East Meets West: An Arranged Marriage for Venison Sausage
May 30, 2009 by Joan in Asian, Food Challenge, Marrying Flavors | 15 Comments
I received a sample pack of Venison Sausage with Merlot and Blueberries and was asked to come up with an original recipe. Venison? With Merlot and Blueberries?
Generally, when I think of sausage, my first thought is Italian pork sausage and peppers. My mind went all over the place…a risotto? bangers and a mash of some sort? a savory pie? Don’t ask me how, but it landed in the Far East.
This menu is so CRAZY, I’m fairly confident it’s original! It’s all about “marrying the flavors”, a term we cooks and food bloggers use increasingly often. Stay tuned till the end for recipes and an honest review. But, for now, follow me to the ‘wedding ceremony’.
Hmmm, let’s see, we have sausage with merlot and blueberries...I started by pouring myself a glass of merlot. Good start, right? Truth be told, this is the way I usually start preparing dinner. Next I put some blueberries on the stove to start breaking down for the glaze.
Sausage & Peppers with Blueberry-Rice Vinegar Glaze
The blueberry glaze which also included a splash of merlot took care of ‘marrying’ the protein to the glaze (and the beverage).
Chinese Black Rice with Red & Yellow Pepper Coulis
Used about a third of the red and a yellow pepper that had been roasted alongside the sausage for the coulis; thereby ‘marrying’ the sausage to the rice by way of the peppers.
Stir Fry of Bok Choy with Oyster & Shitake Mushrooms
Temporary road block. I wanted vegetables, but I’m going for a menage a trois here so how do I marry the meat and rice to the stir fry? Would the drizzle of spicy sesame oil I planned as a finishing touch do it? I thought so and, if not, I reasoned the rice and stir fry were already ‘married’ by way of their Asian origins.
Product/Menu Review: While the whole menu, collectively and independently, was very tasty…the Venison Sausage with Merlot & Blueberries was so good, it didn’t necessarily need all the accouterments and arranged marriages. I wisely didn’t add any seasonings because I didn’t know how they were seasoned. These sausage are beautifully-seasoned and a little spicy. Because there’s not much fat, if any, they held their shape perfectly and had a nice bite. I served the glaze on the side so that we’d have the opportunity to try the sausage in its purest form. Now that I know their taste and texture, I don’t know that I’d do anything differently. They stood very well on their own. The aromatic Chinese Black Rice requires more cooking time than suggested…at least 40 minutes and, at that, it’s still chewy. This is not Uncle Ben’s. Adding a drizzle of spicy sesame oil to everything ‘married the flavors’ and added an additional nuttiness.
RECIPES:
Venison Sausage and Red & Yellow Peppers
Bake sausage and peppers in a oven-ready pan with a drizzle of olive oil at 350 for about a half-hour.
Blueberry Glaze
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar, a splash of Merlot (why not?), 1 packet of Splenda and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Bring to a boil and then simmer till blueberries start to break down and the juice coats a spoon.
Bok Choy & Chinese Mushrooms
I love bok choy. It has a very mustard-like taste when eaten raw; cooked it’s sublime. I steamed the bok choy in chicken broth (to save a few calories). Just before it was tender enough, I added the mushrooms. Afterwards, I drained any remaining liquid, added 1 chopped scallion, and tossed it with a mixture of olive oil, Rice Vinegar and a spicy sesame oil (just enough to coat it).
Chinese Black Rice & Red/Yellow Pepper Coulis
• I started the rice off with a little olive oil and a clove of garlic in the pot.
• Follow cooking directions (note it takes longer than the suggested 25 minutes.)
• Add a few splashes of Soy Sauce.
• Finishing Touch: I threw a handful of cilantro in and tossed it.
Pepper Coulis
Pulse roasted peppers (separately) with a few drops of olive oil and a splash of Rice Vinegar.
Note: Marx Foods is an online purveyor of fine and exotic foods. They had once before sent me samples of Himalayan Red Rice and Chinese Black Rice. I used the red rice for our Culinary Tour Around the World stop in Mongolia. I had yet to use the black rice and was happy to have this occasion to do so. The sausage, rice, and lots of other delectables are available on their website.
15 Comments
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Joan, I quite like the approach you took here to come up with this original dish. Your thought process is well documented. I would have probably “cheated” or gone the “lazy” route…bangers and mash! (maybe a parsnip mash just to be different.) Great flavours overall and nicely done!
Joan, you are my inspiration Muse!!!! I do love the peppers coulis and the rice dish!!!! Mmmmmm. What a great menu!!!! Give me a good glass of wine and maybe I could end up cooking something as good as you did ;D. Have a great weekend dear!
Hi Joan – like how the recipe started out
AND how it turned out! Very original combination of ingredients. And that blueberry glaze sounds awesome.
LL
Wow – I never would’ve known what to do with sausages and blueberries – way to go!
Wow, what an impressive menu! I LOVE the blueberry merlot glaze – that is amazing and so great with venison!
Very impressive, Joan. I love reading how people came up with recipes! This sausage sounds delicious.
This is a fancy dish indeed. Great job on the marriage of flavors. The sausage sound so interesting. Never had it with blueberries in there before. Love photos too!
The blueberry glaze sounds fantastic! You are so creative with your recipes.
It does sound like you thought this out very well Joan and came up with a winning combination.
That’s an interesting “marriage”. The way you talk about the sausage makes me wanna try it. Your pictures look really good! I see you’ve been playing with your camera
I’ve heard good things all around about the seemingly “strange” blueberry merlot sausages – they have officially piqued my interest.
You did a really nice job with the whole meal.
Joan, I was thinking the same thing…I’m fine with the venison sausage on it’s own…in a bun with slowcooked onions. It’s always nice receiving swag.
Love your creativity…venison sausage…never had those, but love what you made. Great pictures!
YUM!!!!
My favorite part is pouring the glass of merlot. At first I thought "how genius" to use these ingredients not realizing you were challenged to. I still think it's genius.
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