It is almost that time of year again here in Montana and those of us who make the trek into our wonderful wilderness for the thrill of the hunt will soon be coming back with pounds and pounds of incredible meat. Sometimes it is a daunting task to find uses for the many fine cuts that come from a deer. Many are satisfied in removing the back straps and turning the rest into burger and jerky sticks.
I love the taste of a fresh medallion of venison lightly salted, heavy on the pepper, seared very hot and served very rare. But one of my favorite cuts is shoulder or blade roast. In this recipe the shoulder is stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms, and then slowly braised in red wine, which creates a wonderful sauce when all is said and done.
Before getting started you will need to gather the following ingredients:
1 venison shoulder
1 bottle red wine
2 cups wild rice, cooked
1 medium onion, diced
8 ounces wild or cultivated mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 eggs
1 rosemary sprig
Coarse sea salt & cracked pepper
First, slowly cook the onion, mushrooms and garlic until just translucent. Cool until room temperature and then mix with the wild rice, parsley and eggs. Reserve in your refrigerator.
Before moving on, preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Next, cut the roast horizontally nearly in half so that it can be laid out flat. This cut is also known as a butterfly cut and allows for easy stuffing. Now, place the rice mixture on the butterflied roast and spread evenly within an inch of the edges of the piece of meat. Slowly roll the meat around the filling and tie with butchers twine.
At this point you need to heat a large casserole on top of your stove, heavily salt and pepper the venison and sear the outside until nice and golden brown. Reduce your heat, add the rosemary and carefully pour the bottle of wine over the roast. Cover with a tight lid and place in the oven.
I like to cook mine until about 135-140 degrees. Once cooked to your desired temperature remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes. This will allow the meat to regain some of its moisture and also it will relax for a nice tender piece of meat.
To finish, remove the roast from the wine and place on a cutting board. Meanwhile, reduce the wine by two-thirds or until it coats the back of a spoon and strain. After removing the butchers twine, slice the roast in about 1- to 1.5-inch pieces, garnish with your favorite vegetables, add the wonderful wine reduction and enjoy!
Josh Auerhammer is the chef/owner of Cuinary Design Studio in Bigfork.