Peachtree Venison Wins Recipe Reward Club Honors

Ryan Knowles of Houghton, NY, won top honors in the December Tasteful Events Recipe Reward Club Challenge. The Tasteful Ingredient of the month was venison, and his winning recipe was Peachtree Venison with Cracked Peppercorn.

Peachtree Venison with Cracked Peppercorn

Ingredients:

* 1 lb. venison
* 2 - 3 oz. Peachtree Schnapps
* 3 - 5 oz. whole peppercorns, coarsely cracked
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 cup canned or fresh whole peaches - coarsely chopped
* Sprig of parsley for garnish

Directions:

Slice Venison into thin medallions, place inside plastic wrap and lightly tenderize with meat mallet. Place cracked peppercorns and garlic in shallow plate and gently combine with fork. Press each medallion into the mixture so as to get peppercorns stuck and the garlic well incorporated into the venison.

Let sit while you heat a large saucepan with butter in it until butter begins to bubble around the edges. Add the venison and sauté gently for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour the Peachtree Schnapps around the edges of the pan, return to heat and deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon or other utensil.

Remove from heat and slowly add the heavy cream and peaches. Reduce heat and cook the cream until it is reduced by ½ and the peaches are tender (if using fresh peaches). Serve over pasta or rice and garnish with parsley.

"While working at a German restaurant that served wild game dishes during th month of January, I was bored on one particularly slow and cold winter night," Knowles wrote. "I walked out to the bar, got a shot of Peachtree Schnapps and decided to throw it in with the venison medallions I was cooking for my dinner. A cup of heavy cream and peaches later, the dish was born!"