Venison Ossobuco with Saffron Rice

I found inspiration for this ossobuco recipe in the pages of Afield, one of my go to wild game cookbooks. It is a collection of recipes and outdoor photography, with step by step guidance on how get your food from the field to the table without sacrificing taste or sophistication.  I recommend it to all you lady hunters out there.

Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish. Amazon.com

Aside from being a fun word to say, ossobuco is an Italian dish traditionally made with veal. But, since we’re kind of into wild game around here, I’m substituting venison backstrap. And I changed it to be done on the slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 2 whole venison backstraps (I recommend marinating them)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 c. flour
• 4 T olive oil
• 2 onions (Save 1/4 c for the rice)
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 6 sage leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 c. white wine
• 1 quart chicken stock
• lemon zest (1 lemon’s worth)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced

For Saffron Rice:

• 2 pinches saffron threads
• 1 package Uncle Ben’s Instant Basmati Rice
• 1/4 c onions from above
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/4 c. hot water

Instructions

• Season the venison with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour

• Heat olive oil in a big pot (a Le Creuset Dutch oven works well) and brown the venison

• Remove the venison from the pot and put the sage, bay leaves, carrots, onions, and celery in the pot

• Cook until the vegetables are tender (10 minutes)
• Pour in the chicken stock and wine, and bring to a boil.
• Put everything in the slow cooker.
• Cook on low for three hours until done.

Saffron Rice

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan
• Throw in the onions and cook until they sweat

• Crush the saffron threads with a mortar and pestle if you have it, or the end of a fork and a bowl will do!
• Put 1/4 c hot water in the saffron pestle
• Microwave the rice according to package instructions
• Put rice in the pan with the onions, drizzle the saffron and water mixture over the rice, and stir together

Serve venison over rice.

Yum!

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