Long Island Larder: Guiltless Venison
From Hemingway's hunting country "Up In Michigan," I recently got this note from an Internet buddy: "Most deaths during deer season up North occur when the hunting husband returns home unexpectedly early. I've never heard of any deaths around here, or even injuries."
As there are lots of hunters prowling the woods and fields of the East End, there ought to be some splendid, succulent venison for the table right now. Enjoy it in guiltless pleasure. There is no finer, cleaner meat, higher in protein and lower in cholesterol, than our deer, grazed on some of the finest landscaping and open woodland in the nation.
Most average hunters are not expert meat-cutters, though they must at least know how to field-dress an animal. If they have good sense, they will take it to a professional who knows how to hang it and cut it into steaks, chops, and roasts.
Where my daughter lives, in rural Columbia County, N.Y., a lot of families depend on the hunting season to put meat on the table in winter. As the cooking isn't all that sophisticated, a lot of good venison winds up as deerburgers or crockpot stews made with canned cream of mushroom soup.
This sorry state of affairs isn't unique to upstate New York, so my Michigan correspondent, Mike Edelman, informs me.
Well, maybe now that the country has more whitetail deer than when the Pilgrims landed - so many that Hunters for the Hungry are providing this excellent food to needy people and senior citizens' food pantry programs - better culinary uses for it will be investigated.
Venison, which is on the menu in most of Manhattan's chic restaurants at this time of year, suffers freezing extremely well if left in reasonably large cuts (not ground). It can be just as delicious in spring and summer if packaged properly and held at zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Some of the tougher meat from the forequarters does make great venison burgers, meatballs, and noteworthy stews patterned after winey Boeuf Bourguignon (a great old French dish still around though now offered under hipper nomenclature).
Whatever cut of venison you luck into, a cardinal rule is to remove all the deer fat, no matter how little - it tastes like tallow.
Lubricants
As the meat is so lean to begin with, obviously it needs lubricating. Depending on the type of recipe, a thin barding of pork fat, suet from a
good beef roast, olive oil, or butter are best for keeping the venison juicy and savory.
Mushrooms, especially wild ones, are a natural alliance; also shallots, onions, garlic, and juniper
berries, along with robust red wines. Choose French bordeaux or red burgundies, California or Australian cabernets, merlots, or, one of my favorites for venison, Petit Sirah (Shiraz, Down Under). Among the Italian choices, Barolo or Barbaresco, among many others.
Just don't go for any of the whites or sissy lightweight reds, such as Beaujolais. No matter that some famous chefs around Lyons insist it's great with everything.
Wild Wild Meatloaf
Wild mushrooms and venison are made for each other. The way to make the most of ground venison (extracted from the parts of the animal that hunters most willingly part with) is in this Ur Meatloaf. For a truly special winter meal, serve it with the creamiest, lightest, whipped potatoes, perhaps blended with some pureed celeriac and braised carrots or roast beets.
Serves 6-8.
1 oz. (about 1 cup) dried wild mushrooms (strongly flavored ones, such as chanterelles)
1 oz. dried black Japanese Matsutake mushrooms
11/2 lbs. ground venison
1 lb. ground pork shoulder (fatty)
1 lb. ground veal
1/3 cup bourbon
2 tsp. coarse milled black pepper
1 cup minced onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup soft fresh breadcrumbs
1 ex-large egg, beaten
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 Tbsp. coarse salt
4 or 5 thin strips Virginia slab bacon
Reserved fat from the meatloaf
1 lb. fresh white domestic mushrooms cut in half-inch chunks
1/2 cup good red wine
Mix And Blend
Rinse the dried mushrooms in a sieve, then soak for about half an hour in warm water, barely enough to cover, in a small, deep bowl. Use a closed baggie filled with water to keep them submerged.
After you mix the meat ingredients, drain and chop them, then mix them into the main ingredients. Reserve soaking liquid, strain, reduce to half a cup.
Mix the remaining ingredients down through the salt, using your hands or a wooden spoon to combine everything lightly. Do not use an electric mixer - it makes a tough meatloaf.
Blend in the chopped, dried mushrooms (I like to use chopsticks for this task) and shape the mixture into an oval loaf about four inches high, in a shallow gratin pan - not a loaf pan. Press the bacon strips lightly onto the top, lengthwise.
Do Not Overbake
Roast in the center of the oven (preheated to 350 degrees F.) for about one hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170 degrees. Do not overbake, or all the juices and flavor will be left behind in the pan juices.
Pour off the fat and let the meatloaf rest in a warm place. Use a couple of spoonsful of the fat to saut‚ the fresh mush-
rooms. Toss them over a hot flame until lightly browned, about three minutes. Arrange them around the meatloaf. Deglaze the saut‚ pan with the dried mushroom liquor and the red wine and pour over the mushrooms.
Serve the meatloaf cut into one-inch slices with a spoonful of mushrooms on top. Eject anyone who mentions the word "catsup."
Spiced Leg Of Venison
You'll need a hind leg, as the forelegs are tough and skinny. Leave the shin bone fairly long (cut to fit your braising pan). Trim away the fell (just as you would a leg of lamb, which it resembles).
As the meat is braised, it needs no lengthy marination, though you may do it if you wish. The number of servings depends on the size of the leg - this is for a young animal.
Serves 6 - 8.
5 lb. leg of venison, bone in, well trimmed
1/4 lb. fresh pork fat cut in 1/4-inch strips
Spices:
3 star anise pieces
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 Tbsp. whole allspice
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 carrots, sliced thinly
1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and minced
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup medium-dry sherry (amontillado)
Large bunch of fresh coriander or parsley, washed, dried, and chopped fairly fine
1 cup beef bouillon
A Fusion Dish
Rinse and pat the leg dry. Using a barding needle or a sharp-pointed chopstick, push the pork fat into the flesh, distributing it throughout. Pulverize all the spices in a grinder; then rub into the meat. Wrap well and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temp before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Heat the oil in a deep braising pan with a cover. Saut‚ the garlic, onion, and carrots lightly for about five minutes, covered. Add the gingerroot, soy sauce, and sherry. Turn the venison around in this mixture, cover, and braise on a lower rack of the oven for about an hour. Turn the meat over and braise, covered, another 30 minutes or until very tender. Add boiling water, about a cup, if the liquid seems to be evaporating.
When the venison is tender to a sharp kitchen fork, remove it to a hot, hot platter and keep it warm. Deglaze the pan with the beef bouillon, scraping up all the drippings. Puree all in a blender or food processor and reheat this sauce. Pour it over the meat and serve sprinkled with the coriander or parsley. As this is obviously a "fusion" dish with strong Chinese overtones, serve it with white rice, or jasmine rice mixed with wild rice cooked separately.
Smoked Rack Of Venison
The smoking is for flavor only, not preservation. If smoke flavor isn't your thing, you can skip this step, but it's simple enough in any covered outdoor grill or smoker. Hickory, ash, mesquite, or plain old dried corncobs make good smoking materials. You build a fire in the usual way, soak some wood chips in warm water about half an hour, and toss them on the coals when they're ready and immediately before putting the meat on the grill.
As this is, in my view, the choicest cut of the deer, it needs no marinating except for a bit of added flavor, and is already tender, even from a large animal.
Serving size: Depends on size of ribs and appetites
1 rack of venison (7 large ribs, about 6 lbs.)
Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 Tbsp. juniper berries, ground
2 tsp. coarse black pepper, freshly ground
1 crumbled bay leaf
1/2 bottle Zinfandel or other robust red wine
Salt
3 or 4 thin slices fresh pork fat from the loin roast or caul fat (order from your butcher)
Must Be Medium-Rare
Rinse the rack briefly in cold water, pat dry, and trim away all fat. Rub with the spices and place in a non-reactive container about the same size as the rack of venison. Pour the wine over it and let rest in the fridge, covered, for about 48 hours, turning once.
If you have a larding needle, run a line of pork fat through the length of the meat, starting first at one end, then the other. Dry it, salt it, cover with pork fat or caul fat, and place in a foil pan, bones pointed down. Smoke the meat for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Set the venison on a rack in a heavy roasting pan and pour the marinade under it. Roast about 30 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 125 degrees F. for medium rare - as it must be served.
Rest the rack of venison, loosely covered with foil, in a warm place for 20 minutes. As there's no gravy, grilled or sauteed squares of polenta sprinkled with Parmesan or good old cheese grits are a nice companion for this prince of cuts.