Venison roast in elderberry and mountain pine sauce

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 1 ½ kg venison leg
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, black
• Game spice
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 15 cm mountain pine branch(es)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 200 ml elderberry juice, unsweetened
• 100 ml red wine, dry
• 400 ml Game stock
• 100 ml cream
• possibly cornstarch to bind

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours

from the venison leg

Wash the meat, pat dry, and season all over with salt, black pepper, and game spice. Heat the olive oil in a roasting pan and sear the meat on all sides. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Finely dice the onion. Remove the meat from the roasting pan and set aside. Sauté the onion in the frying fat, add the whole mountain pine branch and the honey. Let it caramelize slightly, then deglaze with the elderberry juice and wine. Reduce to about half the original amount. Then add the game stock and bring to a boil. Add the meat to the sauce and cook in the oven for about 45 minutes. Then turn the meat over and cook in the oven for another 45 minutes. The pine branch can stay in the pan the entire time. If the meat gets too brown in the oven, cover with aluminum foil. Finally, remove the meat from the roasting pan, slice it, and keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce and season with salt, pepper, and honey if desired. If the sauce is still too thin, either reduce it a little more on the stovetop or thicken it with cornstarch. Return the meat to the sauce before serving. Serve with bread dumplings, red cabbage, and/or Brussels sprouts.