Round wooden bowl with mash, venison slices, and veg on a white napkin next to a knife and fork.

Seared Pine Ashed Venison with Creamy Sunchokes & Buttery Ramps & Mushrooms

Name: Seared Pine Ashed Venison with Creamy Sunchokes & Buttery Ramps & Mushrooms
Ingredients: 2 x 6oz (170 g) venison loins; 2 cups (250 g) peeled and diced sunchokes; 4 cups 35% Ontario cream; 2 cups Ontario butter, divided; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 ½ cups (250 g) (9 oz) diced leeks; 2 ½ cups (250 g) (9 oz) King Oyster mushrooms; coarse salt, to taste; cracked black pepper, to taste; 1 ¼ cup (150 g) pine ash (see Chef Joseph’s method in recipe intro)

Joseph Shawana Aug 10 2021

Inspired

50 MIN

Serves 4

More than most meals, dishes prepared in the wild over an open fire have the sensory power to create strong memories that transport us back to moments in our past. This dish by Chef Joseph Shawana is a gift from his past and the ultimate act of sharing and storytelling through food.

“Growing up on Manitoulin Island, hunting was—and is—our way of life. This recipe is based of a memory I have when I was a younger boy going out hunting with my family. I remember seeing my uncles process the whole deer. Fast forward a few years when I started cooking, I went out hunting and collected some pine needles as I was once told that if you make an ash out of them it will heighten the flavour of the meat. So I made a pine needle ash by wrapping a handful of fresh pine needle in foil and placing them into the coils, a few minutes later, when the smoke cleared, I uncovered the pine needles and used the ash inside to season the venison I was cooking. While I was out hunting I came across some nice mushrooms, and although they were not King Oysters but Chanterelles, I cooked them up with some ramps I got earlier that spring. And now every time I make this recipe a flash from my childhood comes to mind.” - Jospeh Shawana

Pairing

Pair this dish with a VQA Pinot Noir!
VQA Ontario wine pairing courtesy of the Ontario Wine Marketing Association

Please Enjoy Responsibly!

Prep 20 MIN

Cook 30 min

Method

Step 1

Season venison loins with pine needle ash—you don’t need much, just a light sprinkle. Add salt and pepper.

Step 2

Bring a cast iron skillet to medium temperature, add 1 cup butter and melt. Once melted, add venison loin to pan and sear on all sides for 3 mins each side. Remove from heat and let rest at the edge of your grill or fire to keep warm while you make the sides.

Step 3

In a medium-sized pot, add cream, diced sunchokes and crushed garlic. Simmer until fork tender (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and mash with a fork until smooth and lump-free, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4

In the same pan you used to cook the venison, add remaining 1 cup butter and melt at medium heat, then add in leeks and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms— you want them chunky, so break off into larger pieces. Saute for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5

Plate and serve!

Written By

Joseph Shawana

Professor at The School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Centennial College, Board Chair of Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations

Acclaimed Chef Joseph Shawana is Odawa, part of the Three Fires Confederacy. Born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, north of Toronto, Joseph was brought up knowing that food is life. Having 6 brothers and 6 sisters, and being the oldest male, he paid a lot of attention to his mother while she was cooking, who she learned from his grandmother and great grandmother. Starting in the kitchen at the early age of 13, Joseph quickly fell in love with the chef life. At a young age he experienced the power that food has to bring people together, and began his culinary journey with the strict philosophy of utilizing the entirety an ingredient to bring its full range of flavours to the palette. Trained in classical French combined with his Aboriginal background, his cooking infuses Classical French techniques with Native American cuisine; full of flavour and never compromising quality over quantity. Currently a professor and the Indigenous culinary advisor at Ontario’s Centennial College, Joseph is committed to furthering the education of culinary to all communities. He has also developed a program to assist Indigenous youth to come into his kitchens and work alongside chefs and provide them valuable industry applications for sustained development. Chef Joseph Shawana, was also the force behind the high-end Indigenous restaurant Kū-Kŭm Kitchen which won the “Best World Cuisine” award in 2019 besting over 33,000 restaurants. There, he was acclaimed for his unique experiments with traditional indigenous ingredients, many of them wild, including fir tips, sweet-grass, and seal.

Kū-Kŭm Kitchen

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