Venison saddle with creamed savoy cabbage and bacon dumplings

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1,300 g venison loin with bone
• 8 large potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• 1 head of savoy cabbage
• 1 jar water
• 1 class bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 jar red wine
• some cream
• 50 g smoked bacon, diced
• some salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• Caraway seeds
• 5 grains of allspice
• Juniper berry(s)
• 2 bay leaves
• 100 g butter
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• some flour
• salt water
• Butter for the baking tray

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 35 minutes

For the bacon dumplings, dice the bacon and 1 onion and sauté in a pan without fat. Wash and tear the parsley. Peel and boil the potatoes. Then press them through a ricer and season with pepper, nutmeg, and a little salt. Add 2 egg yolks, the onion, bacon, and parsley, and a little more flour if necessary. Form dumplings and let them simmer in salted water for about 10 minutes. When the dumplings float to the top, they are ready. For the creamed savoy cabbage, peel and dice the remaining onion, wash the savoy cabbage, and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Heat the butter in a pan, sauté the onion, and add the savoy cabbage strips. Pour in a glass of water and simmer in a covered pan for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then fold in the sour cream and season again to taste. For the venison loin, wash and chop the soup vegetables. Trim the silverskin and tendons from the venison loin. Bring this to a boil with the soup vegetables, juniper berries, bay leaves, allspice berries, pepper, and salt. Make deep cuts on both sides of the venison loin, but do not separate the bone from the lower bone. Brown the fillet sides in hot butter (about 4 minutes), then season with salt and pepper. Place the loin on a buttered baking sheet and bake in the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes. Drizzle with a little melted butter, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and let stand for about 15 minutes. During this time, strain the vegetables, add the red wine, and season with salt, pepper, tomato paste, and cream. If you like, you can thicken the sauce with flour. Remove the foil from the loin and pour the resulting juices into the sauce. Cut the loin into 4 pieces and arrange on plates. I don’t cut out the fillets, but leave the meat on the bone to keep it succulent. I always use butter with game dishes because it enhances the flavor of the meat, but you can also use neutral oil.