Dyresteg med Vildtsauce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy roasting pan or large ovenproof frying pan
• •Meat thermometer
• •Kitchen twine
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Sharp carving knife
• •Warm serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the venison

   Take the venison out of the fridge a full hour before you begin. Cold meat in a hot oven seizes. The muscle fibres contract and squeeze out all the juice before the heat can reach the centre. Room temperature meat relaxes into the heat and cooks evenly. While it comes to temperature, rub the surface all over with coarse sea salt and the freshly ground pepper. Press the cold-cracked juniper berries into the meat. To crack them, press the flat of a heavy knife against them until they split. You want them open, not powdered. Whole berries roll off the meat and do nothing. Cracked berries release their resinous, piney oil directly into the surface.

   Cold-crack the juniper berries one at a time under the flat of your knife. You'll smell them the moment they split: dark, resinous, a little like a pine forest after rain. That's the scent that belongs on venison.
2. 2

   Bard with bacon

   Lay the bacon slices across the top and sides of the venison, overlapping each one slightly so the surface is covered. Tie them in place with kitchen twine at roughly three centimetre intervals. Don't skip this. Venison is one of the leanest meats you'll ever cook, and lean meat dries out in the oven without protection. The bacon does two things: it bastes the roast as its fat renders, and it shields the surface from direct heat so the meat stays rosa, pink and juicy, through to the last slice. Tuck the thyme sprigs and bay leaves under the twine so they sit against the bacon.

   If your butcher has back fat or caul fat, you can use those instead of bacon. The principle is the same: a layer of fat between the meat and the heat. Bacon is easier to find and gives the sauce a faint smokiness that works beautifully with the juniper.
3. 3

   Sear the roast

   Heat the oven to 160°C. While it warms, set a heavy roasting pan or ovenproof frying pan over a high heat on the hob. Add the butter and oil together. Butter alone would burn at this temperature. Oil alone gives no flavour. Together they let you sear at high heat with the richness of browned butter underneath. When the butter foams and the foam begins to subside, lay the venison in bacon-side down. Sear for two minutes, then turn and sear all sides until the bacon is golden and the edges of the meat have coloured. This is not optional. The sear creates the fond, the dark, sticky residue on the bottom of the pan, and the fond is where your sauce begins.

4. 4

   Build the roasting bed

   Scatter the chopped carrot, onion, and celery around the venison in the pan. These vegetables aren't for eating. They're for the sauce. As they roast alongside the meat, they caramelise and release their sugars into the pan juices, giving the vildtsauce its depth and sweetness. Pour about 100ml of the stock into the bottom of the pan. This creates steam in the first stage of roasting that keeps the oven moist and prevents the drippings from burning.

5. 5

   Roast slowly

   Place the pan in the oven and roast at 160°C. For a 1.5kg piece, this will take roughly one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes to reach rosa, the blushing pink centre that venison demands. Use a meat thermometer. Pull the roast at 55°C internal temperature. Not 60, not 65. At 55°C, the carry-over heat during resting will bring it to a perfect 60°C, which is medium-rare. Venison cooked beyond medium loses its character entirely. It becomes dry and livery, and no sauce can rescue it.

   Check the temperature after forty-five minutes. Every oven runs differently, and the shape of the cut matters. A long, narrow saddle cooks faster than a thick, round leg piece. The thermometer is your most honest kitchen tool. Trust it.
6. 6

   Rest the meat

   When the venison reaches 55°C, lift it out of the pan and set it on a warm board. Cover it loosely with foil and a clean tea towel over the top. Let it rest for at least twenty minutes. This is not idle time. While the meat rests, the muscle fibres relax and reabsorb the juices that were driven to the centre by the heat. If you cut too soon, those juices run out across the board and the meat is dry. If you wait, they stay inside every slice. The resting is where the roast finishes cooking itself. Leave the roasting pan and its contents on the hob. The sauce happens next.

7. 7

   Build the vildtsauce

   Set the roasting pan over a medium heat. Add the red wine or port and let it bubble, scraping up every bit of fond from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. That dark residue is concentrated flavour. Let the wine reduce by half, about two minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables in the pan and stir for one minute. The flour cooks into the fat and gives the sauce its body without making it heavy. Pour in the remaining stock, stirring constantly. Let it simmer for five minutes, pressing the vegetables gently to release their juices.

   If you have the bones from the venison, roast them and make your own stock. There is no bought stock that matches the depth of one made from the bones of the animal you're cooking. Even a quick stock, bones simmered for two hours with an onion and a bay leaf, is better than anything from a carton.
8. 8

   Finish the sauce

   Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing the vegetables firmly to extract everything. Discard the solids. Bring the strained sauce back to a gentle simmer and stir in the cream. Let it cook for three minutes until it thickens slightly and turns a warm, tawny brown. Now add the ribsgele, one tablespoon at a time, tasting after each addition. Real ribsgele, not jam. Jam has pectin and too much sugar and it turns the sauce sticky. Ribsgele dissolves cleanly, adding a bright tartness that cuts through the cream and the richness of the game. You'll know when it's right: the sauce should taste deep and savoury first, then sweet-sharp at the finish. Season with fine salt. Add any juices that have collected under the resting venison. They belong in the sauce.

   The balance between cream and ribsgele is what makes vildtsauce. Too much cream and it's bland. Too much redcurrant and it's a dessert sauce. Add the ribsgele gradually and taste. Your palate is the final judge.
9. 9

   Carve and serve

   Remove the twine and the bacon from the rested venison. The bacon has done its work. You can serve it alongside if you like, crisped under the grill for a minute, or set it aside. Carve the venison into slices just under a centimetre thick, cutting against the grain. The meat should be rosa through the centre, deeply browned on the outside. Arrange the slices on a warm serving platter and pour a little of the hot vildtsauce over the top, enough to glaze, not to drown. Serve the rest of the sauce in a warm jug alongside. Brunede kartofler and a crisp Waldorf salad are the traditional companions. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Use real ribsgele, not strawberry jam, not mixed berry preserves. Ribsgele is made from redcurrants and sugar, nothing else. It dissolves into a sauce like butter dissolves into warm bread. Jam has pectin and pulp and it makes the sauce cloudy and sticky. This one detail separates a good vildtsauce from a forgettable one.
• •Venison should be rosa. Medium-rare, 60°C after resting. If you're nervous about undercooking, buy a meat thermometer. It costs less than the venison and it tells you the truth. Overcooked venison is dry and livery, and there is no coming back from it.
• •Cold-crack the juniper berries, don't grind them. You want rough, aromatic pieces that press into the surface and release their oil slowly during roasting. Ground juniper turns to dust and tastes of nothing by the time the meat comes out.
• •If you can't find venison, this preparation works beautifully with a good beef fillet. The Danes call it oksesteg som vildt, beef cooked as if it were game. The sauce is the same, the technique is the same, and nobody at the table will be disappointed.
• •Serve a Waldorf salad alongside. The crunch of celery and apple and the creaminess of the dressing against the richness of the meat and sauce is the reason this pairing has survived over a century. It is not a side dish. It is part of the architecture of the meal.

Advance Preparation

• •Season and bard the venison up to twelve hours ahead. Keep it covered in the fridge and bring it to room temperature a full hour before roasting.
• •The sauce base can be made in advance: sear the meat, roast the vegetables, deglaze, and strain. Refrigerate the strained stock. When the venison is resting, reheat the base and finish with cream and ribsgele. This makes the final minutes before serving much calmer.
• •Brunede kartofler and Waldorf salad can both be prepared while the meat rests. Twenty minutes is enough time for both if your potatoes are already boiled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)