Pan Seared Wapiti Venison

Ingredients

• 8 bone rack of Fiordland Wapiti
• 50ml oloroso sherry
• 50ml chicken stock
• 1 knob butter (unsalted)
• 200g Pistachio, toasted and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon mint
• 1 Tablespoon parsley
• 1 Tablespoon chives
• Good olive oil to finish

Method

Season the rack liberally with salt, and pepper.

Cook the wapiti rack in a hot pan with a little fat, cook the meat so that you get nice caramelisation on all sides. You want to cook it to medium rare which reads about 45 on a digital thermometer.

If you have a nice colour but the meat is still a bit rare (you can tell by probing or gently squeezing the meat) you can finish by cooking for a few minutes in a hot oven (200 degrees).

Remove the meat from the pan, deglaze with a little splash of wine or sherry, add a little stock and then knock in a little butter to make a pan sauce.

Allow the meat to rest for ten minutes loosely covered with tin foil in a warm spot.

Make the pistachio salsa by mixing the chopped pistachios with olive oil and chopped herbs.

Slice the venison along the rib bones, dress with the pan juices and garnish with the pistachio and herb sauce. This dish is lovely with boiled potato salad in summer or truffled polenta in winter.