Maille Man

Cheflife15, thank you for the affirmation. It's encouraging. A good deal of the how's and why's I've learned was from chefs or cooks that I've worked with (I ran the warehouses their stuff was passed through). The rest is/was learning the herbs & spices, and how to use them. Now, if could figure out how to make hollow burger rolls...

This is how I make it... 3/4 cup steel cut oats, toasted (with a 'lil butter, till it smells like popcorn) 3/4 cup barley (cooked half-way done in venison or beef stock - save the remaining stock) Set oats & barley aside to cool a bit. Saute a couple onions (I used 3 shallots, 'cuz I don't like onion) Set aside to cool. Brown 1 lbs ground venison. Let cool a bit. Combine venison & onion. Then mix in half of this spice blend (save the other half for the roast); 2 tsp mace, 2 tsp coriander, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp parsley, a smidge of salt & pepper (to taste). Mix the meat with the oats & barley. Add a 1/4 pound of finely chopped suet. Put it all in a casserole dish & add the remaining venison/ beef stock (add more stock/ water if needed - you'll want about 1 1/2 cups of liquid). Bake at 350°, covered, for 30 minutes. 10 more minutes uncovered. Set aside to cool. Heat oil in a frying pan. Rub oil on a 1 lbs hunk of venison loin/ roast, add salt & pepper, press on more of the same spices that went into the oat/ barley mixture. Sear meat on all sides. Let cool. Spread the oat/ barely, about 1/2 inch thick, on pastry dough. Put venison in center. Brush egg yolk around edges of dough. Carefully roll dough & oat/ barley around venison & crimp edges to seal. Egg wash the top & sides. Slit the top. Bake at 350° until golden brown and the meat is at 145° The sauce was 4 tbsp butter. 2 finely chopped shallot. Sauteed til soft. Add 2 shots of scotch & reduce. Add 1 cup stock & 1 tsp course ground mustard. Let it alone for a few minutes. Then add 2/3 cup heavy cream. Salt & pepper to taste. Cook till it's as thick as you like.

I bet it would. I may have to give that a try. Finding the right seasonings would be the hardest part, but still easy enough. I used spices from a 13th century venison recipe I found a while back. Those old timey people may not have had indoor plumbing or antibiotics, but they knew how to eat. Everything else is time - it takes me about five hours to get it together before going into the oven.

I always make this after hunting season is over. I tell myself I'm going to wait until Burn's Night. But, I can never wait that long.

Venison haggis Wellington (sort of). I make it with ground venison instead of the offal. And a scotch/ mustard sauce dressed it up.

Yeah, the mag issue is a conundrum - I've got bunches. All those are still in PA. I figure out what I can do with them. Can you shoot clays with a KSG? :-)

Just returned to Jersey, after escaping way back in '85. Lived in a lot of places between then and now. Was just living in PA before this move. Got to get up some gumption and reserve some patience to start and get through the insanity of becoming legal in this state. Even the hunting rules are about prohibitive. {sigh...}