#deer meat

Was quite happy with the Zoophobia snippet. (:

On this very chill Sunday, I am warming up in the kitchen, stirring and steaming my Christmas Pudding, and cooking this mouth-watering Venison Stew. I used to eat game often enough, when visiting my grandparents in Autumn and Winter, when I was a child. And I had missed the hearty, earthy flavour of venison. Thus, I was happy to find deer meat at the butcher's the other day. This comforting Venison Stew brought as much gastronomic pleasure as it did fond memories. Happy Sunday!

Ingredients (serves 3):

2 slices Speck ham

1 tablespoon olive oil

half a large onion

2 small garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil

500 grams/1.10 pound venison (deer) stewing meat

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 small turnips, rinsed

4 medium carrots, rinsed

a few sprigs dried thyme

2 large bay leaves

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon plain flour

1/4 cup White Port

3/4 cup good, robust red wine (like a Southern France Fronton or a Barossa Valley Shiraz)

1 1/2 cup Beef Broth

1 heaped tablespoon whole-grain mustard

4 tablespoons

Preheat oven to 160°C/32°F.

Heat a large Dutch oven over a high flame.

Once hot, add Speck ham slices, and fry, about 2 minutes on each side until browned. Transfer to a plate. Set aside.

Add olive oil to the Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-high.

Thinly slice the onion, and stir into the Dutch oven. Fry, stirring often until softening and browning, about 4 minutes.

Peel garlic cloves, and stir them into the Dutch oven. Cook, 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate as well; set aside.

Heat olive oil in the Dutch oven.

Cut deer meat into large chunks. Add to the Dutch oven, in batches, to brown well, about 4 minutes on each side. Once all the deer chunks are well-browned, transfer them to a plate. Set aside.

Melt butter in the Dutch oven.

Peel and dice turnips. Cut carrots into thick slices. Once the butter is just foaming, stir in turnips and carrots. Add dried thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Cook, stirring often until golden brown. Transfer to the plate with the onions, leaving the fat in the Dutch oven.

Return deer chunks to the Dutch oven, along with their resting juices. Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with flour, and cook, stirring well, 1 minute.

Deglaze with White Port and red wine, stirring energetically until sauce thickens.

Roughly chop Speck ham.

Return Speck, along with reserved onion, garlic, turnips and carrots to the Dutch oven.

Stir in Beef Broth and whole-grain mustard. Bring to the boil.

Once boiling, cover with the lid, and place Dutch oven in the middle of the hot oven. Cook at 160°C/320°F, 2 hours. After a couple hours, stir in Quince Paste, and cook, a further 15 minutes, atr 160°C/320°F. (If the venison is not fork tender yet, you can add a bit of water, and cook a tad longer.)

Okay so I call this Huevos El Bosque (Eggs from the Woods) my take on Huevos Rancheros.

Key differences are that it is sourdough discard flatbread with cilantro, instead of corn tortilla switching up the prairie grasslands wheat 🌾 for the Spanish corn 🌽 . For the the meat I used deer meat 🦌 that we hunted and butchered last season (slow cooked and shredded overnight) instead of beef 🐄. And then using a salsa verde to make the green colouring pop more with the avocado, to give it the forest vibes. 🌳 🌲 🌲

I probably would’ve added a sprig of pine needles for the final touch. 😉