Venison roast with Thuringian dumplings and caramelized Brussels sprouts

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 kg venison leg (venison leg) with bone
• ½ carrot(s)
• ½ parsley root(s)
• 1 large onion(s)
• some beetroot
• 1 celery
• e.g. bacon (green bacon)
• some tomato paste, optional
• 200 ml red wine, dry, Italian
• 100 g dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate coating
• 1 pack dumpling dough for Thuringian dumplings
• 1 roll
• 750 g Brussels sprouts
• some water
• n. B. Salt
• n. B. Nutmeg
• 1 tbsp, heaped powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 dashes lemon juice
• 2 shots of olive oil, alternatively rapeseed or sunflower oil
• 5 juniper berries
• 3 allspice berries
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• 3 pinch(s) celery greens (celery leaves), dried and shredded
• 2 pinch(s) of Provence herbs

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 7 hours 30 minutes

typical Thuringian dish, does not need to be pickled because young animal

Remove the fresh venison leg from the bone. If it was frozen, bring it to room temperature. In the meantime, prepare the marinade. Pour the oil into a large plastic bag and add sea salt, juniper berries crushed in a mortar, and the crushed allspice and peppercorns. Now add the finely chopped garlic cloves, the Herbes de Provence, and the dried and shredded celery leaves. Rub the meat with the oil and tie the bag. Massage the meat in the bag occasionally. The boned meat remains in the marinade for at least 3 hours or longer. I use an old iron pot for searing. I cut thin slices of bacon and placed them in the pot. If you like, you can also lard the meat with a larding needle. Now remove the meat from the bag and sear it on all sides. I also added a little butter. Then the roast meat is removed from the pot and the cleaned and chopped vegetables are added – carrot, onion, celery, parsley root, and beetroot. These are also fried vigorously to ensure a good browning. If desired, a dollop of tomato paste can be added. Deglaze with red wine and a little water. Then the roast is returned to the sauce and the pot is placed in the oven to cook at a low temperature (approx. 80°C). Given its size, the roast will take about 2–2.5 hours to cook. In the meantime, form 5 dumplings from the dumpling mixture. I prepared them according to my “Thuringian Dumplings” recipe, which can be found in my profile. The bread roll is cut into cubes, toasted until crisp, and placed in the center of the dumplings. The dumplings are then simmered in hot water for 15 minutes. During this time, the Brussels sprouts are also washed, cleaned, and boiled in salted water until al dente. Heat the butter in a pan. First add the powdered sugar to caramelize it. Then add the Brussels sprouts, toss to coat, season with nutmeg, and then a little flour and breadcrumbs. Finally, add the honey and remove the pan from the heat. In the meantime, the venison roast was ready. I removed it from the sauce to refine it. To do this, I strained everything through a sieve and put the sauce back on the heat. Now I added a little more red wine and added the chocolate to the roast. I seasoned it with a little lemon juice. Finally, I thickened the sauce with cold butter. I sliced ​​the roast and arranged it on the plates. Then I placed the dumplings and vegetables on the plates, poured the sauce over it, arranged it, and served it.