Karst Style Venison with Juniper
At rich, hearty Autumn dish that will warm any Autumn night.
Equipment
- Bowl
- colander
- Cast Iron Pan
- Spatula
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1200 grams venison shoulder diced into 1.5cm cubes
- 500 ml red wine
- 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
- 6 juniper berries lightly crushed
Stew
- 300 grams onions finely chopped
- 150 grams celery finely chopped
- 150 grams carrots finely chopped
- 100 grams pancetta or chopped bacon
- 1 bunch Fresh thyme
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 2 bay leaves
- 15 grams dried porcini mushrooms reconstituted in 50ml cold water
- 250 ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Instructions
Marinade
- Put the venison into a large bowl and add the red wine, garlic and juniper berries.
- Cover, put in the fridge and leave overnight, preferably for 24 hours.
Stew
- Pre-heat the over to 125C.
- Drain the venison well, reserving the marinade liquid. Allow the meat to dry as much as possible.
- Heat the oil in a cast iron pan and brown the meat well on all sides. Cook in batches if needed. Set the meat aside.
- Add the onions to the same pan and sauté for 5 minutes, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned meat from the bottom of the pan. then add the carrots, celery, herbs, pancetta and 1 tsp salt and sauté for another 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the marinade liquid to the pan, raise the heat and reduce by half.
- Return the venison, the mushrooms and the mushroom soaking liquid to the pan and then add enough chicken stock to the pan to cover the meat.
- Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and put the pan in the oven and slow cook in the over for 2 hours or until cooked.