Seared Caribou Loin with Saskatoon Berry Sauce

Difficulty:

1/5

This recipe for seared caribou loin with Saskatoon berry sauce is from episode 8 of This Food That Wine.

Wine Suggestion: Meritage

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

Caribou

2 lb Caribou loin, silver skin removed (1 kg)
Course salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)

Saskatoon Berry Sauce

½ cup Meritage red wine (125 ml)
1 tablespoon Saskatoon berry preserve, good quality (15 ml)
½ cup game or veal stock (125 ml)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Season the caribou with salt and pepper and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Allow the caribou to come to room temperature.
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Allow the pan to preheat for approximately 2 minutes. Add the remaining oil to the hot skillet.
Place the caribou in the pan and allow it to cook for 3 minutes (without moving the meat) until a caramelized crust is formed. Flip the caribou and cook the other side for 3 minutes as well, until a similar caramelized crust forms.
Place the skillet into the preheated oven for 5 -6 minutes for medium rare doneness.
Remove the caribou from the oven and place on a plate. Reserve the used pan for the sauce. Loosely cover the meat with foil and allow the meat to rest approximately 5 minutes before slicing.
Meanwhile make the sauce. Place the used skillet over medium high heat. Add the wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the berry preserve and whisk until evenly combined. Add the stock. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes.
After 3-4 minutes, the sauce should be thickened slightly. Remove it from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To plate the dish, carve the rested caribou loin across the grain of the meat into 1/4 inch slices. Drizzle with Saskatoon berry sauce. Serve with Jerusalem artichokes & chestnuts (see recipe).

Pairing Notes

Description: Meritage (which rhymes with “heritage”) is a North American term for a wine that is made like a French Bordeaux blend. The main grapes used in this blend are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It’s a full-bodied wine with a big, mouth-filling texture, lots of fruity, dark berry and plum flavours, and a long finish. It is also a bit peppery and has lots of tannins, which leaves a dry, astringent feeling in your mouth.

Pairing: The Meritage works with the caribou for 2 reasons: body and taste. Caribou is a rich, big-flavoured, fill-your-mouth kind of meat, and the Meritage is a full-bodied, fill-your-mouth kind of wine. And the tannins in the wine are smoothed out by the protein in the meat. As for the taste, the ripe, juicy berry flavour of the Meritage matches the berries in the sauce. And the sauce has a splash of the Meritage right in it, so they work perfectly together. The wine has also been aged in oak barrels, which gives it a rich flavour that matches really well with the nuttiness of the chestnuts and the Jerusalem artichokes.

Wine Suggestion: Reif Estate Meritage V.Q.A. (Niagara Peninsula, Canada)