Venison Paprikás
I love hunting - but I have had a heck of a time finding good recipes to put the meat to good use besides the steaks! Many I found started with a can of cream of mushroom soup or a bottle of ketchup.. uh... no... homey don't play that.
Also not into the pounding / deep frying etc since we're into healthy eating, and this is about as organic as God makes it.
My mom, wife and mother-in-law are all awesome cooks - and I was spoiled something fierce growing up (operative word there... growing) so needed something different to prepare the game in the freezer.
My mother-in-law cooks wonderful Hungarian food and I thought it should be a great way to serve up some venison.
Venison Paprikás
- 1 1/2 Lbs Venison roast, cubed into 1" pieces
- 3 C beef stock and maybe a little red wine
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 Onion, diced
- 1-2 Anaheim / yellow wax pepper (I used one of each)
- 2+ garlic cloves
- 1/3 C. Paprika (not a typo :-) )
- 1-2+ Tbsp. hot paprika (depending on your taste, but it can be potent)
- 1/2 C. Regular sour cream
- Salt & Pepper to taste
If you need help figuring out how to use a 'little' wine in your cooking, please RTM:
Woooooo, boy, I gaurrrannttee! You'll love it, so let's get started right quick here now:
Heat a dutch oven on the stove with a 1/4" of oil on medium heat
Dredge your venison in a plastic bag with flour mixed with salt, pepper, and a bit of paprika. Shake off the excess or else it will burn in the oil.
Lay a few pieces, in order in the pot to brown a bit on the ends. Turn after 30 seconds or so. You know you don't want to overcook it else it turns tough. If you lay it in the pot in order, you'll keep even browning time on the meat. Put the meat aside and cook in batches so you don't overcrowd and steam the meat instead of browning it. It should have a little blood seeping through after you're done. See that nice piece with the bone in it? Dibs!
Clean the pot up a bit to make sure you don't have burnt flour in the oil. Get back on the stove on medium-low heat, add oil and cook your onions, garlic, and peppers and let it sweat down for a few minutes (don't brown it). Pull the pot off the stove then add your paprika (yes, 1/3C.!!), hot paprika (I like it hot so used about 2 Tbsp) and add a little salt and pepper. If you're using beef stock instead of water like I've done here, don't add too much salt as the stock is pretty salty (I used beef base from Sam's club to prepare 3C. worth).
Return the meat to the pot and toss to coat for a couple minutes.
Add stock, caraway, and a couple / three bay leaves.
I put it in the oven at 300' for an hour or two or whatnot.. had to take the kids grocery shopping for sour cream and caraway that I forgot to get, so I wasn't paying much attention. The temperature you're looking for is where you get a gentle simmer; teeny-tiny bubbles, not boiling wildly If you're nice and relaxed about it you will have a better time and can relax a bit when you're cooking... and then finish off a little of that wine if you added it also. I didn't... I was flying by the seat of my pants chasing down my three kids while trying not to burn the paprikas.
Optional:
An hour or so into the cooking you can add some Hungarian tarhonya noondles (I found them in the international section of our grocery store here in Springfield, MO none-the-less!). Toast a cup of it first in some olive oil or butter and then add it to the liquid to help thicken the sauce a bit more. I didn't this time - I used sour cream.
Check for salt and pepper, and the pop-up thermometer for doneness (can you find it??)
Optional:
An hour or so into the cooking you can add some Hungarian tarhonya noondles (I found them in the international section of our grocery store here in Springfield, MO none-the-less!). Toast a cup of it first in some olive oil or butter and then add it to the liquid to help thicken the sauce a bit more. I didn't this time - I used sour cream.
Check for salt and pepper, and the pop-up thermometer for doneness (can you find it??)
Take some of the stock aside and mix in some sour cream to thicken it a bit. If you add it to the pot it will probably break because of the heat and will curdle on you (gross).
Stir it into the liquid and then mix it back into the main pot.
I cheated a little bit and used a Chinese cooking technique. I pulled a little liquid aside and mixed in about 2tsp. of corn starch to mix it well, and then added it back to the pot. It does help thicken it a bit (non-traditional) to avoid using so much sour cream. Don't use too much, a little goes a long way and it won't be fully 'starched' until it comes to a *gentle* boil (don't break that sour cream). Actually, if you're going to do this, add the starch first then see if it's thick enough to your liking, then add your sour cream.
Check for salt and pepper and eat.
Can serve with spetzle, rice, mashed potatoes, a nice rustic crusty bread, etc. If you used the tarhonya above you can still eat it with a starch to help sop up the gravy. I served it with a dollop of sour cream on top of a bowl of tarhonya. My favorite way to eat is is with spatzle, but that's tough for one person to make, it's a two person job unless you have made spatzle-fu skills. Bon appetite! I hope you try it out and if you have any questions, I'll do my best to pester my mother-in-law to help fix it. I hope you'll keep your roasts intact next time you a processing your deer rather than grinding it into burger and try this way out. After it's cooked, you can freeze it and save some for later, but my son (2 years old..) ate so much, there won't be many left-overs!
