Venison goulash with red wine and juniper

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Prepare the meat

   Trim the silverskin and tendons from the meat and cut it into roughly 3 cm cubes. Finely dice the bacon and finely chop the onions.

2. Cook the onions

   Melt the lard in a heavy-bottomed pot and fry the bacon in it. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes until golden brown. The onions will thicken the goulash.

3. Brown the meat

   Add the meat, increase the heat, and cook until browned on all sides. Stir in the tomato paste and chopped garlic and cook briefly. Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the paprika, and immediately pour in the wine to keep the paprika from turning bitter.

4. Simmer

   Add the juniper berries, bay leaves, allspice, and caraway seeds, then season with salt and pepper. Pour in the broth so the meat is almost submerged, cover, and simmer over low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours, until tender. Stir occasionally and add more liquid as needed.

5. Finish and season

   Finally, stir in the marjoram, remove the bay leaves, and season the goulash to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with steamed bread dumplings, bread, or pasta.

Tip: Shoulder is better suited to goulash than leg: it has more connective tissue, which breaks down during the long simmer and naturally thickens the sauce.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Srnčí guláš s červeným vínom a borievkami