Venison Loin with Fruity Sauce and Chestnut Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 kg venison loin (deboned and trimmed)
• Salt
• black pepper (ground fresh)
• 1 tsp juniper berries
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion
• 150 g celeriac root
• 2 carrots
• 200 ml red wine
• 250 ml game stock
• 100 ml cherry juice
• 250 g cherries
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• ground allspice
• 1 Shallot
• 1 tbsp butter
• 500 g stale bread
• 200 ml lukewarm milk (3.5% fat)
• 2 Eggs
• 100 g chestnuts

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the venison loin, pat dry, and season with salt, pepper, and crushed juniper berries. Heat oil in a roasting pan and brown the loin on all sides. Peel and roughly cube the onion, celeriac, and carrots; add them to the pan. Sauté briefly, then deglaze with red wine and a splash of stock. Roast at 150 °C (130 °C fan‑forced) for about an hour, basting the meat with the liquid regularly and adding more stock if needed.

2. 2.

   For the dumplings, finely dice the shallot and sauté in hot butter until translucent. Tear the bread into pieces, pour milk over it, then add eggs, shallot, salt, and pepper; mix well. Let the mixture rest for about 20 minutes, then form small round dumplings and simmer them in salted water for roughly 15 minutes. Roast the chestnuts on a baking sheet or dish for about 15 minutes until golden brown, cool, and chop.

3. 3.

   Remove the meat from the pan and let it rest covered. Strain the sauce and stir in the cherry juice; reduce further if desired (you may thicken with a little starch). Wash and pit the cherries, then add them to the sauce along with the split vanilla pod; simmer for about 5 minutes and season with salt, lemon juice, allspice, and pepper.

4. 4.

   Take the dumplings out of the water and roll them in the chopped chestnuts.

5. 5.

   Slice the rested meat into portions and arrange on a plate with the dumplings. Pour the sauce over and serve immediately.