Our friends that raise deer gave us a venison roast.
We’ve had venison from them in the past. Last year I made a fantastic Roast Venison Tenderloin. I cooked it to medium and it was tender, moist and delicious.
I’m not an expert on venison and it can be tricky. It doesn’t have the fat marbling like beef does so, while it can be tender and delicious cooked medium or medium-rare, it can be dry as dust and tough if well-done.
It depends on the cut and I had no idea what cut I had. It was neatly tied so I assumed it had a bone or bones removed.
Or not….
I started looking for recipes on-line.
As usual, the information was voluminous, baffling and contradictory.
This is what I did – and we both agreed it was fantastic. It was moist and falling apart when he sliced it.
Perfect!
Slow-Roasted Venison
Total time: 5 Hours
hours plus marinating time
Ingredients:
- 34oz (1000gr) venison roast
- Marinade:
- 1 1/2 cups (12oz, 360ml) water
- 1 1/2 cups (12oz, 360ml) red wine vinegar
- 1 tbs salt
- 2 bay (laurel) leaves
- 2 tsp juniper berries
- 1/2 tsp whole cloves
- To Roast:
- 3 shallots, cut in half
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 8 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) red wine
- 3/4 cup (6oz, 180ml) beef stock
- 3 bay (laurel) leaves
- 1 bouquet garni
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tbs cornstarch (maizena, corn flour) dissolved in 3 tbs water
Instructions:
- Mix all ingredients for marinade. Add venison and marinate 6 – 8 hours.
- Remove venison and drain, discarding marinade.
- Heat oil in a heavy casserole with lid.
- Add venison and brown well.
- Add onions, shallots, and stir-fry until lightly browned.
- Add wine, stock, paprika and herbs. Heat to boiling.
- Cover and put in a 250F (125C) oven for 4 hours. Check occasionally and add more wine if it starts to look dry. (I didn’t)
- To serve:
- Remove venison and keep warm.
- Remove and discard bay leaves and bouquet garni.
- Heat sauce with shallots and onions to boiling.
- Dissolve cornstarch in water. add and stir until thickened.
- Slice venison, spoon onions, shallots around and serve.
It was more than the two of us could eat….
The next night I cut the rest of the venison into chunks and added more onions, shallots and wine to the sauce.
I had mine over egg noodles; mon mari opted for mashed potatoes (and no photo).
It was even better the second time.
That long, slow cooking got me thinking…..
Maybe it’s time for me to reconsider the slow cooker option.
I had one years ago when Rival first came out with the Crock Pot.
I hardly ever used it….
I’ve been of the opinion that I could do anything in a heavy casserole, either on the stove-top or in the oven, that could be done in a slow cooker,
And maybe I can.
But maybe I should have a new toy.
I haven’t had a new kitchen toy in awhile.
In preparation for getting said new toy I’ve been looking at cook books.
Please, please, please tell me that people don’t actually cook with canned Cheddar Cheese Soup.
Please…..
The very thought sends shivers down my spine.
One of the books I looked at had a recipe using ‘condensed cheddar cheese soup’ AND ‘condensed cream of chicken soup’….. And salt to taste (?)
I think I’ll have to spend some serious time at Kalyn’s Slow Cooker From Scratch.
I’m pretty sure I won’t find condensed soups there…… (fingers crossed).
Only real ingredients for me and as fresh as I can get!
Katie – your venison looks wonderful. I have only had it once, and as I recall it too was cooked in a slow method in the oven but was wrapped in bacon to give it more tenderness – the gravy was fabulous. I have a slow cooker – rarely used as I find the food always ends up somewhat bland….maybe I still have not mastered the art of crock pots/slow cookers? In terms of canned cheddar cheese soup…or any canned soup for that matter (shudder) heaven forbid!
I loved loved loved my slow cooker in Australia. It is solid and old. I wonder how I will manage to steal it back from my daughter when I get home. She already says it’s hers !!!!!!
Rather than a slow cooker I’d recommend that you get a pressure cooker. My Kuhn-Rikon can do wonders with huge savings in time and energy. Living at higher elevations it helps too.
I do have a slow cooker but rarely use it as most meats that we like are cooked rare or medium rare. However, My Beloved’s daughter swears by hers and has produced several tasty meals for us all from it. I say, go ahead and get it – they aren’t expensive and you might find it a big time saver.
I have two slow cookers. One 6qt and one 3qt. The smaller is good for soups and stews, the larger for roasts and large chickens. I do NOT use cream soups. I use all fresh or organic, low sodium broths and such because I cannot take all the salt so prevalent in canned stuff. I use the slow cookers a lot in the winter though because I leave for work at 5:55am and don’t get home until 5pm. I’m tired by the time I get home and don’t want to be eating at 7:30 at night. I’ve made some pretty spectacular things in my crock pots though. I also have a pressure cooker, but that still takes time I don’t always want to spend when I get home, so use that most often on weekends.
And A Year of Slow Cooking isn’t a bad site to look for recipes.
Delline, same here…. I thought all that canned stuff would be gone by now 😉
Ina, maybe slow-cooker recipes need extra spice? We shall see. Really, I’m surprised they’re still on the market (the condensed soups)
Kate, I was surprised at how inexpensive the small ones are on Amazon…. Of course, you would have to be able to order it…. and receive it lol Sneak it out when she’s not looking.
brassfrog, I have a pressure cooler, although not a fancy one like yours…. I’m thinking something I can ignore for hours has a lot of appeal (lazy?)
Zoomie, we both love rare beef – but the beef we get really needs a slow cooker (or a pressure cooker). Sometimes, in summer, we splurge for a steak for the grill – but we have to go to a specific butcher shop and pay a fortune. The hubs doesn’t even want the regular beef in stews…. I have hopes for the slow cooker.
nightsmusic, thanks for the site tip…It looks good. There are days I just don’t feel like cooking anymore…. getting tired of the pressure lol. This was I can put my feet up and pet the dogs.