Deer are quite common and, in Germany and Bavaria, are usually shot by hunters. Roe deer are in season from mid-May to January. Why not give it a try? Regional game meat is a natural product with short transport routes.

 

Ingredients for 4 portions:

Venison:
2 shoulders of venison (c. 1 kg)
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp game seasoning (see basic recipe)
Salt, pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 onions, diced
½ celeriac, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 handful of ice cubes
300 ml cherry juice
300 ml red verjuice
2 l veal stock
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
Some flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp grated potato

Quark spätzle:
500 g quark (20% fat)
500 g flour
8 eggs
6 egg yolks
Salt and nutmeg

Sweetheart cabbage:
150 g blanched sweetheart cabbage
2 shallots, diced
1 tsp maize germ oil (or alternatively rapeseed oil)
Salt, pepper, nutmeg

 

Tips from Hans Haas:

• Shoulder of venison is particularly suitable for braising.
• To make preparation of the sweetheart cabbage easier – by blanching it using a simple trick – watch my “blanching sweetheart cabbage” video.
• Invite your friends. If any food is left over, it can either be stored for several days in the fridge or frozen.

 

Preparation (c. 150 minutes (60 minutes for preparation and another 60 to120 minutes in the oven)):

Firstly cut the shoulders of venison into several pieces.

Season the pieces of venison with salt and pepper and sprinkle with game seasoning.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the meat on all sides until it turns golden brown.
Now gradually add the vegetables – the garlic cloves, chopped onion, celeriac and carrots – and allow it to stew together.

Once the venison and vegetables have turned really golden brown, add a tablespoon of tomato purée to the pan and cook.

Next remove the pan from the heat, put a handful of ice into the pan and pour in some red verjuice and cherry juice.
Now leave the pan to stand for around five minutes so that the cooking particles are loosened from the base of the pan. Once the cooking particles have loosened, place the pan back on the heat and reduce the liquid until it lightly sticks to the base of the pan. Then pour in a little more verjuice and cherry juice and reduce it down again. You should repeat this deglazing process with verjuice and cherry juice three times in total.

 

After repeating the reducing of the juices, add the veal stock and then season well with sea salt and pepper.

Now it’s time to add the herbs – the sprig of thyme, rosemary and some parsley. Then add the 2 tablespoons of grated potatoes to thicken the mixture. Next place the pan covered with baking paper in the oven and allow to stew at 160 degrees until the meat is tender. This takes around one hour and a half to two hours.

 

To make the quark spätzle (type of South German pasta), either allow the quark to drain well over night or firmly press it now. Then add the other ingredients – the flour, eggs, egg yolk and also the salt and nutmeg – and mix it together well. Next press the mixture through a spätzle sieve into boiling salt water and bring to the boil. Now rinse the spätzle in cold water.

 

The next step is to sauté the sweetheart cabbage which has been blanched in some maize germ oil with the diced shallots. Then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

 

 

Serve the sauce and meat on a plate with the sweetheart cabbage and quark spätzle.

Bon appetit!