Venison Stew with red wine and fresh herbs - Istrian Recipe
Venison goulash is simply a lovely dish, perfect for colder days, and is very comforting and warming. It is slow cooked and braised for a long time with onions, garlic, fresh herbs, juniper berries, and red wine until the meat becomes so soft and tender it almost melts, and falls apart easily.
Venison meat, as it is very lean and low in saturated fat, works great in recipes requiring long cooking times which prevents drying the meat too much and helps to further develop the flavour.
Venison goulash is a great alternative to most common lamb or beef stews cooked on a more regular basis, and it is really super delicious as venison meat is packed with flavour because wild deer feed on apples, chestnuts, fruits, berries and acorns.
I am sharing here my paternal grandmother's recipe that has been in the family since .... forever. I grew up eating game meat that was provided very generously by my paternal grandfather's friends who were hunters. My nono, as I used to call him, would provide his hunter friends with a delicious extra virgin olive produced by him, and in exchange he would receive venison meat, an easy, uncomplicated trade, which everyone seemed to be happy with, especially the beneficiaries of the cooked venison goulash!
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
1kg stewing venison (I used ready-cubed venison for stewing and a small shank)
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium size onion (about 180g), peeled and finely chopped
2 big (or 4 small) cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp tomato purée
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
100 ml red wine
1 small whole carrot, peeled
few juniper berries (about 4), crushed
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, made in bouquet garni or leaves picked and finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dry, made in bouquet garni or just placed in a pot
few fresh sage leaves, made in bouquet garni or finely chopped
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
Method
In a large pot put the oil, finely chopped onions, a pinch of salt, and cook on a gentle heat, stirring quite often, until the onions are soft.
Add crushed garlic and cook for a further minute.
Add the venison meat, turn up the heat a bit and brown it and seal it on all sides, stirring and turning quite frequently.
Pour in the pot red wine and deglaze the pan, scrap with the wooden spoon all the bits and pieces that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the flour, add tomato purée, a carrot, juniper berries, bouquet garni or finely chopped herbs, sea salt and black pepper.
Add water, just enough to cover the meat, bring to boil, turn the heat down and gently simmer for about 2-3 hours, with the lid partially uncovered, or until the meat falls apart easily.
Keep an eye on the goulash during the simmering, and add splashes of water if you think it gets too thick and dry.
On the contrary, if you think the sauce is too thin, make a paste with some more flour and a bit of water, and add as much of the paste to venison goulash as needed to thicken the sauce.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper.
Serve hot with some crusty bread, potato gnocchi, soft cooked polenta or grilled polenta, mashed, boiled or roasted potatoes, rice or with bread dumplings.
Just a thought
This is a great dish to make ahead of time and suitable for freezing.
If you have a bit of leftover goulash, shred the meat and use it as a venison ragù, delicious served with your favourite shape of pasta or potato gnocchi.