A couple of days ago, a neighbor gifted me with a fresh roast from a mule deer that he'd shot. (He loves hunting, but his wife hates to cook--I've seen him grind an entire elk into hamburger).
So I figured it was going to be a pretty dry cut, and braised it with shallots, green peppers, celery, carrots and garlic in red wine. About a half hour before it came out of the oven, I added a couple of cups of chopped chanterelles.
All in all, it came out tender and pretty good, but I couldn't tell the difference in flavor between it and pot roast. So I must've done something to destroy the venison flavor.
Any suggestions for the next one that comes my way?
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Chuck(G)
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tubaman5150
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Try a marinade in beer and a little worcestershire to help tenderize the meat and take the edge off the gamey taste that venison can sometimes have. Also, go easy on the wine when you cook for short periods of time. It can really dominate the other spices you put in.
No one who tells you what you want to hear at someone else's detriment is acting in your best interest.
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Chuck(G)
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Most of the venison we get here doesn't have much of a gamey taste, so that's usually not a problem. This iwas a 4-hour braising job, so I'm not sure what you mean by "short periods of time". Should I have used beef stock instead of wine? Wouldn't that make the meat taste even more like pot roast? Would a vegetable stock have worked better?tubaman5150 wrote:Try a marinade in beer and a little worcestershire to help tenderize the meat and take the edge off the gamey taste that venison can sometimes have. Also, go easy on the wine when you cook for short periods of time. It can really dominate the other spices you put in.
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tubaman5150
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I missed the bit about braising the first time. Sorry for the confusion.
The last time I slow cooked venison, I marinated in the mixture I described. Then I added a mix of potatoes, yellow onion and carrots. I also put in about a cup of water and beer with an assortment of spices. It cooked in the crock pot all day until it literally starting falling apart. I served it over rice. Not braising, but tasty.
For braising, I might give vegetable stock a try. I've never really had a problem with the meat losing its venison flavor. I thought perhaps the wine would do that, but I may be wrong about that. I don't think I would use beef stock, because It would run the risk of tasting like a stew. I know most braising calls for some sort of stock or wine, but I've never been big on that (mostly because I'm not good at it!). I never could work out the "blanching and refreshing" part. I have done the bit where you brown the roast before it goes in the oven, but with a pork roast with white wine.
The last time I slow cooked venison, I marinated in the mixture I described. Then I added a mix of potatoes, yellow onion and carrots. I also put in about a cup of water and beer with an assortment of spices. It cooked in the crock pot all day until it literally starting falling apart. I served it over rice. Not braising, but tasty.
For braising, I might give vegetable stock a try. I've never really had a problem with the meat losing its venison flavor. I thought perhaps the wine would do that, but I may be wrong about that. I don't think I would use beef stock, because It would run the risk of tasting like a stew. I know most braising calls for some sort of stock or wine, but I've never been big on that (mostly because I'm not good at it!). I never could work out the "blanching and refreshing" part. I have done the bit where you brown the roast before it goes in the oven, but with a pork roast with white wine.
No one who tells you what you want to hear at someone else's detriment is acting in your best interest.
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Chuck(G)
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.PhilW. wrote:Please enlighten me: what are chanterelles?
The chanterelle (cantharellus cibarius), specifically the yellow chanterelle, is probably one of the best mushrooms there is to cook with. Lots of meat, doesn't degrade to mush when cooked and has a wonderful flavor:
http://www.wild-harvest.com/pages/chanterelle.htm
If you wanted to add mushrooms to a cooked dish, you could hardly do better.