Venison with Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce

[Michael]

From Jason

I made this recipe a while back for Mom and Dad, Chris and Ada. I thought it was a pretty good use of cranberries.

My mistake was in interpretting the line about the one small canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce. I put in one small can, which was about 9 chiles.

Venison with Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce
SERVES: 4
INGREDIENTS
· 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
· 1/4 cup honey
· 1/4 cup water
· 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
· 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
· 1 small canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
· Salt
· Freshly ground pepper
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 1 1/2 pounds venison tenderloin, cut into 1-inch-thick medallions
· 1/4 cup full-bodied red wine
· 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and broken into large pieces


DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries with the honey and water. Simmer over moderate heat until the cranberries burst, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet. Add the garlic and cook over low heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir the garlic, butter and the chipotle into the cranberries and season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the oil. Season the venison with salt and pepper. When the fat is hot but not smoking, add half of the medallions and cook over moderately high heat until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until just rare, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a warmed platter. Repeat with the remaining medallions.
4. Add the wine to the skillet and boil for 30 seconds, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Stir in the cranberry sauce, season with salt and pepper and reheat. Spoon the sauce over the venison, sprinkle with the pecans and serve.