Standing Rack of Venison with Cabernet Juniper Reduction, served with Corn Bread Oyster Stuffing

Standing Rack of Venison with Cabernet Juniper Reduction, served with Corn Bread Oyster Stuffing

The hunt.  A time honored tradition in many homes across the country.   It is a special time of year when a boy wakes up before sun up and wanders into the woods with their father, hopefully get a chance to shoot their first deer, and return home a young man.  I personally have been hunting most of my life.  I am one of the lucky ones, whose grandfather happened to buy into a camp in the middle of West Virginia years ago, and through good management it has passed down the generations and I get the honor of hunting every late fall. 

The only problem with hunting, is most of us come home to a spouse who says, “I don’t like deer meat.”  To which like most red blooded American hunters we reply, that is because you haven’t had it cooked right.  For the hunter, we grew up eating venison, many of our child hood memories center around a good deer steak and potatoes, or deer chili, but for those who were not so lucky, aka the spouse, they have only been exposed to venison a hand full of times.  Now the problem, as I see it anyway, is when someone who does not normally eat deer bites into it for the first time, they are expecting the taste of beef.   And much to their dismay, they bite down on venison.  To believe venison should taste like beef is to believe Cabernet should taste like grape juice, or chicken should taste like duck.   If you put something in your mouth and expect a different flavor, odds are you are going to not be happy.  Venison, beef, and lamb are all red meats and that is about where the comparison ends.  Venison is leaner, and has much deeper taste.  Now when the lucky hunter is trying to “cook it right” for their spouse, they do whatever they can to try and mask the natural flavors of the venison and prop it up with other flavors.   That is where you get the “Italian dressing marinade” recipes.  No matter what the hunter does he cannot cook the flavor of the deer out of the venison.  Nor should you, as I recently proved to Shawn. 

I have been planning on doing this standing rack of venison for about three years now.  But, my aim has been off, or I just didn’t see a one.  But this year as I watched my nine point buck drop in my scope, I knew it was time.  I prepared this wonderful dish for myself, Shawn, and a couple of friends.  At the end of the meal, Shawn admitted she liked venison. 

A few tips before you try one on your own.  First, the standing rib rack was a lot of butchery and knife work for presentation purposes.  But as most of you know I like my presentation, you may replicate this with the whole or a portion of the loin.  As venison is very lean, many people tend to overcook it, medium rare of steaks and chops.  I know that is how I feel about my beef as well, but really, the bad raps venison gets is it is “tough” and that is a direct result of over cooking it.  The other option is low and slow.  This works great for roasts, which is the method I used here.  And for the love god, please quit trying to make it taste like beef or mask the flavors with marinades.  I actually use a chicken stock when doing sauces and braising liquids.  Anyway enjoy….

Butchery

While butchering the deer and it is still hanging, but before you remove the quarters.  Make a slice along the spine the length of the “back strap” The cut should go all the way through to the rips and run as close to the spine as possible.  Now using a saws-all, I prefer the wood blades, cut the rib cage along the sternum from the neck all the way to the bottom of the rib cage.  Then cut the ribs along the spine through the slice you made by the back strap.  Two quick horizontal cuts and the rib rack has been removed and is ready to move into the kitchen.

Clean the meat with a damp paper towel.  There will be bone fragments and possible hair on the meat and nobody wants that.  Using a sturdy utility knife “whittle” away all of the connective tissue on the bones.  This process is known as Frenching and it takes time, practice and patients.  Your knife will suffer.  Make sure you get an edge back on it when complete.

Using a very sharp utility knife and trim up your loin.  This is a simple process of making it look pretty by cutting excess flaps of meat, trimming the ends, and slice off the remaining connective tissues.

 

One Venison Loin

2 Quart of Chicken Stock
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Bottle of Cabernet (If you won’t drink it, don’t use it to cook with)
5-6 Dried Juniper Berries
Corn Bread (See my recipe here)
1 Cup Raw Oysters
3-4 cloves of Garlic
3 Stalks of Celery
2 Large Yellow Onion
1 tbs Corn Starch
Olive Oil
2 sticks of unsalted butter

 

Combine salt, pepper, garlic powder 1:1:2 in a bowl.  Generously rub the loin down with garlic mixture.  In a large hot skillet sear as much of the meat as you can.  If you are doing a standing rack this can be tricky but just use your tongs to turn and hold it.  Now notice I said sear, not cook.  You just need to lightly brown the outside of the meat.  If you are doing the standing rack use string to wrap the loin into a circle or crown if desired.  Use foil to cover the end of the bones to keep them from burning.  Place standing up, using foil for support in your roasting pan.  Deglaze the pan with a ¼ cup of the cabernet.  Pour the deglazing liquids into roasting pan.  Add 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves diced garlic, and 1 chopped celery stick.  Add 3-4 dried juniper berries.  Cover with foil place in 350 degree oven for 1 hour. 

Crumble corn bread into 1 inch chunks and put in a medium sized baking dish.  In a skillet, melt 1 stick of butter, add olive oil, add 2 cloves of minced garlic, diced yellow onion, and finely chopped celery.  Sautee until onions are beginning to be translucent.  Add your oysters, liquor and all.  Sautee for about 2 minute.  Melt your other stick of butter into pan.  Fold into corn bread.  If more moisture is desired add chicken stock.  Place baking dish in 350 degree oven for 20-30 mins.

Pour remaining cabernet, assuming you didn’t drink it all, then open another bottle and pour about half the bottle into a pot.  Add to it the remaining juniper berries.  Put on medium heat and allow to reduce.  About 10 minutes before the loin comes out of the oven, mix 1 tbs of corn starch with about 1/8 cup of water, our into reduced wine.   This will thicken the sauce for presentation.

Serve, enjoy, and await your spouse’s response.