Balsamic Venison Filet Salad With Pears and Blue Cheese

This recipe is a combination of several recipes I found. It is pretty easy and quick. If you don't have game spice, mix or 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp ground rosemary, 1/4 tsp ground thyme, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/8 ground juniper berries and 1/8 tsp ground allspice. Prep time includes marination time. You could marinate overnight for a quick weeknight meal. My DH says that it is good enough to be from a fancy restaurant.

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 400 -500  g  venison (2 fillets)
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  game, spice
• 1 (300 g) bag  mixed greens or  romaine lettuce
• 100  g Stilton cheese (or other crumbly blue is best)
• 3  green onions
• 50  g ground walnuts
• 50  g butter, unsalted
• 200  g  dried wild mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and chop into bite sized pieces)
• 2  garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 100  ml medium-dry sherry
• 100  ml  balsamic vinegar
• 4  small pears, firm

Directions

1. Wash the fillets and pat dry.
2. Pour olive oil in a bowl and mix in the game spice and rub into the fillets.
3. Allow to sit for 2 hours.
4. In the meantime, wash the lettuce and rip into eatable pieces and put in bowl.
5. Chop green onions and blue cheese and them and the walnuts to the bowl.
6. Heat pan on medium-high heat and fry the meat for 1 minute on each side.
7. Add 30g of butter, drained mushrooms, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
8. Add the red wine and balsamic vinegar and cook, stirring to deglaze the pan.
9. Once the venison is cooked to the thickest part hits 55C (about 130 F) remove it and allow to cool.
10. Add the remaining butter to the red wine sauce and cook briskly until reduced by half. Cool for 5 minutes.
11. Deseed pear and slice into bite-slices.
12. Add the pears to rest of salad and toss.
13. Slice the fillets into bite-sized slices.
14. Put some salad in a bowl and pull venison on top.
15. Spoon the wine sauce and mushrooms over the salad.