Use leftover Stew meat to make Venison Saag.
By: Jack Hennessy
Phot Credit: Jack Hennessy
Description:
I was once gifted a garbage bag of freezer-burnt venison. Caked in frost and bleached from dehydration, the frozen boulder of meat looked more like a giant tumor, not game one would eat. Nevertheless, I had a plan for turning that garbage bag into gourmet.
A big aspect of Indian cuisine, aside from its eclectic spices, is often its slow-braise method of cooking, sometimes preceded by marinating meat in a yogurt base. Because yogurt is a mild acid, it will aid in denaturing meat. A braise will further tenderize meat and in the case of game in less-than-ideal condition, these two methods, when combined, can turn that package of stew meat at the bottom of your freezer into a dish that will instantly rise to the top and become a family favorite.
You can make this dish with any red meat, regardless of its condition. If you are dealing with freezer-burnt meat, I always recommend using a fillet knife while the meat is still mostly frozen and trimming off very thin slivers of dehydrated meat. From there, this recipe will do the rest of the work and you’ll serve up something incredible you would have never thought possible based on the game’s prior condition.
Overall, this dish is a little more involved than most of my wild-game recipes, but I promise it’s worth the effort. I would suggest making a large batch, which requires at least 2 pounds of venison. By doing so, you’ll be able to feed more people or have leftovers for a couple days.
Ingredients: (Six Servings)
- 2 pounds venison stew meat, trimmed of silver skin and fascia
- Marinade:
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 ounces fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 teaspoons of kosher salt
Sauce:
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 ounces fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- Sunflower oil (mixed use)
- 2 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 20 ounces fresh spinach, blanched and pureed
- 16 ounces fresh mustard leaves, blanched and blended
- 2 poblanos, roasted, seeded, skin peeled and blended
- 2 tablespoons Kasoori methi (sun-dried fenugreek leaves)
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon (or more) of water to turn cornstarch into slurry
- 4 cups basmati rice
- 5-1/2 cups cold water
- Naan bread
- Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish, optional)
Cooking Instructions:
Trim all venison of silver skin and fascia and cut into approximate 1-inch-by-1-inch chunks. In a food processor, thoroughly blend all marinade ingredients other than yogurt. Add thoroughly blended marinade mix to yogurt and stir in, mixing well. Add venison chunks to marinade and marinate overnight.
When ready to cook, heat a thin layer of sunflower oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat.
In a food processor, blend 1 medium yellow onion, chopped; 2 ounces fresh ginger, chopped; 1 tablespoon garam masala; 1 tablespoon brown sugar; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric; and 1/2 teaspoon cumin; until onion and ginger are finely minced and entire mix is basically a paste.
Add paste mix to Dutch oven and stir for 5 minutes to brown.
Do not clean the food processor.
Add 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic along with 2 tablespoons salted butter to the Dutch oven.
Stir for a couple minutes then add 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup of chicken stock. Set heat to medium-low and allow to reduce for 20 minutes.
To prepare roasted poblanos, rub poblano peppers with a light coating of sunflower oil and roast at 400 for 15 minutes or until peppers are slightly charred and skin is loose.
Remove and immediately place in a bowl and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a half hour so peppers can sweat and skin can loosen further. Once sweated, remove seeds and stems and peel off skin. Save to add to food processor with mustard leaves. Turn your oven down to 300.
While liquids reduce, in a separate pot, bring a pot of water to a boil. After liquids have reduced for 20 minutes, add 16 ounces mustard leaves (three bunches should be correct, minus stems) to boiling water, dip briefly, then add to a colander with ice to properly blanch leaves. Once mustard leaves are blanched, add them to the same food processor used to blend spices and pulse several times. (Make sure to drain of any water prior to adding to the food processor.) Also add peeled poblano peppers.
Do not puree completely.
Add food processor contents to the Dutch oven and stir in. With the spinach leaves, follow the same processing of blanching—quick dip in boiling water followed by ice bath in colander (after draining). Puree spinach leaves entirely and add to the Dutch oven and stir in. Add 2 tablespoons of Kasoori methi and stir in.
To cook venison, heat a thin layer of sunflower oil (or similar cooking oil) in large (preferably cast-iron) skillet oil on medium heat. Remove venison chunks directly from marinade (do not rinse) and add to skillet. Do not crowd skillet. Sear all sides then add chunks immediately to the Dutch oven. You will likely need to sear venison in several phases. Add more sunflower oil as necessary. Err on side of under-searing versus over-searing to avoid burning.
Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Once all venison is seared and placed into the Dutch oven, cover the Dutch oven and add to your pre-heated oven.
Stir every half hour.
Add more chicken stock if it looks to be drying out.
After 2 hours, check for tenderness. If you can fork apart venison chunks, you are done. Tougher stew meat from front quarter or neck, for example, may require upwards of 3 hours in a 300-degree oven.
Once the venison is fork tender, remove the Dutch oven and leave atop the stove, lid on.
To make the rice, add 4 cuts to a large saucepan or pot along with 5-1/2 cups cold water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and allow rice to absorb rest of water. Once water is fully absorbed, turn off heat (should take approximately 10-15 minutes).
To finish Saag, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with enough water to turn it into a paste. Stir that slurry into the sauce in the Dutch oven. To serve, serve rice with Saag sauce along with warm naan bread. Top with chopped fresh cilantro (optional).
Any questions or comments, please reach out on Instagram: @WildGameJack
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Jack Hennessy @WildGameJack
Jack Hennessy grew up south of Chicago, started hunting at the age of 26 when attending graduate school in Spokane, Washington. Since then he has combined his love of cooking with the outdoors. He lives in south-central Kansas where he hunts whitetails and chases roosters with his Wirehaired Vizsla, Dudley.