Venison leg ragout

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 1 leg(s) of venison with bone
• 2 large onions
• 3 carrots
• 1 piece(s) celeriac, slightly over the size of an egg
• 15 cm leek
• 3 garlic cloves, fresh
• 1 piece(s) ginger, thumb-sized
• ½ tube(s) tomato paste
• ½ bottle of white wine
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 1 sprig(s) sage
• 1 chili pepper(s), fresh
• 40 juniper berries (approx.)
• 10 cloves, whole
• 20 grains of allspice
• 2 tbsp paprika powder, sweet
• 1 pinch(s) paprika powder, hot
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp jelly, (currant jelly)
• 50 ml cream (optional)

Instructions

Working time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours

tender and spicy

First, carefully dismember the venison leg. Individually expose each muscle strand and remove the fascia (silver skin). This takes me a good two hours. Then chop the bones and chop the carrots, celery, leeks, onions, and chili pepper as finely as possible. Roast the bones vigorously in a little oil, add two tablespoons of carrots and 1 tablespoon of celery and roast them, then add about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Deglaze with 1 liter of water and reduce the heat. When the liquid has evaporated, add another 1 liter of water and reduce the heat again. Then add 2 liters and pour everything one after the other through a fine-mesh sieve into a fat separator (discard the bones and trimmings). Reduce the skimmed stock in another pot to about 1 liter. Meanwhile, cut the raw meat into bite-sized cubes. Sear the meat in batches in oil in a large roasting pan, then remove it and store it in a bowl or another pot for the next batch (I seared it in four batches). Keep adding a little more oil to the roasting pan. Once all the meat is browned, roast the remaining vegetables: carrots, celery, leeks, onions, and chili. Briefly roast the remaining tomato paste and then add the meat back in, along with any juices that have formed in the meantime. Deglaze with the wine. Roughly chop the ginger and press it through a garlic press. Roughly crush the garlic cloves with a knife and add them. Grind the allspice and cloves in a mortar and pestle and add them. Crush the juniper berries in a mortar and pestle and add them as well. Season with paprika, salt, and pepper (be careful with the salt: the liquid will reduce!). Place the rosemary and sage on top. Pour in the stock made from the bones and trimmings. Close the casserole dish and let everything simmer gently in the oven at 120°C for about 3 hours so that the spices are evenly distributed (the meat itself will be tender much sooner). Finally, season the sauce, stir in the currant jelly and, if you like, top it off with a little cream.