Skip to main content

Venison with Beetroot, Blackberries & Port

Rare venison goes with autumnal purple-red produce in both colour and flavour

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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
Prep10 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (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). Rub the trimmed venison fillet lightly with olive oil. Heat an ovenproof skillet over high heat until very hot.

  2. Sear the venison for 2 minutes per side until browned, then transfer the skillet to the oven for 6 to 8 minutes until the thickest part reaches at least 145°F (63°C).

  3. Move the venison to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 3 minutes before slicing.

  4. While the venison cooks, put the red wine, port and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by about half, around 8 minutes.

  5. Strain out the thyme, then whisk half the butter into the reduced sauce off the heat. Keep warm.

  6. Halve the cooked beetroot. Warm them in a pan with the remaining butter and a splash of red wine vinegar for about 3 minutes, turning gently.

  7. Add the blackberries to the sauce and warm gently for 2 minutes until just softened, spooning them carefully so they keep their shape.

  8. Toss the watercress with a little olive oil and red wine vinegar. Slice the venison, arrange it with the beetroot and watercress, and spoon over the blackberry sauce.

By bbcgoodfood. 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. Beetroot + watercresstop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together143 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Thyme + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,641 recipes

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

  4. Red wine + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together749 recipes

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

  5. Red wine + vinegartop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together569 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (red wine, venison, butter, olive, beetroot, watercress, vinegar):

  1. Thymethe original
  2. Garlicabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Capersabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Rosemaryabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against red wine, venison, butter, olive, beetroot, watercress, vinegar. 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).