Battle Creek Venison Goulash

I used a kilo of Venison cuts from Battle Creek Produce, purveyor of Venison Cuts, Venison Wors and Venison Patties.

A Hungarian Goulash includes usually only three ingredients, onions, paprika and venison.

I have filled out the recipe a bit to add more flavour. If you don’t have access to venison, beef, lamb or pork will do as well for this dish.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs Rio Largo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  1 kg Venison cut into pieces, with bone
  4 large onions [500g], sliced or finely chopped
  2 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped
  1 large carrot [125g], chopped into little dice
  1 stick celery, chopped into little dice

Spice Mix

• 2 Tbs Paprika [you can use Sweet Smoked Paprika]
• ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp muscovado sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cumin

• 1 tomato, red and ripe, peeled and chopped
• 125ml red wine
• 300ml NOMU beef stock
• 1 Tbs Tomato Paste
• Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
• Fresh Parsley and Ina Paarman’s roasted red peppers for a garnish

Instructions

1. Set the oven at 160C, with the shelf in the middle. In a medium-sized cast iron enamel casserole, over medium to low heat, heat the olive oil and in it, brown the venison pieces and set aside on a plate to catch any juices which will go into the casserole.
2. Then, slowly fry the onion, with a light sprinkling of salt to extract the moisture. Do not hurry this, it is important for the onion to release its water and for the sugar in it to start caramelising. When the onion is soft and turning golden brown, add the garlic and continue to stir fry for a while. Toss in the spices and stir fry for a while.
3. Add the tomato, red wine, beef stock, tomato paste, and finally the venison. Bring to the boil. Season well and push the meat under the surface of the liquid.
4. Cut a cartouche of kitchen paper using the lid of the casserole as a guide, scrunch it up and run it under a cold-water tap.
5. Place the cartouche of paper on the surface. Braise in the oven for 3 hours. Watch the level of the liquid and add more stock or water if required.
6. When the meat is soft and the sauce somewhat reduced, check for seasoning. You may need to give it a bit more time in the oven.
7. Dish onto a platter and garnish with chopped parsley and the vinaigrette marinated red peppers.