Roast Haunch of Venison on the Bone

Serves 3 to 6 dependant on size of haunch

Ingredients

Venison haunch of small to medium size deer

Organic or high welfare pork fat

1 - 2 white onions

4 cloves of garlic

3 - 4 bay leaves

A few large sprigs of fresh rosemary

Crushed juniper and dried orange or lemon

Salt and black pepper

For The Gravy

The juice from the roasting pan

1/2 glass of red wine

A couple of stock cubes

A small amount of spelt flour

There is something about cooking large pieces of meat that is not only satisfying it delivers a taste that differs greatly to the broken down version of the cut. Don't get me wrong, all of the small and diverse cuts of meat you can create are excellent in their own right. I just simply feel that there is something quite primal about cooking and eating a large cut of meat. The haunch is the largest part of the ‘primal’ cuts and it is important to understand what the haunch comprises of if you are willing to butcher this section down furthar. The rear leg of a deer can be broken down into 3 sections. The bottom of the leg is known as the shank, the middle of the leg is simply called the leg and the top of the leg is known as the rump. The rump and leg can be broken down further into the sirloin, top round and bottom round. The majority of butchers will cut these sections into steaks or small roasting joints. It is the middle and top of the rear leg that make up the haunch.

I get asked from time to time how to cook a haunch of venison and I always get the feeling that the enquirer feels that there is some kind of mystery behind this method. The majority of people asking this seem to have acquired this large and sometimes over bearing cut of meat from a charitable deer stalker or hunter. Cooking a venison haunch is pretty straight forward, there are just a few simple rules and if you follow these you will end up with the most magnificent of feasts. Remember, this is quite a tender area of the animal and requires less cooking time than you would think at a reasonably high temperature.

Recipe

The photo of the haunch used in this recipe is from a young fallow buck I shot in a large working woodland in East Sussex.

When roasting I like to create a vegetable bed to lay the meat on. This prevents burning of the bottom of the tin. Firstly I thickly slice the onion and lay it on the bottom of a roasting tin then cover the onion in slices of pork fat*. I then slice two of the garlic cloves into sticks and cut small slits over the haunch, placing the garlic in the slits. I cover the haunch with the slices of pork fat, ground juniper, ground orange peel, salt and black pepper, the fresh rosemary and bay leaves then place onto the bed of onions. Using a lid on the roasting tin is key to keeping the haunch from drying and preserving the meat juices. I cook the haunch in a Rayburn at 220° / 430°F for 20 minutes per kg / 2.1 lbs then add an extra 15 minutes at the end of the cooking time. After removing from the Rayburn I let the haunch rest for 20 minutes with the lid on. The meat does not want to be overcooked, it should be tender to the cut and pink inside.

For the gravy, I pour off the fat into a pan along with a few stock cubes and a half glass of red wine. I heat this gently. To thicken the gravy I like to add a little spelt flour. To do this I take a few spoons of flour and mix slowly into a paste with some cold water and then add as desired to the pan. Ease the gravy off the heat and it should slowly start to thicken

*I purchased the pork fat from my good friends at Townings Farm who raise rare breed livestock and graze conservation designated land.