Ingredients:

• 6 pounds leg of venison
• 1/2 pound onions -- large dice
• 1/4 pound carrots -- large dice
• 1/4 pound celery -- large dice
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 4 cups merlot
• 2 cups balsamic vinegar
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 4 cups beef consomme
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions and Comments:

Have a butcher bone out the leg venison and tie it into a roast. Large dice the carrots, celery, and onions.

Heat the canola oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until vegetables start to turn translucent. Add the wine, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove the marinade from the heat cool to 40º. Pour it over the venison and refrigerate for 24 hours, turn the venison every 4 hours or so for even marinading.

Remove venison from marinade 1 hour before cooking.

Place the leg of venison in a large roasting pan. Cook in a 350º oven until the internal temperature reaches 130º. This will take about 2 hours (time may vary)

Bbring the left over marinade to a boil over medium high heat and reduce to it to about 2 cups. Strain off the vegetables and combine the liquid with the beef consomme. Simmer the sauce over medium high heat. Skim off the foamy stuff on the surface. Reduce the sauce until until it starts to thicken. Remove the sauce from the heat, strain once more and then mount the sauce with the room temperature butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Carve the venison to order...

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