When the grey skies of December finally set in on us here in South Texas, bucks have their noses to the ground and there’s no better time to be sitting out in the woods. Now is the time to put in the hours if you’re still chasing your dream buck, because the chances of him slipping up are getting better by the minute. Although these are some of the most exciting times of the season, they can also be some of the most exhausting. And, after a long day of hunting, there’s nothing better than getting back to camp and smelling a meal that’s been simmering away for hours while you were out in the blind.
I’d argue that a dutch oven is one of the most useful items to keep in your camp kitchen. These pots are great for frying, perfect for chilli and amazing for slowly cooking one-pot meals, like this one. Start a meal on the stove, cover and transfer it into the oven to finish cooking, it doesn’t get much easier than that!
Generally speaking, venison shanks don’t have a reputation for being tender. Most times, they end up being ground into hamburger or thrown into the sausage pile. Season after season I would do this and never thought twice about it. But one day, as I sat there thinking about making Osso Buco, an iconic Italian dish which uses veal shanks, the idea to braise whole venison shanks came to me. So, I broke out the dutch oven and got to work on a new recipe. I promise that if you slowly braise them like this, you might never grind them into hamburger again.
Ingredients:
2 whole venison shanks
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 3 inch long pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
1 tablespoon of Herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
2 cups of beef broth
2 cups of red wine
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of chopped parsley, to garnish
1 cup of water
Salt & pepper
Start off by preheating your oven to 325F. On the stove, place your dutch oven over a high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Season the venison shanks heavily with salt and pepper and place into the dutch oven once the oil is hot.
After the shanks are browned on all sides, remove and place into a bowl to hold while you start the next step.
In the same pot, lower the heat to medium and add the onions, celery, diced carrot and garlic. Cook for roughly 6-8 minutes or until the vegetables become soft, stirring often.
At this point, add the Herbes de Provence, tomato paste and flour. Cook for 1 minute.
The flour will act as a thickening agent and will soak up any of the remaining oil. Now is the time to deglaze the pot. Add the beef broth, red wine and water and scrape the bottom of the pot to release any bits of vegetables or meat that might have become stuck. Once you’ve done this, add the tomatoes and increase the heat to high to bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, return the venison shanks to the dutch oven and ensure that they’re covered with liquid. If you need to add more liquid, add more beef broth or wine. Cover and place in the pre-heated oven for 3 hours.
When you have about 10 minutes to go, add the sliced carrots to the pot, cover and place back into the oven to finish.
Serve each venison shank on a bed of mashed potatoes and finish by ladling over the braising liquid and top with chopped parsley.
