FESTIVE SEASON 2013-2014: Oven-cooked deer with blackberries and red wine sauce

Something different for your Festive table if you are bored of the old classic roast turkey or other poultry. The blackberry sauce is ideal for this kind of game meat and gives extra flavour. Deer is a special kind of meat and it needs a delicate cooking so not to get tough. It's much tastier if it is cooked medium and not well done. *** But, still, if you prefer your meat further cooked it is good to have in mind not to cook it more than 10 extra minutes. A piece of deer (no bone in), for example of 350gr., needs 50 minutes of cooking in the oven at 200°C

Recipe of Dinos Kiousis

"Gastronomos" magazine of "KATHIMERINI" newspaper (2008)





Ingredients (for 6-8 people)

For the meat:
about 2Kg of  deer meat, cut in portions of 300-500gr. each
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in thin slices
1 large leek (both white and green part), cut in thin slices
50gr. of butter (or 4 tbsp of olive oil)
200gr. of brown sugar
black pepper
salt

For the sauce:
1 Spring onion, finely chopped (both white and green part)
200gr. of blackberries, frozen or fresh (or 100gr. of blackberry jam)
125 ml of red sweet wine

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

In a large frying pan warm the butter (or the oil) on medium heat and sauté the meat portions for 1 minute on each side. Transfer with a slotted spoon on a platter and leave aside. *** Keep the fat in the frying pan for later on.

Spread the sugar on a large plate and pass each peace of meat through it to coat on both sides.

Cut large pieces of baking paper (or aluminium foil)- as many as the number of the meat portions you have. Fold each piece in half and lay in the centre a few slices of the sweet potato. Put one piece of meat on top, season with salt and pepper and cover with a few leek slices. Seal the paper as tightly and as carefully as possible because the meat will release plenty of juices which should not escape, they will be needed later for the sauce.

Continue in the same way with the rest of the meat and transfer the packets on a large baking tray. Put in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.

In the meantime, put in a saucepan the wine and the blackberries on medium heat and boil for about 10 minutes.

In the frying pan you prepared the meat in, sauté the Spring onion on medium heat until it starts getting lightly coloured. Add in the pan the wine with the blackberries, allow to bubble for a few seconds, switch off the heat and leave the pan on the cooker ring until the meat is ready.

Take the meat out of the oven and carefully open the packets. With a spoon get the cooking juices off the packets into a bowl and then pour into the saucepan. Simmer the sauce on medium-low heat for 7-8 minutes.

Cut the meat into slices and arrange on a serving platter. Put the sweet potato slices around the meat, pour the sauce over and serve immediately.