Venison goulash with spaetzle

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg game goulash (50% venison and 50% wild boar)
• 2 large onions
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig of thyme
• salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 carnations
• 5 grains of allspice
• 5 juniper berries
• 250 ml broth
• 250 ml red wine, dry
• 1 tbsp cranberries (wild cranberries)
• 300 g flour, for the spaetzle
• 1 tbsp flour, for dusting
• 300 g eggs (approx. 5 medium-sized)
• 1 shot of oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• 4 liters of salt water
• 100 g smoked bacon
• 1 tbsp butter

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 20 minutes

Wash the meat, dry it, remove any sinew and silver skin, and cut it into roughly equal-sized pieces. Peel and quarter the onions and garlic. Trim the vegetables and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Finely dice the bacon and fry it in a pan. Lightly dust the meat with flour, fry it in the fat until crispy, and then remove it. Heat a little oil in the pan and fry the onions and garlic. Add the tomato paste and fry it briefly. Return the meat to the pan and deglaze with stock and red wine (cook off any browned meat from the bottom). Add the juniper berries, cloves, allspice berries, and bay leaves (preferably in a cloth bag, so they’re easier to remove later). Season everything with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary and place it in the oven, covered, at 200°C for 1 hour. Then remove the lid and braise for another hour. For the spaetzle, add 300g flour, 300g eggs (simply weigh them; the ratio of flour to eggs must be the same, then you won’t need any more water), a pinch of salt, and a pinch of nutmeg, and whisk everything vigorously until the batter bubbles. Let it rest for about 20 minutes, while you bring 4 liters of water to a boil and add salt. Prepare a bowl of iced water and a sieve for draining the spaetzle. Then briefly stir the batter again, press the mixture into the boiling water (or scrape it off a board). When the spaetzle float to the top, remove them, refresh them in iced water, and drain in a sieve. With this amount, I had to repeat the process three times. Heat a pan with the butter and let the spaetzle heat up again, seasoning with salt and nutmeg if desired. Remove the rosemary and thyme stalks and the spice bag from the goulash, season with wild cranberries, and serve with the spaetzle.