Blistered Green Beans and Shishito Peppers with Crispy Bacon

October 02, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Appetizer

This past week has been the most rewarding one to date in the short history of gourmetcubicle. If you've been following me on Instagram or Facebook, or you subscribe to the Austin American-Statesman, you saw that my Savarin Cake recipe was featured in this week's Austin360Cooks section. It is the first time my work has ever been published. When I launched this blog back in April I would have never guessed that I would be featured in a newspaper. The Statesman's food editor, Addie Broyles, found my picture on Instagram via the hashtag #austin360eats and reached out to me asking for permission to feature my recipe, pictures and story in the newspaper.

The timing of the event couldn't have been more perfect either. I was losing steam and got a bit overwhelmed by the constant juggling between my demanding day job as an engineer and my passion for cooking and sharing recipes with you. It felt reassuring to have my work validated in that way—it was definitely a milestone moment for me and my blog. When I saw Addie’s comment on Instagram I admittedly got a bit giddy. Initially I didn’t know how legit it was, but soon after she also reached out to me via email. "Holy paprikash, this is real! It's happening. I'm going to be the most famous Romanian in Austin for a day!", I said to myself.

I instantly texted Roni, telling her about what was happening. First she told me how happy and proud she was, followed by "Send me your reply email first so I can review it". It took a few attempts to get a draft done, but I made sure to first send it to my favorite editor per her demand. She told me it was the cutest email she had ever read, but we needed to take the excitement down a notch and sound a bit more professional. Eventually I replied, exchanged a few emails with Addie, and then counted the days until Wednesday. On Tuesday I went to sleep filled with the same excitement of Christmas Eve.

I woke up early and went to the nearest grocery store where I bought all the copies of the Statesman that they had on the newspaper stand. The timing was perfect since next week I'm going home to Romania and I will bring my parents, my grandma, and a few of my best friends a copy of my first published recipe. If only my grandpa Bunu could see this, I would be the happiest person on Earth. He'd probably make up a story about me becoming a famous chef in America.

The idea for this recipe came a few weeks ago at a happy hour organized by the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance at The Highball. It was only my second time meeting with this fun and likeminded group of people, but I instantly felt welcomed (I also rented a karaoke room for myself where Roni later discovered me singing Oasis on my own for an hour, but that’s a whole other story…). Anyway, The Highball treated us like kings serving us at least 8 appetizers. All of them were delicious, but what got my attention was their Fried Brussels Sprouts and Shishito Peppers with White BBQ dipping sauce and candied bacon. It was everything a man can dream of while sipping on a cold beer. As soon as I saw green beans in my CSA box delivery that week, I knew I would have to make something similar. I tossed in some smoked pork bits from the pulled pork I made with my friend Guy (his personal recipe will soon be on the blog soon). It adds a nice smokey flavor, but if you don't have any that's fine, just make sure you used smoked bacon. Enjoy!

Blistered Green Beans and Shishito Peppers with Crispy Bacon

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 lb shishito peppers (about 10-12 peppers)
1 TBS oil (peanut or sunflower seed)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8-10 slices smoked bacon
1/2 cup smoked pork bits, optional (I had some leftovers from my smoked pork shoulder)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lb green beans
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp chili flakes, optional
1/2 TBS butter
1 lemon, juiced (about 2-3 TBS)
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

In a small bowl combine shishito peppers, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss until the peppers are evenly coated.
Heat a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, after about 2 minutes, add the shishito peppers and cook them until the skin gets blistered and charred, about 3-4 minutes. Toss every now and then to avoid burning them. Transfer to a plate and set them aside.
To fry the bacon, start with a different cold skillet, preferably cast iron. Lay bacon strips in the skillet without overlapping them. Make sure the skillet is at room temperature when you start. You can crowd the skillet a bit as the bacon will shrink when cooked.*
Turn the burner to medium-low and slowly cook the bacon. When it starts curling flip it over to the other side. Cook bacon for about 3-4 minutes on each side. When it is done, transfer bacon to a wire rack or a paper towel lined plate and let the excess grease drain. Do not dispose the bacon fat from the skillet.**
Up the heat to medium-high under the skillet you used for frying the bacon. Dispose some of the bacon fat, but make sure you leave at least two tablespoons worth of grease.
If using smoked pork bits, toss them in the skillet and cook them for 2-3 minutes. If you're not using any proceed to the next step.
Add crushed garlic and green beans. Stir and toss until the green beans are well coated in oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes tossing occasionally.
Season with more black pepper and chili flakes if you want to add a nice kick. Add the shishito peppers. Cook for 2 more minutes tossing every now and then.
In the meantime, cut the bacon into bite size pieces and add it to the skillet.
Add butter, let it melt then toss one more time. Remove from the heat.
Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and smoked paprika. Serve warm.

Notes

* To achieve a crispy and evenly cooked bacon on the stovetop, lay the strips in a cold skillet and slowly raise the temperature. The secret is to cook it over medium-low heat. This method will also help the bacon not to curl up.
** If you like your bacon extra crispy cook a bit longer flipping them over every now and then. The time it takes to cook bacon depends on the level of crispiness you want to achieve.

Pork Belly and Oyster Mushroom Potato Hash

August 24, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Breakfast/Brunch

The time has come for me to post a heartier and manlier dish here on gourmetcubicle. As of late, I committed to getting back in shape by losing the extra weight I gained during my business trip. I picked up running again and, for the first time since college, I started lifting weights. Getting enough exercise has never been a concern of mine though, as I've always been active, either playing soccer in Zilker Park or volleyball on various leagues around town. The biggest challenge for me when it comes to losing weight is to hold back from eating so much. I severely lack discipline in the kitchen.

I love carbs. It doesn't matter if it's pasta, fresh crispy breads or starches, I embrace them all. I like to blame my weakness for carbs on the Romanian and Hungarian food culture. Bread and potatoes are two things that are never missing from the dining table. Abundance is the word that best describes both these cuisines. You'll never walk out of the house of a Romanian or Hungarian feeling hungry or anything short of being completely full.

It all comes down to our culture of hospitality, and Romanians take hospitality extremely seriously. We greet our guests and visitors with fresh baked bread and salt. It's a tradition that dates back to before Christianity and it is seen as a symbol of acceptance and kindness. But why two simple things like bread and salt, you may ask? Well, bread was the main source of food representing the wealth of the fields for the peasants, whereas salt, for a long time in history, was one of the most expensive and valuable assets in trading.

Fun Fact: the word companion, which is defined as a person or animal one shares significant time with, comes from Latin and has at its roots the words com- meaning "with" in English, and panis, which is "bread".

Moving on to our recipe today, this is a dish so versatile that you can serve it for breakfast, brunch or even dinner. It is a savory, flavorful and filling dish, easy enough to be prepared even by a beginner cook. The pork belly can be substituted with bacon if that's something that is more accessible, and the brussels sprouts can be replaced by broccoli florets of roughly chopped cabbage. Enjoy!

PORK BELLY AND OYSTER MUSHROOM POTATO HASH

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TBS sunflower seed oil (or peanut)
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2-3 jalapeños, sliced (remove seeds and membrane for milder version)
1 1/2 lbs medium potatoes, unpeeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 lb brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
4-5 green onions, roughly chopped
1 lb oyster mushrooms, rinsed
1 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 medium lemon juiced (about 1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 eggs, pasture raised
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
1 tsp smoked paprika (for garnish)
salt, to taste

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork belly with salt and pepper.
Heat one tablespoon oil in an oven proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add pork belly and cook for about 10 minutes until the bits become crispy and golden brown. Stir occasionally.
Remove the pork bites from the pan and transfer them to a paper towel lined plate or a wire rack. Add the rest of the oil to the skillet.
Preheat oven to 400F (200C) degrees.
Add onion to the skillet carefully. Be careful not to toss it in because you risk getting burned by the splattering oil. Cook for 3 minutes. Add jalapeños and cook for another 2 minutes. Add potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper and one teaspoon smoked paprika. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes stirring every now and then. Add the brussels sprouts. Cook for 10 minutes and then add green onions, mushrooms, butter, lemon juice and quarter cup parsley (half of the total amount). Cook for 5-7 more minutes. Toss and stir occasionally.
Remove skillet from the heat. Toss in the pork belly bits and gently stir. Crack the eggs on top of the hash and place the skillet in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the eggs are cooked to your favored consistency. 10 minutes baking will yield a runny egg (my favorite) whereas 15 minutes will get the egg cooked all the way through.
Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and smoked paprika. Taste and adjust saltiness. Serve hot.

Grilled Corn and Spinach Salad with Avocado Yogurt

July 28, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Salad

It seems like I brought the heat from Asia with me to Austin when I returned from Singapore earlier this month. Up until then, it felt like we were in the middle of the monsoon season with rains and flash flooding hitting Austin. A lot of people complained and begged for the normal Texas summer. Now it's here. It's been here for the last few weeks and it's as hot as ever. The heat combined with the extra pounds that I gained eating ramen every single day (sometimes even twice a day) made my appetite drop a bit.

Starting this week I want to start eating more healthfully and to work out more so I can get rid of those extra pounds. Although I'm really good at finding excuses when it comes to working out, this time I mean it. Things like it’s too hot, Popsi injured her hind leg and I don't have running buddy, or I need to cook more aren't going to cut it anymore.

I decided to start with eating healthier. I still eat a lot of cheese and fatty meats which don't exactly qualify as healthy, but I'm doing my best. Fortunately corn is in season which means that it can be found at any grocery store for really cheap. It is one of the most versatile and hard to mess up vegetables. It doesn't matter if you boil it, grill it or fry it, the flavor is going to be consistently good no matter what.

Grilled corn is one of my favorite things to eat during the summer. My family in Romania boils corn which I almost never do anymore. It's not because I don't like it that way, but mostly because it takes too long. As a kid my favorite way of eating corn on the cob was by brushing it with butter, seasoning it with salt, wrapping it in aluminum foil and tossing it in the fire for about 10-15 minutes. We'd do the same with potatoes every time we made a camp fire. It's very simple, yet so delicious especially when served with butter.

The inspiration for this salad came when Roni introduced me to a Tacodeli salad bowl. I think she was dieting or something because we almost never order salad at Tacodeli. The sweetness of the corn goes extremely well with the saltiness of the bacon, while the texture of the avocado contrasts nicely with the crunchy pumpkin seeds and the crispy bacon. It's heavenly!

I decide to grill a pork chop to add some extra protein to my salad. I need that, otherwise I get hungry half an hour after eating it. It is a very lean cut, so make sure you don't overcook it. It's usually best at 145F (63C) inside temperature, but I take it off the grill at around 140-142F (60C) and then wrap it in aluminum foil for about 10 minutes. The meat will continue cooking for a bit even after you removed it from the grill which will make the chop to reach 145F. Cheers!

GRILLED CORN AND SPINACH SALAD WITH AVOCADO YOGURT

Serves 2-4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 ears fresh corn
1/2 TBS olive oil
1 pork chop, 1 inch thick
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
5 slices bacon
3-4 oz. fresh baby spinach
1 medium avocado, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup pickled onions
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
coarse sea salt, to taste

Avocado Yogurt Dressing

1 thai chili, deseeded and chopped (or jalapeño, serrano, etc)
1 medium shallot, finely sliced
1 cup plain yogurt
1 medium avocado, pitted and chopped
1 TBS bacon fat (or olive oil)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat grill to 450F (230C) degrees.
Pull the outer husks down the ear to the base. Strip away the silk from each ear of corn by hand. Lightly brush corn with oil.
Pat the pork chop dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large cold skillet, lay bacon strips without overlapping them. In order for your bacon to become crisp don't overcrowd the pan and start with a cold skillet.
Heat skillet over medium-low heat and cook bacon slowly. When it starts to buckle and curl, about 5 minutes, flip it to the other side. Keep flipping until you reach the crispiness level of your desire.
Transfer bacon from the skillet to a wire rack or a paper towel lined plate. Save about 1-2 tablespoons of fat for the dressing. Once the bacon is cooled off, chop it roughly into bite-sized pieces.
Crank up the heat under the skillet to medium-high. If you have too much grease left in the skillet, spoon out as much as you'd like, but leave about 1-2 tablespoons. Once it starts shimmering add the chilis. Cook for about 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and add shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots are soft and brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and scoop the shallot and chili mix into a food processor. Add yogurt, avocado, bacon fat, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse until dressing becomes smooth and glossy. Let it rest in the refrigerator until you take care of the rest.
Place corn and pork chop on the grill. Grill until corn starts to pop, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking and turning until all sides are slightly charred. The pork chop will need about 10-12 minutes on the first side. Flip over to the other side and cook for 6-7 more minutes or until the thermometer reads 140-145F (60-62C). Once the pork chop is ready, remove from the grill and wrap it in aluminum foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving it. Remove the corn as well and let it cool until you can handle it.
Cut the kernels from the cobs and add them to a large bowl. Add spinach, pumpkin seeds, bacon and pickled onions. Add a tablespoon of avocado dressing and toss until well mixed.
Place salad on a plate, add avocado slices, pork chops slices and more dressing on the side. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Enjoy!

NOTE:

If you like bacon really crispy I recommend you use a wire rack. It's a restaurant secret.
When measuring the temperature use the thermometer where the meat is the thickest.

Ricotta Bacon Stuffed Pain Perdu with Blueberry Flambé

July 02, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Breakfast/Brunch

After ten awesome days in Singapore I had to say goodbye to this amazing country. I knew Singapore was not going to disappoint me and this trip just confirmed what I already knew- I love this country. I also love its people: the food hawkers, the vibrant and lively city, the mix of races and cultures that live together in harmony. It’s a country that seems to have everything figured out. People are happy- from the taxi drivers to the operators on the manufacturing floor where I worked— everyone told me the same thing: that they are proud and happy to be living in Singapore.

Although I worked long hours, I made sure that food wasn’t neglected. During lunch breaks, I asked the engineers that I worked with to take me to the closest food hawkers. Hawker centers are great and filled with food stalls that serve delicious and fresh dishes. If you go to Singapore you don’t want to miss out. They are cheap and have a great variety of cuisines: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian and even Thai. During my stay in Singapore, I haven’t had a single mediocre meal. All of them were great. I re-visited a few of the places that Roni and I checked out while we were here in January. Even though my focus was to explore other places and discover hidden gems, I couldn’t skip the good old Original Peanut Pancake stall in Tanglin Halt, Bismillah Biryani in Little India or Tian Tian at the Maxwell Food Hawker Center.

I mentioned in a few of my previous posts that in Romania and Hungary, breakfast is a very important meal of the day. There is a saying in Romanian that tells you to eat like a king for breakfast, like a servant for lunch and like a beggar for dinner. Today’s recipe follows that logic. One of these toasts will fill you up for a long time. You’ll get a taste of sweet, savory and tart at the same time.

I came up with this recipe on a rough Sunday morning. I was hungover after playing Cards Against Humanity and drinking until 4am (I think) with our couchsurfers from New Zealand, Naomi and Neil. On days like that (when I feel like crap after having that one extra drink that I shouldn’t have had), only a filling breakfast can fix me. I need protein, carbs, fat, sugar and some fruit to feel less guilty and more healthy. This recipe has them all: cheese, bacon, bread, maple syrup and blueberries.

As I was browsing through the kitchen trying to puzzle together the Holy Five (protein, carbs, fat, sugar and fruit) that would cure the hungover beast inside of me, I stumbled upon bacon, eggs, blueberries, some leftover ricotta cheese from the previous night’s lasagna cooking with Neil and a loaf of challah bread. Home-baked challah. Home-baked bread isn’t something that you’ll find in our household, but our amazing couch surfers baked it for us. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was a little bit scared of baking until Neil showed me how easy it was and taught me how to make ciabatta and challah.

Making this awesome breakfast/brunch shouldn’t take longer than 45 minutes regardless of cooking skills and experience in the kitchen. It’s easy to prepare, yet delicious and filling. So what are you waiting for? Go to the store, buy what you don't have on hand, and start cooking. You have a long weekend and plenty of time to kill ahead. Maybe even a hangover to kill, too. Happy 4th of July and bon appetite!

Ricotta Bacon Stuffed Pain Perdu with Blueberry Flambé

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Blueberry flambé

1 large orange, juiced
3/4 cup maple syrup (or brown sugar)
1/2 lemon, zested
1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
1 stick cinnamon
1 1/4oz rum
1 tsp potato starch (optional)

Pain Perdu

6 slices bacon
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup parmesan, freshly grated
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 TBS chives, finely chopped
1 TBS thyme, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
kosher salt, to taste
3 eggs, pasture raised
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup parmesan, freshly grated
1/2 cup roasted walnuts, optional
4-6 slices of challah bread (about 3/4 inch thick)
2 TBS butter
1 TBS powdered sugar
1/2 cup roasted walnuts

Instructions

Start with the blueberry flambé. In a medium sauce pan or deep skillet, combine orange juice, maple syrup and lemon zest. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add blueberries and cinnamon stick. Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour rum over the blueberries. Using a matchstick ignite it. Let the flame die out and cook for another 5 minutes. Congratulations, you just made a blueberry flambé.
If the sauce is too thin, scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of blueberry sauce into a small bowl. Add the potato starch and mix well. Return the starchy sauce to the pan and give it a stir so it mixes with the rest of the sauce. When the flambé thickened, remove from the heat and set aside.
The next step is the crispy bacon. Lay bacon slices in a cold skillet. Make sure they don’t overlap. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook bacon on each side until it becomes golden brown and crispy. Transfer bacon from the skillet to a paper towel lined plate or wire rack. Save the bacon fat. When it cooled down, crumble bacon into bite size pieces.
Now the filling. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine ricotta, bacon crumbles, parmesan, parsley, chives and thyme. Mix well and add 2 TBS bacon fat. Sprinkle black pepper and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set cheese mixture aside.
In another bowl beat eggs. Add milk, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Spread about 1/4 inch cheese mixture over one side of the bread. Top it with another slice. Dip bread in egg mixture. Let it soak for about 1 minute on each side. You don’t want your pain perdu to be dry.
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter starts foaming place bread in the skillet. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side, until it becomes golden brown. You can add extra butter each time you flip the bread as it helps achieving richer flavor and color.
Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve it with the blueberry flambé and roasted walnuts. Enjoy!

NOTES

Contains alcohol! Handle the open flames with care.

Bacon Wrapped Venison With Balsamic Fig Reduction

June 25, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Main Dish

I'm now in Singapore, but my mind is still in Hungary. I love going there and getting to see old friends that I worked with for 4 years before moving to Austin. It always fills me with joy being around them. I wasn't able to let all of them know that I would be coming home, so when I ran into them in the office hallway or cafeteria they were surprised and happy to see me. We just start talking and it always feels as though I never left, even though we hadn't seen each others in years. The conversations start where they been left off years ago.

The thing that I love to do the most while I'm in Hungary - apart from hanging out with old friends- is eat. Eating is sacred in Hungary and meat, in any form and shape, is the ultimate food. Game meat is especially common in Eastern European cuisine.

Although my dad and grandfather were big into hunting, it never turned into something that I was interested in. As a kid I joined dad on a few of his hunting trips, but I was more fascinated by the nature than killing animals. As kids our role was to herd the game towards the hunters. I shot only a few times in Romania, since firearm restrictions are a lot more strict. I never actually shot anything, but came close to shooting a duck once. Another time I saw a deer about 50 feet away from me but when I pointed the gun in its direction and saw its big wet eyes, I couldn't pull the trigger. My dad wasn't happy with that, so he stopped taking me hunting.

What I loved most about dad's hunting trips was that we never returned empty-handed even though we didn't always shoot something. If we saw beautiful mushrooms, we'd pick them. I learned which ones were edible and which one were not from my mom, who read several books and was able to recognize the good ones. Other times we'd pick wild berries. Or sometimes dad would shoot pike fish. Pike is well known to spawn really close to the surface where they are visible from the shore. That's when my dad would shoot them and bring them home.

I know game meat is not for everyone. Roni, for example, will not eat any game meat, no matter how well prepared it is. Venison tenderloins and backstraps are absolutely delicious and if you haven't tried them, please do because you're missing out on something extraordinary. I prefer marinating them before cooking to remove the gamey taste and infuse them with great aromas. When preparing game meat in Romania and Hungary, juniper and nutmeg are always present, as they help bring out the sweetness of the meats that makes them so delicious. Game meat pairs really well with fruity sauces or reductions. If you have fresh berries on hand you could use that instead of figs.

As for a side dish, I prefer mashed potatoes with pan roasted meats. I also found parsnips and broccoli in the fridge so that's how this mash came to be. Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Venison With Balsamic Fig Reduction

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Inactive time: 1/2 day

Ingredients

Marinade

1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 juniper seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Venison

1 1/2 lbs venison backstrap, cleaned (or tenderloin)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
8-10 slices bacon (or prosciutto)
2 TBS peanut oil (or sunflower seed oil)
2 TBS unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 sprigs fresh oregano (or rosemary, thyme, or tarragon)
salt, to taste

Balsamic Fig Reduction

1 small shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 cup dry Solera sherry
1/3 cup beef stock
10-12 fresh figs (or 1/2 cup fig preserve with lemon juice to reduce the sweetness)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 TBS unsalted butter
salt, to taste

Parsnip and Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and diced
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1/2 lbs broccoli florets
1 1/2 TBS salt, for boiling the vegetables
3 TBS butter (or basting fat from the venison or a mix of both)
1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream)
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
salt, to taste

Instructions

Mix all marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag along with the venison backstrap. Seal the bag and shake well. Put the backstrap in the refrigerator and let it marinade overnight.
Preheat oven to 360F (180C) degrees. Put the parsnip, potatoes and broccoli into a large pot. Cover with water, add 1 1/2 TBS of salt and bring to a boil.
Remove venison from the refrigerator, pat dry and discard the marinade. Sprinkle fresh ground pepper on it. Lay bacon or prosciutto overlapping each other about a quarter of an inch on a plastic wrap. Place the venison on the top and slowly lift the plastic wrap starting from the top end. The venison will start rolling over the bacon. Wrap everything tightly in plastic plastic wrap. Set it aside and let it rest for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
By this time the vegetables should be boiling. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork. Set an alarm if you have to because you'll be multitasking.
Add oil to a heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet.
Heat oil over medium-high heat until it starts shimmering. When it's almost smoking add wrapped venison and roast it for 3-4 minutes on each side until the bacon is crispy. If using prosciutto you may need to cook it for about 2 minutes on each side.
Reduce heat to medium, add butter, aromatic herbs and crushed garlic and baste venison wrap for 5 more minutes. Scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of grease and save it in a small bowl. You'll need it for the cumberland sauce and the mash.
Remove skillet from heat and place it in the middle shelf of the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes or less. If you have a thermometer make sure the inside temperature of the venison is not higher than 125F (50C) degrees.
While the meat is in the oven, start the cumberland sauce by adding half of the saved fat to a small or medium sauce pan. Heat it up over medium heat and add shallots. Sweat them for 2-3 minutes and add the sherry and vinaigrette. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add the beef stock and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add the figs and lightly crush them with a spatula or spoon. Cook for 5-6 minutes, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until the sauce thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Transfer venison to a plate and wrap it in tin foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. This is an essential step for every meat that you roast. If you don't rest it the meat will bleed when sliced losing the delicious and precious juices.
By this time your vegetables are tender as well. Drain them well and while they are still warm, add butter (or grease from the venison basting sauce), cream, and black pepper. Using a potato masher or a hand mixer, mash the vegetables to your desired consistency. If you like it creamier add more butter and mash them longer. I prefer my mash chunky so I always use the masher. Taste the potato mash and adjust saltiness. You will need more salt than usually because of the sweetness of the parsnips and broccoli.
Cut venison into medallions and serve with the fig reduction. Serve with parsnip and broccoli mash, or alternately with asparagus, roasted rustic potatoes or creamy polenta with cheese.

NOTES

I use a plastic wrap to help with wrapping the bacon tightly around the venison. It also saves me some time as I don't need to wrap the bacon strips around the venison one-by-one.
If you are not using a heavy skillet, the cooking times may need to be less. I prefer cast iron because the heat is distributed evenly and the shifts in temperature aren't that sudden when reducing/increasing heat under it.