I had a fan stop by the other day that gave me challenge. He wanted me to come up with an easy recipe
for Venison, that he could use for just himself or for a huge community meal on his next hunting trip. I
had this recipe made up and ready a couple of hours later for him and a few of his hunter friends. Done
right in a Dutch oven, over a fire. The dish was a HUGE hit, so it ended up on the blog. C’mon Dude, you
gotta make it harder than that!!!! I made enough to feed 4-6 people from just this:
- 1 1/2 Lb’s Venison Stew meat
- 1 small onion, sliced thin
- 2 small Yukon gold potatoes (or Red Bliss, no big deal), quartered then sliced 1/4 inch
- 1 cup quartered Crimini Mushroom (really any mushroom will do)
- 1 cup parsnips, roll cut ( I’ll show you in a second, don’t freak out over here)
- 1 tbsp. chopped Thyme
- 1 tbsp. chopped rosemary
- 1/2 c. red wine
- 1 c. Pomegranate juice
- 1 c. Chicken Stock
- 1/2 . Pomegranate seeds
- Roux as needed (y’know equal parts flour and butter)
- Get a pot (or a dutch oven) nice and hot. Add some oil and start searing you venison meat. While your meat is browning, cut up any of the vegetables you have left to cut. Like those roll cut parsnips. How do you do them? Easy place your knife at a 45 degree angle on the parsnip, then roll 1/4 turn, then cut, now repeat until the entire parsnip is cut.
- When you meat is brown, add your onions, parsnips and mushrooms. Let these cook on high heat and caramelize. Stir these every 2-3 minutes or so, then add your wine when the onions are soft and cooked down.
- let the wine reduce by half, then add you herbs, stock potatoes and pomegranate juice. Turn this down to a simmer and let it cook for about 60-90 minutes, depending on how big your venison chunks are. I was taking the oven lid on and off about every 15 minutes or so. Just so it would reduce, but not too quickly.
- At the very end, pull everything out of the pot and hold it for just a minute. Taste your sauce. If it’s think but has a lot of flavor, add some roux to thicken it. Really 1-2 tbsp should be good. if your sauce is think and has no flavor, let it reduce.
- When your sauce is to your liking, add the meat and vegetables back to the pot, season and serve. OH, and uh…don’t forget the pomegranate seeds.
Happy Eating
-The Doctor