Venison (1 Viewer)

[potlatch]

Anyone got one? I'm roasting a shoulder now, and there's some mad Raymond Blanc recipe involving chocolate. But... anyone got one thats awesome and easy? I couldn't believe it: €6.75 for a shoulder in FX Buckley. Cheaper than lamb.

Also is haunch of venison and fillet mad expensive?

 

[minka]

i had venison yesterday too! the very lazy person's version - boned and rolled roast for (greedy) two from m and s, just browned a bit on the stove top and stuck in the oven. had it with gravy and celeriac gratin and spinach and slightly too much wine. nyom.

i think i have some more elaborate recipes somewhere at home...

 

[nonemoreblack]

Goes well with all of the following..juniper berries, redcurrants, red cabbage, cherries, rosemary, red wine/port based sauces. Nyom nyom.

 

[simp]

The Raymond Blanc recipe is a good way to cook Venison shoulder:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/braisedvenisonwithab_3263.shtml
I would suggest the following modifications...

Bone the shoulder, and don't worry about cutting it into 4 pieces, but keep the pieces biggish - in slices of around 1cm thick if possible. The shanks will come away into discrete pieces, so leave them be. Trim gristle, fat and skin off the meat. The meat will shrink and soften in the cooking, so the bigger to start, the better.
Use a cast iron casserole for this - almost no point trying to cook it without one.
Use the bones to make a stock.
You do not, strictly speaking, have to marinade the meat for 24 hours (there's a lot of debate on this point, but I am agnostic about it).
Reducing the red wine is vital.
Discard the veg at the end of cooking - strain through muslin and reduce to a thick sauce - at this stage you can add in the stock and then boil reduce for an intensely flavoured liquor.
I think Blanc adds too much chocolate, so add gradually to taste. I do not think the redcurrant jelly is vital here - the orange peel is very prominent, so you could omit both chocolate and jelly if you liked. Thyme also optional, I don't think its flavour comes through much.
Serve with celeriac mash and honey roasted carrots.
This recipe is a fairly standard Daube recipe, much more discussion about this type of thing here:- http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=95421&st=0

 

[potlatch]

I saw that, the recipe looks 'mazin'. I have one of those shallow Le Cruset oven-compatibe casseroles. Would that work, or do you need a deep one? Also, where does one get this muslin? Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely give it a go.

 

[simp]

I saw that, the recipe looks 'mazin'. I have one of those shallow Le Cruset oven-compatibe casseroles. Would that work, or do you need a deep one?

If it can hold the meat, veg and liquid, then it's fine. The key is that it's cast iron, has a lid and can go into the oven - the iron is an excellent conductor, and will cook it evenly very, very slowly... I have tried this sort of thing in the past in an oven tray covered with tinfoil, and it just doesn't work as well - it cooks unevenly and tends to dry out.

Also, where does one get this muslin? Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely give it a go.

You will get muslin in any decent cookware shop - in Dublin city centre try Kitchen Complements (Chatham St.), Stock (S. King St.) or Sweeney O'Rourke (Pearse Street). You could use a sieve on its own, but the Muslin ensures that you don't get too many big particles in your cooking liquid - if you want to reduce to a sauce, the liquid must be as clean as possible. It's a small detail, but one which pays dividends in the final flavour of the dish.

Finally, one other thing I didn't mention - the venison will be generate a lot of scum at the start of cooking - make sure you skim off as much of this as possible.

Also, it is traditional to make this the day before serving. If you are doing this, at the end of the inital cooking - fish out all the chunks of venison, and put to one side to refrigerate when cool. Then strain your liquid, discarding the (by now frazzled) veg (the French never ever do this, but it's really just much by this stage, so best just compost it), reduce to the desired consistency (adding the stock if you like). Then refrigerate this. The following day, the fat will have formed in a thick layer on top of the liquid, so remove this - it comes off very easily. Then reheat the liquid, add chocolate and redcurrant if desired, and add the venison and heat till piping hot.

 

[potlatch]

Ah yeah, the Le Cruset casserole is awesome. Tonight I'm making some deadly Spanish thing, uh, 'Chicken with white wine, green peppers and pine nuts and breadcrumbs', or something.

 

[DilbertPart2]

make sure that could be eaten potlatch