23 December 2011

"Bernard Dutka's Venison Roast"

Bernie Dutka was a friend of Gramp's and he mentored me through my formative years as an angler and hunter. He also passed along an excellent Polish heritage recipe for roast venison--shown here for elk. I suppose you could use it for pork or beef too ;-)

1. Shoot one deer or elk.
2. In butchering, cut out one large rump roast.
3. Crush garlic cloves, mix with an equal amount of fresh, coarsely ground black pepper, and add enough olive oil to make a thick paste.  It will take about 6 large garlic cloves for a 6 pound elk roast.
4. Use the end of a wooden spoon or a chopstick to stuff the mixture into each slot:

5. Use a syringe to inject red wine into each slot:

6. Rub any remaining mixture and wine over the surface of the roast. Cover and allow to marinade in a cool location for a day or two.
7. Heat oven to 450 deg F, roast uncovered for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250 deg F, cover (I like to use a roasting bag for larger roasts, and a Dutch Oven for smaller ones), and cook until done.
 8. If desired, add parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, potatoes and other root crops when there is about 1.5-2 hours of cooking time remaining.
9. I like to stop when internal temperature reaches 130-135 def F ("rare"), which takes about 3.5 hours. Remove promptly from oven as meat will continue cooking for some time. Save the juices for au jus or gravy.
10. Slice:

11. Serve au jus (or use it to make gravy) with horseradish and enjoy! Leftovers make great sandwiches.

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