Last july I caught an episode of Good Eats where Alton discussed the braising of lamb and beef shanks and I thought I might give it a try. I harvested a red tag doe towards the end of july and saved the shanks for doing some Osso Buco. WEll...when putting some meat away last week, I found the bag with the shanks in it and decided to give it a shot. I took the shanks from the deer I shot last week, added it to the first one, and for good measure tossed in a spare rabbit and a small gray squirrel.
Since it was going to be me feeding the boys and my best friend and there was noone but them to impress I thought I'd have to either make it cheesy or put it in pie crust to get them to like it so we opted for pie crust. My oldest LOVES his pot pies no matter what's in them... My buddy is adventurous and figures if *I* am eating it and it doesn't kill me, he'll try it.
Treated all the meat like some braised lamb shanks. Seared in a hot dutch oven, seasoned with salt and pepper, until all meat (including rodents) was browned, removed and saute onion, garlic, celery and carrot in the pan until soft. Add meat back in, add 2 cups of beef broth, a can of tomato paste, 2 bay leaves, and some Herbs de Provence. added a bottle of Honey Brown just for kicks (had no red wine) and tossed it in the oven at 375 for 2 hours. upon removal, I could have dove in with both hands and left the kids to fend for them selves. the venison was sofa king tender and all the silverskin and connective tissue had done as promised - it dissolved into gelatin, adequately thickening the sauce. I diced up all the meat, removed all bones and put the meat with some diced veggies into the pot pie crust (bottom pre cooked for 10 mins, topped with a croissant crust and baked for a half hour - 40 mins. Heaven could not be too far away....
So...if all you ever did with your front leg shanks/shank meat was toss it in the grind pile, do yourself a favor and give braising a try (high moisture, moderately high heat in a covered vessel, for about 1.5-2 hours) and you will LOVE the results.
Next time I do this, the veggies used in the pie will be diced parsnips (like them MUCH more than carrots), turnip, beets and sweet potato. my best friend who does not make a habit out of eating wild animals took seconds. my oldest took seconds, my youngest cleaned his plate and there was barely enough leftovers for me to bring anything into the office to gross people out. At this point in life, they've stopped asking what i brought. Usually, the convo would go like this...
"hey Jay...that smells good...whatcha cookin?"
"(beaver, ground hog, squirrel, rabbit, possum, coyote, insert animal here) pot pie...wanna try some?" I get no takers.
Since it was going to be me feeding the boys and my best friend and there was noone but them to impress I thought I'd have to either make it cheesy or put it in pie crust to get them to like it so we opted for pie crust. My oldest LOVES his pot pies no matter what's in them... My buddy is adventurous and figures if *I* am eating it and it doesn't kill me, he'll try it.
Treated all the meat like some braised lamb shanks. Seared in a hot dutch oven, seasoned with salt and pepper, until all meat (including rodents) was browned, removed and saute onion, garlic, celery and carrot in the pan until soft. Add meat back in, add 2 cups of beef broth, a can of tomato paste, 2 bay leaves, and some Herbs de Provence. added a bottle of Honey Brown just for kicks (had no red wine) and tossed it in the oven at 375 for 2 hours. upon removal, I could have dove in with both hands and left the kids to fend for them selves. the venison was sofa king tender and all the silverskin and connective tissue had done as promised - it dissolved into gelatin, adequately thickening the sauce. I diced up all the meat, removed all bones and put the meat with some diced veggies into the pot pie crust (bottom pre cooked for 10 mins, topped with a croissant crust and baked for a half hour - 40 mins. Heaven could not be too far away....
So...if all you ever did with your front leg shanks/shank meat was toss it in the grind pile, do yourself a favor and give braising a try (high moisture, moderately high heat in a covered vessel, for about 1.5-2 hours) and you will LOVE the results.
Next time I do this, the veggies used in the pie will be diced parsnips (like them MUCH more than carrots), turnip, beets and sweet potato. my best friend who does not make a habit out of eating wild animals took seconds. my oldest took seconds, my youngest cleaned his plate and there was barely enough leftovers for me to bring anything into the office to gross people out. At this point in life, they've stopped asking what i brought. Usually, the convo would go like this...
"hey Jay...that smells good...whatcha cookin?"
"(beaver, ground hog, squirrel, rabbit, possum, coyote, insert animal here) pot pie...wanna try some?" I get no takers.
