Venison the Basque Way

Basque cooking has a long tradition with game meats, and this preparation handles venison the way shepherds in the Pyrenees have for generations: simply, with bold flavors that complement rather than mask the meat.

Piercing the roast and pushing garlic slices deep into the flesh seasons it from the inside out. Then the whole thing gets smothered under a blanket of sliced onions, green bell pepper, pimentos, and bacon before going into a slow oven covered. The bacon renders and bastes the lean venison as it cooks, solving the biggest problem with roasting game: dryness.

The vegetables break down over the long cook, creating a built-in sauce in the pan. Those drippings, rich with bacon fat, garlic, and pepper juices, are the base for a gravy you won’t want to waste.

Chef Tips

• Use a sharp, thin knife to pierce deep holes for the garlic. Shallow pokes won’t get the garlic flavor into the center of the roast.
• Keep the oven low and the lid on. Venison is very lean and dries out fast at high heat. Slow and covered keeps moisture locked in.
• Baste occasionally with the pan juices. The bacon fat and vegetable liquid are doing the work of the marbling that venison doesn’t have.
• Let the roast rest for 15 minutes before carving. This lets the juices redistribute so they don’t run out onto the cutting board.

Variations

• Wine-braised: Add a cup of red wine to the pan along with the water for a deeper, more complex gravy.
• Spicy Basque: Add a dried Espelette pepper (piment d’Espelette) to the roasting pan for the traditional Basque heat.