Herb-Crusted Venison Fillet, Port Wine Jus and Porcini-Celery-Potato Timbales

1. Preparing the venison fillet

• Cut venison fillet into 8 small steaks. Crush garlic cloves slightly. Combine garlic, venison, and 1 tablespoon pumpkin seed oil in a bowl and toss. Let it stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Prepare the sauce: Peel shallots, cut in half and then slice thinly. In a small covered saucepan, braise shallots, 1 teaspoon butter and a pinch of salt over low heat for 5 minutes. Add sugar and dissolve over medium heat while stirring constantly. Pour in balsamic vinegar and Port wine and reduce to one third, leaving 80 to 90 ml or about 5 tablespoons. Add veal glace to Port wine reduction, bring to a boil and set aside (you can also use veal stock from a jar, but in this case bind the sauce slightly with 1 teaspoon cornflour).
• Place breadcrumbs in the MaxxiMUM mixer attachment. Dice cheese coarsely. Rinse parsley, shake dry, pluck off leaves and chop them coarsely. Add cheese, herbs, juniper berries and pumpkin seeds to the breadcrumbs and mix at the medium-fine setting. Remove breadcrumbs from the machine, moisten with rapeseed oil and milk, and crumble. Carefully season mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 240°C Hot Air Grilling. Season venison fillets with salt and pepper and brown in an ovenproof pan over high heat for 1 minute on each side. Remove fillets from pan and cover with breadcrumb crust. Return to the pan, place in the oven on the centre rack and grill for 4 minutes until golden-brown – watch constantly because once the crust starts to change colour, it turns dark very rapidly.
• Remove venison fillets from the pan. Add prepared sauce to pan residues. Stir in cold butter cut into bits and season to taste. Serve venison with Porcini-Celery-Potato Timbales.

2. Preparing the Porcini-Celery-Potato Timbales

• Preheat oven to 220°C (Convection 200°C). Peel potatoes, celeriac and onions and dice coarsely. Rinse tomatoes, cut into quarters and remove cores. Distribute prepared vegetables in a casserole dish, drizzle with 4 tablespoons oil and season with salt. Bake vegetables on the centre rack for 1 hour until tender and thoroughly browned, stirring occasionally and pushing together. Remove vegetables from the oven and let them cool. Reduce heat to 180°C (Convection 160°C).
• Clean porcini mushrooms and brush off the dirt. If absolutely necessary, rinse them briefly and quickly dry with paper towels. Cut mushrooms into large slices (about 3 mm thick). Dice remaining mushrooms or chop coarsely. Rinse celeriac sticks, cut lengthwise into thirds and crosswise into thin slices.
• In a large non-stick pan, lightly brown porcini with a little butter in several batches, season lightly and let them cool on a plate. In a covered saucepan, braise diced celery with 1 tablespoon butter for 3 to 4 minutes. Add porcini, then season and braise them for an additional 3 minutes, then remove from heat.
• Pluck off oregano leaves, setting aside several leaves for garnish. In the MaxxiMUM mixer attachment, finely purée oven vegetables, Ricotta, eggs and oregano. Fold in porcini and season mixture to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Butter the moulds and line a few porcini slices loosely on it. Bring 2 litres water to a boil. Fill moulds with the potato mixture.
• Place smaller moulds in a larger ovenproof mould and pour in hot water so that the water is halfway up the sides of the smaller moulds. Bake on the centre rack for 35 minutes.
• Remove potato timbales from the oven, loosen around the edges with a narrow-bladed knife and carefully reverse the potatoes onto the plates. Serve as a side dish – for example, with venison fillet.

Tip:

Serve with a fine sauce such as Béarnaise, a creamy chive sauce or a fresh herb vinaigrette, this becomes a vegetarian main dish. You can also prepare timbales in advance – just warm them up for 5 minutes with the oven set to 180°C or serve them cold. They’re delicious on picnics and outings.