The Hollow Leg Diner: Enchilada venado (venison enchiladas)

I am in the process of swapping out our meat stock in the freezer. I just bought 8 racks of baby back ribs, so I had to clear some space in the freezer. Out with the venison and in with the pork. The first to be thawed was a large section of hindquarter. This was at least a 4-5lb section that I had boned out and butterflied. Even after the venison meat sauce/chili experiment, I still had quite a bit left over. I took a look a Chef Scott Leysath's very cool site, HuntFishCook, to get some ideas. While I didn't actually use his venison enchilada recipe, it did give me the idea for what I should do.

Day 1

The first step was to cook the venison. As lean as the meat was, I was reluctant to actually roast the venison. I decided to braise it instead. I cut the venison into large chunks to reduce the cooking time. Seasoning was pretty much my standard; salt, pepper, Cayenne pepper, smoked paprika and granulated garlic. I also used some Mexican oregano and cumin.

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The meat was seared on each side in a little lard and then removed from the pan. I had diced an onion, sliced a few jalapeños and crushed several garlic cloves. All of these got a quick sweat and then I deglazed the pan with some sherry. The meat went back in the pot along with a splash of cider vinegar and beef stock. After about three hours the venison was fork tender. Once cooled, I shredded it and then added all the pan juices back to the meat. I also re-seasoned at this time.

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Day 2

I started out by making the enchilada sauce. This step took me several hours, but it could go much faster. You can just use canned enchilada sauce if you want. I just like doing things from scratch sometimes. I removed the stems and seeds from about a dozen of each of Japonese, California and New Mexico chiles. I also used 5 or 6 ancho and morita chiles. The chiles were lightly toasted and then simmered in 2 quarts of beef broth for an hour or so. When the chile were soft, I pureed them in the blender. The beef broth was added to thin out the puree. When making the enchilada sauce like this, it is best to press the puree through a chinois or mesh strainer to remove the little pieces of chile. The next step was to sweat some diced onion, jalapeño and garlic in pork lard. When the onion softened I added a small can of tomato paste and seasoned with salt, pepper and Cayenne. As soon as all the liquid evaporated I added a quart of beef broth. This was reduced by half and then pureed in the blender. The tomato puree was returned to the hot pot and the chile puree was added until I got the desired taste and consistency. I only used about half of the chile puree that I had made. The rest will be used for the venison chili I'll be making next week. This mixture was simmered for another hour or two.

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Once the enchilada sauce was done, it was time to make enchiladas. The shredded venison was mixed with some enchilada sauce, a couple of cups of grated Monterey jack and mozzarella cheese and about a cup of crema Salvadorena (sour cream is a suitable substitute). I don't know the exact measurements; I just eyeball this part. You want the enchilada filling to have enough cheese and sour cream to be smooth and creamy without being runny. This is also the last chance to season. I added more salt, Cayenne, paprika and garlic to 'kick it up' a bit. At this point you want to start dropping your flour tortillas (I prefer flour, but corn also work)in the enchilada sauce. Very fresh flour tortillas just need both sides covered with sauce. Corn or inferior flour tortillas need to spend a little time in the sauce to soften up. Add a thin layer of enchilada sauce to the bottom of a baking dish (greased will prevent scorching and ease clean up). The enchilada filling is spooned onto the tortilla and it is rolled up. Remember; if you fold over and close the ends it becomes an enchirito, not an enchilada. The amount of filling is dependent on the size of the tortillas and how sloppy you want the meal. The rolled enchiladas are placed, side-by-side, in the baking dish. When the baking dish is full, you drizzle some of the sauce over the enchiladas and top with shredded cheese. In a nod to the Taco Bell enchiritos that I used to love when I was a kid, I top the enchiladas with thinly sliced green onions, sliced black olives and a mix of shredded yellow and white cheese (cheddar, jack, asiago & mozzarella). I cover the pan with non-stick foil and heat in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. The foil is removed for the last few minutes to make sure the cheese gets all gooey and starts to brown a little.

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Because the enchiladas are so rich, I thought it would be good to have a slightly bitter veg to go with them. As luck would have it, I had some Brussel sprouts. I sauteed the sprouts and green onion slices in butter and olive oil and then deglazed the pan with white wine. The sprouts were seasoned with salt, Cayenne and black pepper. I added about a half cup of water and covered the pan. When the sprouts were tender I added some cream and let it go on medium heat until the sauce thickened.