Cervo in SalmìVenison Salmì

Marinate the venison and vegetables in red wine

• 1 Trim connective tissue and silverskin from 600 g venison shoulder with a knife and cut into 4–5 cm cubes.
• 2 Divide 1 yellow onion (150 g) in half. Cut half (75 g) into wedges 1.5 cm wide and stud with 3 cloves; roughly chop the remaining half, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• 3 Divide 1 carrot (120 g) in half; cut half into 1 cm thick rounds and roughly chop the other half. Remove strings from 1 celery stalk (80 g) with a peeler, cut half into 3 cm chunks and roughly chop half. Refrigerate the chopped vegetables with the chopped onion.
• 4 Peel 2 garlic cloves and lightly crush with the flat of a knife. Likewise crush 12 juniper berries and 10 black peppercorns to release their aroma; put the crushed juniper and peppercorns in an infusion bag and tie it shut.
• 5 In a deep stainless-steel or glass bowl, combine venison, clove-studded onion wedges, carrot rounds, celery chunks, garlic, spice bag, 2 bay leaves, 1 rosemary sprig, 4 sage leaves and 1 cinnamon stick broken into 3 cm lengths.
• 6 Pour in 750 ml full-bodied red wine so all the meat is submerged.
• 7 Press plastic wrap onto the liquid surface, then cover the entire bowl as well.

Marinate for 24 hours

• 1 Put the bowl on the coldest refrigerator shelf and leave for 24 hours.
• 2 Every 6–8 hours, use clean tongs to turn the meat so that it contacts the wine evenly.

Boil and clarify the marinade

• 1 Meanwhile(While the marinade boils.) Rinse 60 g venison liver under running water, trim away white sinews and blood-rich patches, roughly chop, cover in a small bowl and return to the refrigerator.
• 2 Strain the bowl’s contents through a colander, separating the marinade from the solids.
• 3 Sandwich the meat between paper towels and dry its surface completely. Arrange on a tray, sprinkle all over with 1/2 tsp coarse salt and refrigerate until just before searing.
• 4 From the solids, reserve the clove-studded onion, garlic, spice bag, bay leaves, rosemary, sage and cinnamon on a small plate. Discard the carrot rounds and celery chunks, which have served their purpose.
• 5 Transfer the marinade to a heavy pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• 6 Reduce to medium-low and boil for 10 minutes, carefully ladling off the gray-brown scum that rises.
• 7 Strain through a chinois, a fine conical strainer, or another fine strainer; reserve the clear marinade in a bowl.

Flour and brown the venison, then deglaze with grappa

• 1 Sprinkle 30 g flour over the venison on its tray, roll by hand to coat all sides lightly and shake off excess.
• 2 Heat 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a heavy braising pot over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers.
• 3 Arrange the meat without overlap in 2 batches. Sear each face without moving for 2 minutes, approximately 8 minutes per batch, until deeply brown all over; transfer browned meat to the tray.
• 4 Turn off the heat, pour 30 ml grappa into the pot and scrape the browned deposits from the base with a wooden spoon to deglaze, dissolving the flavorful residue into liquid.
• 5 Return to medium heat and boil for 1 minute to drive off the sharp smell of alcohol.

Build the braise with pancetta and soffritto

• 1 Add 20 g butter and 60 g smoked pancetta cut into batons 5 mm square to the same pot; cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
• 2 Add the refrigerated chopped onion, carrot and celery to make a soffritto, a base of slowly sautéed aromatic vegetables. Cook over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
• 3 Add 1 tbsp tomato paste and cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Braise the venison gently for 3 hours

• 1 Meanwhile(When 25 minutes of braising remain.) Start the polenta in the next step and finish the sauce during its 45-minute cooking time.
• 2 Return the browned venison and all juices collected on the tray to the pot.
• 3 Pour in all the clarified marinade and add the reserved clove-studded onion, garlic, spice bag, bay leaves, rosemary, sage and cinnamon.
• 4 Bring to a boil over medium heat and skim off any scum.
• 5 Set the lid about 1 cm ajar, reduce to very low heat and braise for 3 hours with only an occasional bubble breaking the surface.
• 6 Warm 300 ml meat broth in a small saucepan; add to the braise every 40 minutes in 3 additions of 100 ml, gently stirring from the bottom each time.

Cook the coarse bramata polenta for 45 minutes

• 1 Meanwhile(While the polenta cooks.) Roughly chop the leaves from 2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs and finish the sauce in the next step.
• 2 Bring 750 ml water and 1 tsp coarse salt to a boil over high heat in a deep, heavy pot.
• 3 Whisk the water in a whirlpool while using the other hand to sprinkle in 150 g coarse-ground bramata cornmeal in a thin rain.
• 4 Once all is added, reduce to low heat and switch to a wooden spoon, scraping the base and sides. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring for 1 minute every 5 minutes.
• 5 Once cooked, cover and keep warm over low heat, stirring from the bottom every 5 minutes.

Strain and reduce the sauce, then bind with liver and butter

• 1 Meanwhile(While reducing the sauce.) Warm 2 serving plates in an oven at 60°C or with hot water.
• 2 Use tongs to remove only the venison from the braising pot, transfer to a bowl and cover with foil.
• 3 Remove and discard the spice bag, bay leaves, rosemary stalk, sage, cinnamon and clove-studded onion from the cooking liquid.
• 4 Spoon off excess fat from the surface.
• 5 Pass the remaining liquid and vegetables through a fine strainer back into the pot, pressing with the back of a ladle; discard fibers left in the strainer.
• 6 Reduce over medium heat for 10–12 minutes until approximately 400 ml remains.
• 7 Blend the 60 g chopped venison liver with 1 ladleful of cooking liquid in a blender or mortar to make a smooth paste, the liaison that thickens and enriches the sauce.
• 8 Reduce to low heat and stir in the liver paste. With a clean thermometer, confirm that the center of the sauce reaches at least 75°C and hold at or above that temperature for at least 1 minute.
• 9 Finely chop 8 g dark chocolate, add and stir until completely melted.
• 10 Season with 1/2 tsp coarse salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
• 11 Turn off the heat, cut 20 g cold butter into 1 cm cubes and add, swirling the pot to melt and emulsify it, the technique called montare al burro.
• 12 Return the venison and its juices to the pot and warm over very low heat. Confirm that the center of the largest piece is at least 75°C for at least 1 minute.

Plate the venison and sauce over polenta

• 1 Divide all the polenta equally between the 2 warmed plates and spread into circles with the back of a spoon.
• 2 Divide the venison equally, piling it in the center of the polenta.
• 3 Ladle sauce over the meat, letting it flow to the edges of the polenta.
• 4 Divide the chopped parsley between the 2 plates.