“Rusty” haunch of venison (with red wine), with “linen” (bread) dumplings

Ingredients:

• 600g haunch of venison (shoulder or shank will also do) – preferably elongated, rather than thicker piece, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 medium-sized carrot, 1 small parsley root, 1 medium-sized onion or 1 tsp Univer onion paste, 3 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp ground thyme, 2 tsp Univer mustard, 2 tsp dark soy sauce, 400ml mild red wine, 1 apple
• for the bread dumplings: 4 bread rolls or 4 slices of bread, 1 medium-sized onion or 1 tsp Univer onion paste, half a bunch of parsley, 30g butter or block margarine, 3 eggs, 200ml milk, 200g flour, salt, ground black pepper 
• to spread on the cellophane: a dollop of butter or block margarine

1. Rub the salt and pepper into the meat, then set aside. Cut the cleaned vegetables into thin slices. Braise the meat in a pan – of the smallest suitable size – in moderately hot oil, all around its surface. Remove the meat, caramelise the sugar in the remaining oil, that is, braise it, continuously stirring, for 2-3 minutes until it gets a nice light brown. Make sure you don’t burn it, lest it develop a bitter taste. 

2. Put the vegetables into the pan and braise for 5-6 minutes, stirring all the while. If you use onion paste, it needs only a minute of braising. Put the meat into the pan, add the spices and flavouring, along with 250ml red wine and just as much water. When boiling, add the washed, cored apple, sliced with its skin on, cover the pan and cook it tender on low heat in about 2 hours. While cooking, replace evaporated stock with the remaining wine and a little water. Taste and add salt if necessary. 

3. While the meat is cooking, prepare the dumplings. Dice the bread rolls, spread them in a baking tray and toast them at high heat in the oven, shaking several times. Finely chop the cleaned onion and the parsley, braise in butter for 2-3 minutes – if using onion paste braise only for half a minute – and then mix with the toasted diced bread rolls. Mix the eggs with the milk. Add the flour, salt and pepper. Finally, add and mix the roast bread roll dices. 

4. Spread out a cellophane sheet or a clean tea towel (originally: a linen napkin, hence its name) and coat it with melted margarine. Place the mixture with the bread roll dices in it in a lengthwise heap on the cellophane or towel, roll it up and tie with a string. 

5. Carefully lower it into boiling slightly salt water. Cook for 20 minutes over low heat, in just simmering water. When the meat is tender, take it out of the pan. Leave its gravy – remove the bay leaves – to cool and then blend or press through a sieve. Return onto the stove and heat up, stirring. It should be sufficiently thick with the vegetables and apple in it but if you find it “thin” nonetheless, carefully mix in a little flour to thicken the gravy. Slice the meat against the grain for serving, replace in the red-wine gravy and heat back up. Unwrap the linen dumplings and serve sliced.

Useful advice:

Add an even more characteristic flavour to the gravy by stirring in a spoonful or so of Kecskeméti elderberry or forest fruit jam.