Reindeer meat is a very tasty, but rather tough product that you need to be able to properly cook - namely, to stew, so that the venison acquires juiciness, softness and tenderness. Despite the long and difficult preparation process, the stewed venison dish is worth all the effort spent on it.
Preparation of food
For braised venison, you will need 6 peeled deer drumsticks (or other parts), 200 grams of veined lard, 3 carrots, 3 onions, 3 celery, 20 mushrooms, 1 handful of juniper berries, 500 ml of warm chicken stock and 500 ml of dry red wine … You will also need 3 cloves of garlic, 1 bunch of thyme, 1 chili, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon flour, 6 potatoes, 1 celery root, and salt / pepper to taste.
If desired or necessary, too hot chili peppers can be safely replaced with a pod of ordinary dried peppers.
Cut lard into small slices, place in a thick-walled deep saucepan and fry until crackling. Then remove the lard, and put the deer drumsticks in the fat melted from it, lightly dust them with flour and fry until brownish. After the meat is evenly browned, remove it from the pan and add the coarsely chopped vegetables (carrots, garlic, celery and onions). Boil them over medium heat for 4-5 minutes - when they are slightly softened, return the deer drumsticks to the pan and add the juniper berries to them.
Braising venison
After adding juniper berries to the venison, put thyme and bay leaf in a saucepan, and pour in red wine and chicken broth, heat it all for a few minutes, without boiling, and then cover and place in the oven, which is preheated to 130 degrees. Now the venison will be stewed for six hours - at the same time, exactly one hour before the end of cooking, you need to add finely chopped mushrooms to it and simmer until tender.
If you follow the recipe in full, the result will be a delicious dish with juicy and tender deer meat on the bone.
While the meat is stewing, peel the celery root and mashed potatoes. Place the chopped celery root in boiling and lightly salted water, add the chopped potatoes after 15 minutes. When the vegetables are tender, drain the water, add a little milk to them and mash them in a puree. Transfer the finished venison from the pan to another container and leave in a warm oven, and simmer the vegetable sauce in which it was stewed over medium heat until it is exactly half boiled down. Then put the reindeer meat on a plate, add vegetable sauce and puree, pour dry red wine into the glass and enjoy the unique taste of real reindeer.
