Fun with venison stock?

[Chad]

One of the better finds at this weekend's farmer's market was frozen venison bones. Being an adventurous soul, I bought a couple of pounds, roasted them and made stock. I also tossed in the carcass of a chicken I had roasted earlier in the morning. The smell of the roasted venison bones was amazing, very meaty and spicy. I've cooked venison a couple of times but have never smelled anything like this. Interestingly, there was a lot more surface scum scudding about than usual. It was hard to skim it all.

So, I've got about 3 quarts of slightly cloudy stock and find myself running short of ideas. What can I do with it? Obviously I'm thinking soup -- possibly some sort of beef & barley, but what else? Is there anything that just screams out for venison stock?

Thanks,

Chad

[guajolote]

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Lucky you, did they also have venison (meat)? How much for the bones? Where's the market?

[Lyle]

It always goes well with venison.

Sorry, I had to.

But do you have a good source for medallions? Venison, that is.

[Chad]

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Lucky you, did they also have venison (meat)? How much for the bones? Where's the market?

Hmmm, risotto sounds good. I have a bunch of dried mushrooms hanging around in the pantry (sampler pack from Earthy Delights, a very nifty site, by the way).

Yup, they had plenty of venison, all from farm-raised fallow deer, apparently a European variety of deer. I hadn't heard of it before. The bones were sold in a cryovac package labeled "Soup Bones." The package weighed about 3 pounds and was priced just under $5. Lots of meat surrounding the bones, too. An added bonus for the stock.

The market was in the parking lot of the Agricultural Extension office in Wichita, KS. It's not huge, but everything is fresh and locally grown. The farm-raised chicken I bought to roast was excellent as were the sweet onions and the tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes. I can't wait for corn to come into season.

Chad

[Carolyn Tillie]

Living here in California, it is far easier to get game birds than game mammals (cheap, anyway). Subsequently, I have a good friend in Nebraska who sends me 30 to 50 pounds of venison two or three times a year (basically, when his brother goes hunting). Sadly, because of the expense of shipping, I've never been able to get bones which I would dearly love to get.

Why?

Consomme.

If you really want to do something special with your venison stock, spend the time to turn it into a rich, elegrant consomme. With that you could add a splash of cognac or brandy and a sliver of a wild mushroom. Also, once made, you could freeze it for later use.

[Chef Fowke]

AAAAHHH, for once it is good to be Canadian!

Glace de Gibier.

I use it in everything. It is so rich and when done properly does not have a gamey taste. It is important not to add any alcohol when making the stock. You need to treat it like a lamb stock. When reducing it down to a glace you need to pace it through cheesecloth and chill it every 1/6 in reduction to eliminate bitterness.

I used it this fall for a monkfish osso bucco...it was absolutely amazing!

[paul o' vendange]

Chef Fowke, I have always just gone straight through to glace; could you describe the cheesecloth procedure, and the reasoning behind the chilling intervals?

[Chef Fowke]

Not to get to scientific;

1} There is two types of fat in venison that melt at different temperatures. You want to chill the stock to set the fat, slowly heat it up and skim the fat and purities away to create a clear stock that is not bitter.

2} The cheesecloth filters out and suspended particles that when cooked for a long period of time will become bitter. As well you want the stock to be thickened with the natural thickening agents of the marrow, not with suspended particles.

[paul o' vendange]

Chef Fowke -

I am not aware of the 2 types of fat, but I see we are talking of the same thing, essentially - I make demi-glace over a three day period, and whether using a traditional roux (no longer do this) or a reduction based demi-glace, I chill in the interval and skim any fat or particulate; and bring back to simmer each time over the course of 1-2 hours. Skim religiously, then ladle gently through both china cap and then chinoise. Similar method for meat glace.

I thought maybe you were talking about periods during a given day of chilling down...as in when I make any herbal oil, I will chill if needs be during maceration so as not to denature any (desired) volatiles due to heat.

Thanks for the reply...

Edited June 24, 2003 by paul o' vendange (log)