It's the summer of old ladies, so we suggest you take advantage of the time you have to be outside. And while you're outside, why not have a cookout with your mates? Let's start with a bit of graceful wildness, aka the world's best venison stew recipe.
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 1 kg boneless venison leg
- 4 heads onions
- 3 dl dry red wine
- 4 tv peppers
- 3 tomatoes
- 15 dkg Fat (wild boar, mangalica, domestic pork, duck, anything)
- half head garlic
- juniper berries
- salt
- ground black pepper
- red spicy paprika
Preparing the venison stew:
- The secret to a good stew is always to prepare an excellent base. All you need is fat, onions, peppers and ripe tomatoes. Once you've got a good fire going under your kettle and have carefully placed it on the rack, add the fat and bring it to the boil.
- Then add the thinly sliced onion, crushed garlic and start to fry. To avoid burning the base, occasionally add a little water. However, I would note that there is no need to be afraid if it does get a bit runny, because you will have a nice stewing substance that gives the dish a nice flavour.
- In the meantime, add the diced bell pepper and fry it well. Put the juniper berries in a spice pot and add them to the base so they don't bite.
- While the base is cooking, cut the venison into roughly 3×3 cm cubes. Then rinse a little and drain. Then add to the base and brown.
- Season with salt and pepper and allow the meat to release its own juices.
- Once this has been done, you can see that the fat has settled on top of the stew, and you can add the red pepper to taste. But don't stir it yet, let the fat give your spices their colour and flavour.
- After a few minutes, pour in the red wine, stir and leave to simmer. While the stew is cooking, gradually add more liquid so that it does not burn.
- When the meat is semi-soft, add the diced tomatoes. It is recommended to add it only halfway through the dish because it has a high acidity, so if you add it at the beginning, the fibres of the meat will harden and it will be harder to tenderise.
- When the tomatoes are fully cooked, it is worth tasting and adding flavour if necessary. Here's a little secret. If you add a little sugar at the end, it will bring out all the hidden flavours and balance the acidity of your dish.
- Cook the stew, watching carefully, until the meat is nice and crumbly. The gravy of the stew is the rich base, which, if everything is done well, will be creamy from the meat collagen at the end of cooking.
- Serve with bread and nettle jam.
Enjoy your meal!
