When
cooking meats of any kind, there is no sauce like a sauce made from the
meat trimmings and bones of the animal itself. Here’s one suggestion
for a great venison sauce; use it with any roast or pan-roasted
venison, such as leg, rack or loin - the black pepper and juniper lends
itself well to the caramelized flavor of the roasted meat.
Yield: 1 cup
½ cup canola oil
2 ¼ lbs. venison bones, chopped into 1” pieces (or, 2 lbs bones, ¼ pound meat trimmings)
1 quarts water
1 quarts light chicken stock
2 quarts veal demi-glace (best: make it yourself; more than gourmet’s ready made is not bad)
½ lbs. carrots, cut into ½” pieces
½ lbs. onions, ½”
5 ounces celery, cut into ½”
3 peppercorns, crushed
2 juniper berries, crushed
Heat canola oil over high heat in a heavy pan large enough to hold
bones in one layer, until just before smoking. Add bones and cook until
well-browned and caramelized – do not turn before a good crust
develops, and once turning, do not stir bones. You want a good, deep,
rich caramelizing layer. The last few minutes, add the meat trimming,
if you are using it. You want a good russet color to the bones, not
black – watch for this and discard any blackened bones. Pour off fat
from pan.
Add a little of your water, enough to deglaze the pan, reserving the
rest for later. Using a wooden (ideally, flat) spoon, scrape the bones
free and scrape up and loosen any browned bits. In my kitchen, I use to
tell my chefs the pan should look, on the bottom, as if it had been
washed. Add a little more water and allow to work – listen for the
crackle to die down to a gentle bubbling, then, as the water
evaporates, the gelatin will extract from the bones and it will begin
to crackle again. Add ¾ cups of the light chicken stock and
deglaze/reglaze as before. Add vegetables and stir to deglaze/reglaze.
Add remaining water, chicken stock, and veal stock. Deglaze fully and
transfer to stock pot.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, with pot offset to one side to set
up a convection for skimming – throughout the process, you don’t want
to allow accumulated scum and impurities to be reincorporated into the
sauce, so skim the surface regularly. Skim and simmer for 30-45 minutes
or until stock is at level of bones. If you have a fine mesh sieve,
first strain the sauce through a coarse strainer then through the fine
mesh sieve. If not, a coarse sieve with a layer of cheesecloth will do.
The important thing is to strain with the coarse strainer first, then
pass through the fine strainer. Pour strained stock into pot. Simmer
until reduced to sauce consistency. Last ten minutes of reduction, add
your crushed peppercorns and juniper berries, and reduce to 1 cups.
Double strain again and serve.
Hunting can bring good food to the table. As a chef, I always sought to
marry what I knew with what hunters and farmers always knew - the best
food comes from the season and the land one knows. I hope you enjoy
this recipe. Visit me anytime for more tips and thoughts on the outdoor
life - a1-outdoors.com.
