Venado en Salsa de los Montes de Toledo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Non-reactive glass or stainless-steel marinating dish with lid
• •Fine sieve
• •Small saucepan for boiling the marinade
• •Wide heavy casserole or Dutch oven, 5 to 6 litre capacity
• •Kitchen tongs
• •Immersion blender or food mill

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the venison

   Put the venison in a non-reactive dish with the wine, onions, carrots, leek, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and peppercorns. Turn the meat until every piece is wet, cover, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Turn it once if the wine doesn't fully cover the meat. Keep it cold throughout; the marinade is not a reason to leave raw game on the counter.

   Twelve hours is enough for 4cm pieces. Don't leave them longer than 24 hours, or the wine can make the surface mealy while the centre remains unchanged.
2. 2

   Drain and dry

   Set a sieve over a bowl and drain the venison, keeping the wine and vegetables separately. Pick out and reserve the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Pat the meat very dry with kitchen paper and season it with 8g of the salt. Pour the marinade into a saucepan, bring it to a full boil for 5 minutes, and skim off any grey foam. This makes the raw-meat marinade safe for the braise and gives a cleaner sauce.

3. 3

   Brown in batches

   Heat a wide, heavy casserole over medium-high heat and add 50ml of the olive oil. Brown the venison in four batches, leaving space between the pieces. Give each batch 5 to 6 minutes, turning until several sides carry a deep brown crust. Transfer the meat to a bowl as it is ready. If you crowd the pot, the meat releases water and goes grey; that lost browning cannot be repaired later.

4. 4

   Build the vegetable base

   Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining 25ml oil, the drained vegetables, and the diced red pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until their wine-soaked moisture has evaporated. Lower the heat again and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is dark gold and soft. Add the tomato and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until it is thick, darkened, and no watery juice runs across the bottom. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the pimentón for 20 seconds, and return it at once to low heat so the spice doesn't scorch.

5. 5

   Braise at a tremble

   Return the venison and its collected juices to the casserole. Pour in the boiled marinade and 300ml hot water, then add the reserved bay leaves and herb sprigs. The liquid should come nearly to the top of the meat without drowning it; add a little more hot water if needed. Bring it just to a simmer, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and cook over very low heat for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Turn the meat every 30 minutes and keep the liquid at a bare tremble. A rolling boil makes lean venison tight and dry. It is ready when a fork slides into a thick piece with almost no resistance.

6. 6

   Blend the sauce

   Lift the tender venison into a clean bowl and discard the bay leaves, thyme stems, and rosemary stem. Let the liquid settle for 2 minutes, skim only any obvious excess fat, then blend the vegetables and cooking liquor until completely smooth. Work carefully with the hot sauce and keep an immersion blender head fully submerged. Return the meat to the casserole. If the sauce is too thick to move around the pieces, add hot water 50ml at a time; if it runs like broth, simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes until it coats a spoon.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Add the remaining salt a little at a time, tasting after each addition. Simmer the venison in the finished sauce for 5 minutes, then take the casserole off the heat and rest it for 20 minutes. Serve in deep bowls or from the cazuela, with fried potatoes or sturdy bread for the sauce. The meat should hold its shape under the spoon but yield easily when cut.

Chef Tips

• •Buy shoulder or neck, not loin. These working cuts contain the connective tissue that turns tender during a long braise. Loin costs more and dries out before this sauce is ready.
• •Wild venison is darker and more mineral than farmed venison, and an older animal may need close to three hours. Don't increase the heat. Keep checking with a fork and give it the time it asks for.
• •Use a dry, uncomplicated red wine. Tempranillo or Garnacha from Castilla-La Mancha suits the pot, but any sound dry red without heavy sweetness will work. Cooking wine gives cooking-wine sauce. There is no trick that fixes it.
• •Venison season falls in the cooler part of the year, when fresh tomatoes are often poor. Use good canned whole tomatoes packed in juice, drain them lightly, and crush them. They carry more real tomato flavor than a hard winter tomato.
• •Elk shoulder is the closest practical substitute where Spanish red deer is unavailable. Beef chuck follows the same timing and gives a fine meal, but the flavor will be rounder and less mineral, and the dish is then beef in sauce.
• •Serve it with patatas fritas cut thick, mashed potatoes, or plain country bread. A dry Tempranillo or Garnacha beside it is enough; the sauce has already done the talking.

Advance Preparation

• •Marinate the venison for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The vegetables and wine are used in the sauce, so keep all of it cold until cooking begins.
• •The complete dish is better made one day ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate; the sauce settles around the meat overnight and tastes deeper the next day.
• •Reheat covered over low heat, stirring gently and adding 50 to 100ml water if the sauce has tightened in the refrigerator. Let it become thoroughly hot without boiling it hard.
• •Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. The venison and sauce can also be frozen together for up to 3 months, then thawed overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 460g)