 cup cooked chestnuts, toasted, roughly chopped
  • ¾ stick unsalted butter
  • 1 celery rib
  • 1 Vidalia onion small
  • ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 Albemarle Pippin apples cored, large diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
  • ¼ tablespoon fresh sage, minced
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cup chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Bourbon and Apple Veal Demi-Glace
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 Albemarle Pippin apples, cored, chopped
  • 1 bunch thyme
  • 1 cup bourbon
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 2 cups veal demi-glace (you can make your own or find at specialty food stores like Williams-Sonoma or on Amazon)
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
steps

For Bacon Wrapped Venison

  1. Cut the venison in half. In a medium to large bowl or contain, combine milk, garlic, peppercorns, and rosemary. Soak meat in milk mixture overnight.
  2. The next day, remove the venison from milk mixture and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
  3. On a cutting board, lay out bacon strips, slightly overlapping each piece (forming large bacon sheets). Place one half of the loin on the bacon and gently roll the whole piece, covering it in a sheet of bacon. Repeat process with the other half of the loin. Set aside.

For Apple, Chestnut, and Cornbread Stuffing

  1. Crumble cornbread into chunks. Mix with chestnuts.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, melt butter in sauté pan over medium heat. Add celery and onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat. Add to cornbread/chestnut mixture. Add the parsley, apples, thyme, and sage to cornbread/chestnut mixture.
  4. Mix egg and chicken stock together. Pour into mixing bowl with all other ingredients.
  5. Bake in a buttered glass Pyrex dish for about 15−20 minutes until cooked through.

For Bourbon and Apple Veal Demi-Glace

  1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, add oil until it shimmers. Add shallots, garlic, apples, and thyme and sauté until slightly caramelized. Add the bourbon to pan and scrape the bottom to deglaze. Using a lighter or blowtorch, carefully ignite mixture. Let the fire cook off. Add cider, and cook until only one cup of liquid remains.
  2. Add veal demi-glace and bring down to a sauce consistency.
  3. Strain through chinois. Season with salt and pepper.

To Assemble

  1. Season the bacon-wrapped loins with salt and pepper. Place in hot skillet, seam side down.
  2. Sear for 4−5 minutes until the bacon becomes crispy. Turn venison loin over and sear the other side for same amount of time. With a pair of tongs, continue to turn venison to sear all sides so bacon is crispy throughout. Cook to medium rare.
  3. While venison is finishing up, reheat haricot verts in some butter and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Pull loins out of skillet and let rest for 2 minutes. Gently slice into medallions.
  5. Place stuffing and haricot verts in center of four plates. Fan sliced venison on top. Garnish with sliced apples. Drizzle sauce around.
  • Recipe By
    Chef Walter Bundy

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