Braised venison leg with strong port wine sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 kg bones (wild bones), chopped into approx. 3 – 5 cm pieces
• 250 g root vegetables (carrots, leeks, celeriac)
• 2 onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 bottle of dry red wine
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ tsp juniper berries, whole
• 3 allspice berries
• 2 carnations
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp salt
• n. B. Clarified butter
• n. B. water
• 1 kg venison leg or mouflon or roe deer leg or shoulder
• 500 ml port wine
• 250 g root vegetables (carrots, leeks, celeriac)
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 500 ml Game stock
• Salt and pepper, coarsely ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 hours; Total time approx. 11 hours

For the stock, spread the bones in a casserole dish (or two casserole dishes if necessary) and roast in the oven at 200°C for about 1 hour until browned, turning occasionally. Cut the root vegetables into 2 cm cubes, roughly dice the onions and garlic (with their skins on), and fry them in a little clarified butter with the bay leaves in a large roasting pan until well browned. This takes about 10 minutes. Then roast the tomato paste. Continue stirring and turning everything until the tomato paste begins to brown. Add the roasted bones and the spices (allspice, juniper berries, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme), stir, and deglaze with about 1/3 of the red wine. Use a spatula to loosen any juices. Important: Allow the red wine to reduce completely. Repeat this process twice more until all the red wine is used up. Top up with cold water until everything is lightly covered, and bring to a boil briefly. Now simmer gently with the lid closed for at least 4 hours. A little foam will form, especially in the first hour. Remove this with a spoon or tea strainer. Sieve the vegetables and bones and press them dry with a kitchen towel to avoid wasting liquid. Reduce the stock to about 500 ml and then let it cool. The stock will now gel and form a fat cap. Remove the fat cap. For the roast, rub the venison leg with coarse pepper and after about 2 hours, rub generously with salt. Then brown it on all sides in clarified butter in a large roasting pan. Remove the roast and brown the roughly diced root vegetables and the onion with the garlic (both with the skin on) in the roasting pan. Once it has browned, mix with the tomato paste and brown, stirring occasionally. Then deglaze with 1/3 of the port wine, reduce the heat, and repeat twice until all the port wine is used up. Now add the prepared stock and place the roast on top of the vegetables. Braise with the lid closed for 4 hours until tender, turning 2-3 times. Then remove the roast and keep warm. Strain the vegetables and reduce the sauce by about half. The meat should now be super tender. Standard side dishes like dumplings and red cabbage are perfect. There are already great recipes for this.