Deer Steaks with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

Mark my words: this sauce would be good on anything.

Does it look like pasta in the picture? Look again–it’s gloriously caramelized onion, swimming in a sauce that gave heaven its name.

I happened to serve it with deer steak, but think regular steaks. Chicken breasts. Pork. Chicken thighs. Probably not fish since fish flesh is so delicate and the sauce is so thick . . . but then again, why not with a hearty piece of salmon? I’ll take any occasion I can get to eat this sauce.

It could even work by itself! (Think: decadent side dish.)

The Pioneer Woman told me to make it shortly after I started reading her blog about a year and a half ago. Thankfully I acted in full obedience, because if I hadn’t, I might not be where I am today.

Which is in front of this plate, eating this glorious sauce.

The original recipe is here, but I’m going to make it for you as well.

Ingredients

2 whole steaks (deer or otherwise)

2 TBS butter

Salt and pepper

4 TBS butter

1 large onion

1 c heavy cream

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Now get ready for a truly incredible experience.

Seriously–are you ready for this?

Okay then.

First, melt some butter in a pan or on a stovetop grill.

Or a real grill, if you’re a real man!

Oh wait, my man was in charge of the steaks on the cast iron stovetop grill . . . so never mind! You’re a man regardless! Unless you’re a woman. Wow this is getting complicated. Forget all of the above and just melt the dang butter.

Grab the steaks:

Instead of 2 large ones, we had a bunch of smaller ones. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and cook/grill until they’re done to your liking.

I choose medium.

Here they are, ready to be eaten by this ravenous carnivore that I sometimes become.

And now for the sauce! So simple–only 4 ingredients. Butter, onions, cream, cheese.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise, then halve each half. Are you confused yet? Here. I’ll show you.

Now slice it into thin quarter-moon shaped strips.

Start melting the 4 TBS butter in a skillet.

Add the onion, and cook over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, until the onion starts to caramelize.

Add a little salt and pepper along the way. As soon as the onions are a lovely darkish golden brown color, reduce the heat to low and add the cream.

Oooooh. Whooooaaaaa. Mmmmmmm (the onion sauce has this effect–watch out).

Cook for a few minutes until the cream has reduced by about half.

The cream will take on the lovely golden color of the onions, and you will stare at it transfixed, tongue hanging out, eyes glistening in anticipation, hands scrambling for a spoon. I hope no one’s watching you while this happens, because I’ve been told it can be quite frightening for onlookers.

Right at the end, grab the blue cheese and dump it into the sauce:

Are you a blue cheese hater? If so, please think twice about your stance. Pretty please?Especially because this sauce doesn’t scream ‘blue cheese!’ at you when it’s all done. The rich cheese just adds a rich and wonderful creamy richness to it. There–I used ‘rich’ three times, just to make sure we’re all clear here on what the blue cheese does, exactly.

Stir in the blue cheese and let it melt–and we’re done! Now spoon a large quantity of the sauce on a plate:

Top it off with a piece of steak.

For some reason, I chose a steak that has the shape of the continent of Africa.

That’s another sign you need to make this meal asap–it can turn into a family learning experience. Nothing like a little geography at the dinner table.

I think I can see the city of Casablanca–are those little people running around?

Oh, never mind–it was just some black pepper.

I could have sworn it moved, though.

Enough smart talk! Let’s eat.

Please make sure to slather each bite of meat in this sauce.

Or you can do as we did, and serve it over a heaping pile of rice. The rice does a wonderful job of absorbing that sauce and sending you straight into a state of Nirvana.

What a way to celebrate the over-the-halfway hump in the week that is Wednesday.

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20 thoughts on “Deer Steaks with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

  1. Wendi

    Jenna, I live in fear of this recipe. Not because of the deer steaks. But because if I started eating this sauce of butter, cream, and cheese, I would never ever stop.

  2. SoupAddict Karen

    Jenna, second to crash hot potatoes, this is my favorite PW recipe. I served this over a steak I grilled coated completely in salt (as in, encased – brush off the salt after the grilling is done – the flavor is incredible), and it was so good, I wanted to cry.

    1. Jenna

      Nice!! I want to try your salt technique, and the crash hot potatoes have indeed been calling my name ever since I read the recipe.

  3. Joanne

    Caramelized onion is god’s gift to mankind. And to my belly. Now. If you mixed pasta into this? I think it would be my dream dinner.

  4. Angie

    This looks amazing. I am definitely going to try this.
    But say I might be really really hesitant to use blue cheese… say that I am, indeed, a blue cheese hater. Any recommendations of a replacement cheese? That would be wonderful.

    1. Jenna

      Hmmm–my thinking cap is on, but I’m not coming up with any ideas that I’m 100% confident about. Here’s the thing–blue cheese melts easily and also packs a lot of flavor. So to imitate the texture and get the flavor as well could be tricky. You could always use 1/2 blue cheese and 1/2 mascarpone (which melts really well but is very bland). Or half blue cheese, half cream cheese? Or all cream cheese? I’m hesitant to recommend really flavorful cheeses like Gruyere and Parmesan or Pecorino because I’m not sure what the final texture and saltiness level would be. Anyway, if you decide to experiment, let me know what happens!

  5. Christine

    that looks sooooo good. 🙂 Congrats on the your sisters baby. I’m sure you are a very excited aunt.

  6. Veronica

    Do they sell deer at your market or did somebody go a-huntin? We’ve got lots of deer-hunters around here, but I thought that was just because we’re in the midwest. I can’t picture you guys hunting deer!

    1. Jenna

      A-huntin’! =) One of the sales reps at my company goes hunting a few times a year, and when he does he always brings me some meat. It’s a pretty great arrangement. Yeah–I can’t envision myself hunting either, heh heh.

      1. Jenna

        Not really–I would say lamb is waaay stronger. I think the deer wasn’t quite as tender as beef might have been, but I’m honestly having a hard time thinking of how to describe the flavor. It’s nothing crazy–it really just tastes like a piece of meat.

  7. Natural cook.

    I love to serve venison–so low in fat and naturally raised! This sauce is an amazing addition. Thank you.

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