For your enjoyment…

Do you feel the same as I do on weekends on or special holidays, or when you have guests over? I’d like to cook something very special, not the usual fare. Then I’m either spoiled for choice or I can’t think of anything at all. If even intensively searching the internet turns out to be fruitless or leafing through piles of cookbooks doesn’t turn up any solution, try our Recipe of the Month!

From the chefs of the Schick Restaurants in Vienna, every month there is a new, seasonal recipe from Austrian-Spanish or Viennese cuisine for you to prepare and enjoy at home! If you don’t want to have to prepare the recipe yourself, you can order the finished dish in comfort at the corresponding Schick Restaurant and indulge all around…

In December 2018 – recipe by Felix Albiez – chef of the decorated Restaurant “Das Schick”:

Saddle of venison . purple salsify . blackberry . juniper brittle

Ingredients for 6 people:

1 saddle of venison with bone, approx. 3.5 kg
1 kg purple salsifies
thyme
butter
8 juniper berries, ground in mortar
50 g sugar
200 g walnuts, peeled
oil
20 g corn starch
18 blackberries
400 ml red port wine
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
400 ml roe deer jus

Preparation

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sugar and stir for about 4 minutes until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Add the walnut kernels and stir for about another 4 minutes until the sugar has a rich caramel colour. Add juniper and salt and stir for another minute. Immediately pour the brittle mixture onto a large baking paper and spread with a spoon so that the nuts are flat and not on top of each other. Cool down and allow to harden. Break the brittle into small pieces.

Reduce 200 ml red port by about 1/3. Season with a pinch of ground cinnamon and a little salt. Mix the corn starch with a little cold water and lightly bind the boiling port wine. Pour the liquid over the blackberries and allow to cool briefly.

Peel the purple salsifies, cut into the desired size and boil in salted water until soft.

Remove the silver skin from the saddle of venison and cut the saddle carefully from the bone. Wrap the saddle strands in foil and keep cool.

Season the saddle of venison with salt and pepper and fry lightly all around in a little oil. Place in the oven at 180 degrees for about 7 – 8 minutes. Meanwhile fry the purple salsifies in butter with some thyme until golden. Remove the saddle of venison from the oven and wrap in aluminium foil. Leave to rest for about 3 minutes then cut into evenly sized pieces.

Arrange everything centered on a plate and pour in some venison jus (e.g. as in our photo).

Enjoy your meal!