Venison Ragout

• 2 medium red onions
• 100 g carrots
• 50 g parsley root
• 1.6 kg kitchen-ready venison (shoulderblade cut, shoulder or shank)
• salt and pepper
• 100 g lard
• 2-3 sprigs lemon thyme
• 1 laurel bay leaf
• 1 level tablespoon flour
• 350 ml hearty red wine, such as Blaufränkisch
• circa 350ml beef stock
• 1 tablespoon lingonberries (or cranberries)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bacon rind
• 1-2 teaspoons blackberry marmalade (if unavailable use more lingonberries/cranberries)
• 150 ml double cream/whipping cream
• 150 ml sour cream

Slice the onions 3-4mm thick, coarsely chop the carrots, parsley and celery; cut the meat into cubes circa 4 cm in size. Salt and pepper the meat lightly and brown it in lard. Add the sliced onions and fry together. At the same time brown the vegetables in butter and add to the meat; add the lemon-thyme and laurel leaf. Blend thoroughly and dust lightly with flour. Add 200ml of the red wine and the beef stock. Add salt and pepper to taste; stir in the lingonberries. Peel the garlic cloves and add whole. Add the bacon rind. Blend everything well; cover and simmer until the meat is tender, which will take about one hour. Remove the meat and the laurel leaf, mix the sauce together and strain through a sieve. Add the blackberry jam and the rest of the red wine, adjust salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Return the meat to the pan and simmer all together. Mix the cream and sour cream well; stir them together into the ragout and adjust seasonings once more.

Serve over bread dumplings or potato dumplings.

Tip: If lemon thyme is unavailable, use ordinary thyme and add a bit of lemon peel.