Our favorite way to cook our venison tenderloin filets is to crust them with pepper, sear and serve with a tart, fruity sauce.

First, mellow out the pepper.  Put some olive oil in a small heavy saute pan and add coarsely ground black peppercorns (or smashed with a hammer if you don’t have a grinder – you need it kinda chunky, so don’t use the ground pepper you buy in tins in the grocery store).

Simmer the pepper in the oil for about 10 minutes.  You just want to heat it until the pepper becomes very fragrant – be careful not to burn it.

Coat the filets with the pepper and oil.

If necessary, spoon the pepper out of the pan if they’re not coated enough.

Cover the meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to cook them (at least an hour is good).

Get a heavy saute pan nice and hot.  We like to use safflower oil, which doesn’t burn over high heat.

Yeah, it does get smoky.  Sear the filets on one side for about a minute or two – or until the meat releases from the pan.  It should be nice and brown.  Flip and sear the other side.  Sear the sides as well.

These look just about done.  Tender cuts like this should be rare to medium rare.  If you like your meat well done, you probably won’t enjoy this cut.

These can go into a 350°F oven until the internal temperature is about 130-135° (for rare, which is how we like them).

Make a quick sauce by combining a tablespoon or two of elderberry jam and a dash of port wine and beef stock.  Heat and season to taste (you won’t need pepper).

You probably don’t have elderberry jam, but you could use red currant or sour cherry.  Red wine works instead of port or, if you don’t want to use wine, cranberry juice is a good substitute.  Or make a traditional bordelaise sauce.

Serve with a roasted potato and fresh brussel sprouts (we finally picked them from the garden) and you’ve got a gourmet meal at home.  This dinner cost us about 50¢ per plate (the strip of bacon was the most expensive item)!

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