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Smoked Roasted Loin of Venison with Beetroot Tarte Tatin

A savoury take on a classic tarte tatin makes a dazzling accompaniment to home-smoked venison.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Venison and beetroot work together. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and 26 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook2 hr

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Pat the venison dry and season all over with salt and black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan over high heat and sear the venison 1 to 2 minutes per side until browned.

  2. Put the venison in the oven and roast for 8 to 12 minutes until the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C). Rest it on a board, loosely covered, for 3 minutes before slicing.

  3. For the sauce, finely chop the shallot and cook it in 25g of the butter over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft. Add the thyme and red wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 8 minutes.

  4. Add the beef stock and redcurrant jelly and simmer for about 15 minutes until thick and glossy. Season with salt and pepper, remove the thyme, and keep warm.

  5. For the tarte tatin, melt the remaining 75g of butter with the caster sugar in an ovenproof 8-inch skillet over medium heat until it forms a golden caramel, about 8 minutes.

  6. Arrange the cooked baby beetroot in the caramel and cook for 2 minutes. Roll out the puff pastry to fit the pan and lay it over the beetroot, tucking the edges down.

  7. Bake the tart at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp. Rest for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.

  8. Slice the venison and serve with the beetroot tarte tatin, the warm sauce spooned around, and a spoonful of crème fraîche on the side.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Venison + beetroottop 20% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together26 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Pepper + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Shallot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Olive + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,641 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  5. Thyme + red winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together749 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the banana

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, butter, olive, shallot, thyme, red wine):

  1. Lemonbetter flavor fit
  2. Red currantbetter flavor fit
  3. Grapebetter flavor fit
  4. Bananathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, butter, olive, shallot, thyme, red wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).