Rack of Venison

A community recipe by Edda

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

10-rib rack of venison in a simple marinade, one of those low-effort-big-result dishes.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

Metric Cups

1½ kilograms rack of venison (approximately, it's a 10 rib piece)
2 sticks celery
1 onion
300 millilitres red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon as that's what I had left over from the day before)
2 red wine (extra, for the sauce)
1 splash of light soy sauce (around 3-5 tablespoons)
pepper (a good grinding)
vegetable oil (a slug of)
½ lemon (zest of)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
150 millilitres game stock (store-bought, 'fond')
arrowroot (enough to thicken the sauce to your taste)
½ tablespoon herbs de provence (dried)
1 sprig thyme

3⅓ pounds rack of venison (approximately, it's a 10 rib piece)
2 sticks celery
1 onion
10½ fluid ounces red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon as that's what I had left over from the day before)
2 red wine (extra, for the sauce)
1 splash of light soy sauce (around 3-5 tablespoons)
pepper (a good grinding)
vegetable oil (a slug of)
½ lemon (zest of)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
5¼ fluid ounces game broth (store-bought, 'fond')
arrowroot (enough to thicken the sauce to your taste)
½ tablespoon herbs de provence (dried)
1 sprig thyme

Method

Rack of Venison is a community recipe submitted by Edda and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Ask your butcher to carve the rack so it has those fancy bare bone bits sticking out. No use finicking about with a knife for hours and getting all flustered when someone else can do the work for you. Allow the meat to come to room temperature.

Cut the onion and the celery into small cubes. Place the rack, the finely cut veg, the soy sauce, the oil, wine, herbs and spices in a plastic bag and mush around for a bit so that not only the ingredients for the marinade mix well, but they penetrate into the meat a bit. Close the bag, set it into a dish or tray and place in the fridge for a couple of hours. I did this just after breakfast (8am-ish) and took the meat out of the fridge and marinade half an hour before searing it (5pm-ish).

Preheat your oven to 220Â°C.

Discard the marinade, pat the meat dry and heat a pan with some good cooking oil or butter, as you prefer. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown it on all sides. Grease an ovenproof dish so you get no nasty surprises when taking your lovely rack out of the oven. Once the meat is browned, place it in the dish and slide it in the oven. Forget about it for a good 20 minutes while you concentrate on other things...

Take the meat out of the oven and cover it with tin foil. Allow it to rest for a good 15 minutes before carving. After about 10 minutes' resting, pour off any juices that have run out of the meat and add them to the game stock you stylishly poured out of a jar into a pan. Add a sprig of thyme if you like, plus a couple of tablespoons of wine. Heat all this until it bubbles, then thicken with arrowroot until you get the consistency you like (some like thick sauce-type gravy, some like more liquid gravy...). Season to taste. The stock I used was really high quality so I didn't really need to add a lot more than salt and pepper.

Bring the rack to the table, collect your "Ooooh's" and "Aaaaah's" and cut it with a flourish, as if you were the most accomplished chef in the world. Serve with the gravy, some veg of your choice (braised endives are nice, or Brussels Sprouts), maybe some mash. Enjoy!

Preheat your oven to 220Â°C.

Take the meat out of the oven and cover it with tin foil. Allow it to rest for a good 15 minutes before carving. After about 10 minutes' resting, pour off any juices that have run out of the meat and add them to the game broth you stylishly poured out of a jar into a pan. Add a sprig of thyme if you like, plus a couple of tablespoons of wine. Heat all this until it bubbles, then thicken with arrowroot until you get the consistency you like (some like thick sauce-type gravy, some like more liquid gravy...). Season to taste. The stock I used was really high quality so I didn't really need to add a lot more than salt and pepper.