Susan's Recipes

Red Wine Marinated Leg of Venison

This is a main course dish for ten to twelve. It is a grand meal and deserves pomp and circumstance. Serve with a sauce poivrade or venaison. Suggested accompaniments are braised red cabbage with chestnuts and a puree of root vegetables. Serve a Burgundy wine with this meal. Dessert should be fruit and cheese.

Cooked Wine Marinade

• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• ½ cup thinly sliced celery
• 6 cloves of garlic, halved
• ½ cup olive oil
• 6 cups full bodied, young red wine: Macon, Cotes du Rhone, Beauolais, Burgundy, Chianti
• 1 & ½ cups red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 6 parsley sprigs
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon juniper berries
• About 7 to 8 pounds leg of venison, trimmed of all fat and connective tissue, may be boned.

Preparation

1. For Cooked Wine Marinade: Slowly sauté the vegetables in the olive oil for 5 minutes without allowing them to brown. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, partly covered, for 20 minutes. Permit to thoroughly cool before using over venison.
2. For Marinating and Roasting the Venison: Place the venison leg in a large non-reactive pan which holds it snugly. Pour the marinade over the venison. Turn and baste the venison 3 or 4 times a day for 4 to 5 days at room temperature or up to 6 to 8 days if refrigerated.
3. To Roast: Drain the venison for one half hour or more on a rack. Just before roasting, wipe the leg completely dry with paper towels. If you have boned the leg, you will need to roll and tie the roast. Do this with kitchen string.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Baste the venison with fat and sear in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees F and roast to medium rare, internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees on a meat thermometer. Baste the roast with fat as it cooks. Remove the roast promptly as it will continue to cook even after being taken from the oven.