Recipe by Zane Dearien, Executive Chef of Bowood by Niche
Venison Shank Recipe
This braised venison shank recipe looks absolutely incredible. And it sounds fancy, which usually means its difficult to cook, but Chef Zane promises that it's an easy dish to make. He says the hardest part is waiting!
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 ea VENISON SHANKS
¼ cup OLIVE OIL
2 PURPLE PLUMS, quartered
2 APPLES (your favorite), quartered
1 YELLOW ONIONS, quartered
1 ORANGE, thinly sliced
1 GRAPEFRUIT, thinly sliced
1 LEMON, thinly sliced
5 GARLIC CLOVES, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon FENNEL SEED
1 tablespoon CORRIANDER SEED
5 ALL SPICE BERRIES
5 DRIED GUAJILLO PEPPERS
3 bunches FRESH THYME SPRIGS
5 BAY LEAVES
28 oz can CRUSHED TOMATOES
2 tablespoons TOMATO PASTE
3 tablespoons MISO PASTE
16 oz PORT WINE
32 oz VEGETABLE STOCK
PROCESS:
- Preheat the oven to 300 F
- Season the Venison shanks heavily with kosher salt and let come up to room temp about 30 minutes.
- Bring a Dutch oven or a large pot to medium heat.
- Sear the Venison shanks on all sides until they are nicely browned.
- Remove the seared shanks and set aside. In the same pot add the vegetables, herbs, miso paste, tomato paste and spices. Let these sweat out and cook until caramelized.
- Deglazed with the port wine scrapping all of that delicious fond off the bottom of the pot and let the port reduce by half. This will cook off the alcohol and add a depth of sweetness to the Venison braise.
- Add the crushed tomatoes with the juices and let simmer until the sauce thickens up stirring so that it doesn’t burn. This should take about 5-8 minutes.
- Add the Venison Shanks back to the pot.
- Add the stock to the pot so that the liquid comes ¾ of the way up the shanks and bring to med heat until simmering. Stir the shanks around to cover in liquid put the lid on and place in the oven on the middle or lower rack.
- Braise for 2 hours and check for doneness. You want it to be tender but not falling off of the bone. The meat should pull easily and be fork tender. If it is not quite done after two hours check every 15 minutes until done.
- Remove from the oven, pull the shanks out and strain off the liquid.
- Put the liquid back into the pot and reduce by half to make a delicious sauce for the shanks.
- Serve the shank over a bed of mashed potatoes or anything you would like. I like to add large carrots and parsnips to mine peeled and left whole when braising the meat and use that as my side dish.
