Grilled venison loin with blackberry agro dolce on polenta
(Best paired with Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series 2Bench Red)
Serves 6
Agro dolce
- 1 pound fresh or frozen blackberries
- 1 shallot – diced
- 250 ml red wine vinegar
- 125 ml brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and reduce on medium heat until the liquid becomes a thick syrup. Refrigerate overnight.
Polenta
- 1 litre water
- 250 ml cornmeal
- ¼ cup of butter cubed
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Bring water to a simmer with the butter. While whisking, gradually pour in polenta. Drop heat to low simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid lumps. After 30 minutes, remove from direct heat, cover the polenta with plastic wrap right on the surface of the polenta (to avoid a skin forming) and store somewhere warm. When the venison is ready to serve, remove the plastic wrap from the polenta, rewarm and whisk in the parmesan.
Venison
- 6 x 6oz venison loin or Denver leg medallions
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Preheat BBQ* to high. Pat dry and season loins with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grill loins to rare (about 125 – 130 degrees F). Rest in a warm place for 15 minutes or so. Note: you could also use a grill pan*
Place the polenta on 6 plates. Slice the venison into slices about 1 cm thick. Arrange on polenta. Place blackberry agro dolce on top.
Jeff Van Geest, Executive Chef
When it comes to modern, local and sustainable cuisine, Chef Jeff Van Geest is one of British Columbia’s most celebrated chefs. Jeff owned and operated Vancouver’s Aurora Bistro for over five years. During this time, Jeff and his restaurant won several prestigious awards: including being named one of enRoute magazine’s top new restaurants in 2004, gold for Best Regional Restaurant and silver for Chef of the Year at the 2006 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, and the 2008 Vancouver Magazine Green Award.
Jeff was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario – right in the heart of Ontario’s Niagara wine region. Growing up with farmers as grandparents, Jeff developed his respect for fresh local produce at a very early age. In 1992, Jeff headed out west to Vancouver, where one of his first jobs he found was working in a restaurant as a cook. He immediately knew this was his passion and enrolled in culinary school.
Jeff completed his culinary training at the Vancouver Community College in 1994 and went on to complete his apprenticeship at Bishop’s – one of Canada’s finest restaurants and a pioneer in sustainability. At Bishop’s, as he worked his way up to Sous Chef, Jeff further developed his deep appreciation for the importance of supporting local farmers and producers, a passion he ingrained into the philosophy of Aurora Bistro, where he built a reputation as a leader in local, sustainable cuisine that was prepared elegantly and with a respect for the ingredients.
After closing Aurora Bistro in 2008, Jeff worked as the Executive Sous Chef at the Diva at the Met until 2010. It was always Jeff’s goal to raise his family in a small town, so Jeff moved to the Okanagan in the summer of 2010 and began researching local farmers and producers. Now heading the kitchen at Miradoro, Jeff is truly in his element – his passion for fresh local products fuelled by B.C’s best fruit and vegetable growing region.
Featured image courtesy of hendersona980
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