Any venison aficionados?
Discussion
I've cooked roe many times, fallow a few times and muntjac haunch once and it was delicious but it is very lean and delicate and needs care. It's almost like an intermediate between normal venison and hare.
I wouldn't bother with any nonsense like marinading. If there are some pockets where bones used to be, a gamey rub like thyme, orange zest, juniper, salt and pepper can be good to get inside the meat. You don't want it on the outside - it'll burn. If they're a bit scruffy you might want to even them up by gently tying with butchers string. Some oil and S&P on the outside. Weigh them and estimate cooking time. I'd be inclined to go 15-20 minutes at full blast for maillard reaction and then reduce to 170 degrees and 8 minutes a pound. You could opt to brown in a pan probably a bit more controlled than the hot blast. In any case use a meat thermometer. If you want rare (and you should) then 45 degrees is probably going to be OK. 50 tops. It'll continue to cook and come up higher while you rest it.
You probably wont get much in the way of fat or juices. It could be worth throwing in some stock veg to form a base of a sauce in the second phase of cooking but I would generally make the sauce alongside using home made beef, game or chicken stock as a base. A kind of sweet sour thing (not as extreme as Chinese) is great with game so orange, cranberry, redcurrant are all good additions and I like to use port, madeira or marsala as the wine to give sweetness to balance the fruit. I tend to go for fairly significant reduction and then whisk in butter to balance the concentration of the sauce.
At least half an hour to rest. Any juices released can go in the sauce. If the sauce and plates are hot, the meat being at closer to room temperature is not a problem.
I know venison is normally quite filling, but with a nice sauce, I can be very greedy. I reckon 2 x me could eat one hindquarter with the help of a good bottle of wine. Some good quality sausages wouldn't be a ridiculous idea on the side.
ETA if it's on the bone then bone it out in advance and roast the bones and trim with some stock veg and oil until they take some colour. You can then make a proper venison stock with beef or chicken stock and maybe red wine as the base with the aromatics I suggested for the rub.
I wouldn't bother with any nonsense like marinading. If there are some pockets where bones used to be, a gamey rub like thyme, orange zest, juniper, salt and pepper can be good to get inside the meat. You don't want it on the outside - it'll burn. If they're a bit scruffy you might want to even them up by gently tying with butchers string. Some oil and S&P on the outside. Weigh them and estimate cooking time. I'd be inclined to go 15-20 minutes at full blast for maillard reaction and then reduce to 170 degrees and 8 minutes a pound. You could opt to brown in a pan probably a bit more controlled than the hot blast. In any case use a meat thermometer. If you want rare (and you should) then 45 degrees is probably going to be OK. 50 tops. It'll continue to cook and come up higher while you rest it.
You probably wont get much in the way of fat or juices. It could be worth throwing in some stock veg to form a base of a sauce in the second phase of cooking but I would generally make the sauce alongside using home made beef, game or chicken stock as a base. A kind of sweet sour thing (not as extreme as Chinese) is great with game so orange, cranberry, redcurrant are all good additions and I like to use port, madeira or marsala as the wine to give sweetness to balance the fruit. I tend to go for fairly significant reduction and then whisk in butter to balance the concentration of the sauce.
At least half an hour to rest. Any juices released can go in the sauce. If the sauce and plates are hot, the meat being at closer to room temperature is not a problem.
I know venison is normally quite filling, but with a nice sauce, I can be very greedy. I reckon 2 x me could eat one hindquarter with the help of a good bottle of wine. Some good quality sausages wouldn't be a ridiculous idea on the side.
ETA if it's on the bone then bone it out in advance and roast the bones and trim with some stock veg and oil until they take some colour. You can then make a proper venison stock with beef or chicken stock and maybe red wine as the base with the aromatics I suggested for the rub.
Edited by oddman on Tuesday 1st October 17:19
sherman said:
You dont want a gravy with venison. You want a reduction type sauce.
Red wine and port sauce with redcurrant and blackcurrants and a few sloes
A sticky thick rich sauce goes really well with venison.
Cook it hot and fast.
Braised red cabbage goes nicely with it too.
Blackberries and bilberries are also good for a sauce, with whiskey or sloe gin. Wild mushrooms also go very well, especially meaty earthy ones with plenty of flavour. Rosemary and juniper are good flavourings, I also use spruce and pine tips or sweet gale.Red wine and port sauce with redcurrant and blackcurrants and a few sloes
A sticky thick rich sauce goes really well with venison.
Cook it hot and fast.
Braised red cabbage goes nicely with it too.
nuyorican said:
I asked this question last year. The PH consensus was a casserole. Did it in a slow cooker. It was magnificent.
That's our favourite way too, more or less 'venison bourguignon'. We occasionally have it on Christmas Day if I can't be arsed to faff about too much in the kitchen.For anyone in / around the Surrey Hills, Ockley Farmer's Market is the place to be for venison (fallow deer) and game birds.
10am - 4pm first Sunday of the month: Village Greens Farm shop Ockley, Surrey RH5 5LS
https://www.facebook.com/OckleyFarmersMarket/?loca...
10am - 4pm first Sunday of the month: Village Greens Farm shop Ockley, Surrey RH5 5LS
https://www.facebook.com/OckleyFarmersMarket/?loca...
Riley Blue said:
nuyorican said:
I asked this question last year. The PH consensus was a casserole. Did it in a slow cooker. It was magnificent.
That's our favourite way too, more or less 'venison bourguignon'. We occasionally have it on Christmas Day if I can't be arsed to faff about too much in the kitchen.Muntjac is delicate fine grained meat with, to all intents and purposes, no fat. Haunch could be cubed for a casserole (I've done this with bashed up roadkill roe deer) but for a celebration dinner the whole haunch makes more sense for the occasion and done right will do much more justice to the meat.
A pot roast would work for roe or fallow and may be a more failsafe way of cooking muntjac but I think it needs to be really rare to appreciate the flavour. I think Chateaubriand comparison is very apt and Youtube/Google instructions on Chateaubriand could be very helpful to the OP.
Another idea might be barbecue. Butterflying it and searing over charcoal would give a real caveman experience and could be delicious. Or reverse searing the whole haunches by giving a delicate smoke at 230F to bring internal temp to 45-50 degreesC (I think in F for BBQ and C for meat) then a quick sear over hot coals to finish. Would be a bit of a faff for Christmas day but could work really well.
I've had good success with smoking venison haunch in the past, but maybe not what you want for Christmas.
Here in Switzerland the traditional accompaniments to deer are spaetzle https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-spatz... braised red cabbage, glazed chestnuts, poached pear, cranberries and sprouts. Absolutely delicious and would lend itself well to a Christmas meal in my opinion. I like a green pepper sauce with the meat.
Here in Switzerland the traditional accompaniments to deer are spaetzle https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-spatz... braised red cabbage, glazed chestnuts, poached pear, cranberries and sprouts. Absolutely delicious and would lend itself well to a Christmas meal in my opinion. I like a green pepper sauce with the meat.
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