Warm Venison Salad with Balsamic Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 2 venison tenderloins, silverskin removed salt and cracked black pepper 1 tbsp oil
• 4x shallots – diced finely
• ½ cup red wine

Salad

• 2 rashers of smokey streaky bacon
• ​2 pears bunch of well washed rocket and watercress
• ​½ cup of fresh pine nuts - toasted

Dressing

• 100g dark chocolate
• ¼ cup Balsamic
• ¼ cup of cream

Method:

1. Heat a hot cast iron pan or heavy pan with olive oil and shallots, cook until translucent.
2. Season tenderloins with salt and pepper and place onto the hot pan.
3. Sear until nicely brown and add the red wine.
4. Turn heat to low and continue to cook for at least 7 minutes.
5. Remove from pan and set aside the jus for the dressing.
6. Rest and slice tenderloins into thick slices across the grain.
7. For the salad, cut bacon into thin matchsticks and fry on the hot plate until crispy.
8. Core and thinly slice pears top to bottom, then fry in the pan, along with the pine nuts until lightly coloured.
9. For the dressing, place the pan with the jus onto a low heat and add chocolate.
10. Stir with wooden spoon until melted.
11. Slowly add balsamic throughout this process.
12. Once chocolate is melted, stir in cream.