Who doesn’t love a good tenderloin?! This Bison Tenderloin with Cognac Cream Sauce recipe hits all the right spots. Tender is an understatement here, more like melt in your mouth deliciousness! Plus, that cream sauce was the cherry on top of it all! If you haven’t had bison before, this is the recipe to try!
Bison Tenderloins
Let’s start with the bison tenderloin filets. First, you’ll want to tie a food grade string around the outside of the filet. It might look silly, but trust me it has a purpose. That purpose is to help the filets hold their shape. Without the string the filets will lose their shape as they cook, causing them to cook unevenly. We obviously don’t want that for our Bison Tenderloins with Cognac Cream Sauce, so just tie them up!
I covered each bison tenderloin filet in salt after I finished tying them. This wasn’t just any regular salt though. This was Matt Broussard’s new Flaky Salt from Spiceology. Matt is a good friend of mine and is an amazing cook. I was pumped for his new salt line and knew it was all I’d need for this Bison Tenderloin with Cognac Cream Sauce recipe! I sprinkled each side and the width of each filet with this salt. Then, place the filets in the fridge.
For more delicious recipes, check out my cookbook Food X Fire!
A Butter Bath
It’s fire time! Light up a few logs and wait until they begin to coal up. Then, place a large cast iron skillet on top of the grill. I used a larger skillet to cook in this go round because after the bison is finished cooking we’ll use the same skillet for the Cognac Cream Sauce. Let the skillet preheat for a minute and then drizzle it with some oil. Grab the bison from the fridge and place each filet in the skillet. Press each filet down on the skillet to ensure even surface coverage and let them cook from here for about 90 seconds per side.
Toss the butter, garlic and rosemary into the skillet once each side of the bison has been seared. Let the butter melt before basting each bison tenderloin. To baste the filets, you’ll want to tilt the skillet back towards yourself. This moves all the melted butter to the side of the pan that’s closest to you. Then, use a spoon to scoop up some of the butter and toss it up on top of the bison. Finish cooking until the bison reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees fahrenheit, continuing to baste it on occasion.
Cognac Cream Sauce Service
Pull the bison tenderloin from the cast iron skillet to rest once it’s reached temperature. From here, you’ll need to deglaze the pan so that we can use it for the Cognac Cream Sauce. First, remove any access butter. Then, pour in some cognac and scrape away anything left behind from the filets. Add in the garlic paste, mushrooms, worcheshire sauce and light cream. Stir this mixture together until it thickens to a cream sauce. Make sure to KEEP STIRRING throughout this process. If you don’t the cream will either burn or curdle.
Grab those bison tenderloin filets and slice into each one. Top it with the Cognac Cream Sauce and boom! Some delicious bison tenderloin with a cognac cream sauce. Best enjoyed with friends and family. Cheers!
For more delicious recipes, check out my cookbook Food X Fire!
Bison Tenderloin with Cognac Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Bison:
- 3-4 Bison Tenderloin trussed
- 1.5 tbsp of Sea Salt
Butter Baste:
- 1 tsp of Canola Oil
- 8 tbsp of Butter
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- 3 sprigs Rosemary
Cognac Cream Sauce:
- 1.5 tbsp of Cognac
- 1 cup of Mushrooms sliced
- 1 tbsp of Garlic Paste
- 1 cup of Light Cream
- 1 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp of Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp of Black Pepper
Instructions
- Season your bison tenderloins with sea salt thoroughly. Place them uncovered in the fridge for at least 15 minutes but ideally for 60-90 minutes.
- Preheat a medium-high heat fire for cooking directly (around 375F). Preheat a skillet 1 minute before cooking with 1 tsp of canola oil in it.
- Add your steaks to the skillet and press down firmly to make sure they are fully flat on the skillet. Cook them for 90 seconds before flipping them over. Once they have been seared on both sides, pull your skillet over to a cooler side of the grill (or even off the grill). Add the rosemary, garlic cloves and butter to the skillet to melt. Top each steak with garlic and rosemary and tilt towards yourself while you spoon butter over the top of the steaks. Try to maintain a lower temperature cooking in order to prevent the butter from burning. Baste the steaks for 7-10 minutes or until they are 140F internal. Once the steaks are done, pull them off and let them rest for 10 minutes.
- Discard of the rosemary, garlic and excess butter in your skillet. Deglaze the skillet with cognac and stir around to get off any loose scraps. Add your garlic paste, mushrooms, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Stir around to evenly coat. Finally, add your cream and bring to a low simmer. Simmer over the fire until it thickens (about 10 minutes). Once done, pull off and set aside.
- Slice your steaks, top with the cream sauce and enjoy!
