Venison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction

Venison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction served with mashed potatoes, aspargus and homemade sourdough bread!

This image shows a plate of venison sausages, main ingredient in Venison sausage with Red Wine Reduction

Eddy's Kitchen: Venison Sausage with Red Wine ReductionVenison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction, served here with asparagus, mashed potatoes and of course, sourdough bread! by Eddy Claycomb.Serves: 4Prep time: 30 minutesCook time: 1 hourLevel: EasyWell, I hope your summer is getting off to a good start and going well. I hope most of you still have some venison sausage left from last season's harvest because I've got a great recipe that calls for it:  Venison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction. Mmmm, mmmmm. This recipe will work with spicy or plain venison sausage. I have added a few twists to enhance the dish and I encourage you to do the same. In fact, I encourage you to experiment with small variations in the spices. You can also add ingredients like carrots -- anything your family likes.If you want to cook a larger meat portion, for instance 2 or 3 pounds of sausage, you can use the same measurement of ingredients without a noticeable difference in the flavor of this dish, but I suggest you add a bit more wine and mushrooms if you increase the meat.This dish is easy to cook --  just the thing when you're in the mood for maximum yum for minimum effort. Enough prelude: lets get started making  Venison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction.Ingredients1 lb. Venison Sausages6 oz medium sized, open cap mushrooms. I use Creminis when I can find them.8 oz. pancetta. You can use bacon or both if you like.2 garlic cloves. Gently crush or smash, but leave whole if possible.8 oz. shallots, peeled.8 oz. pearl onions. I can usually find these in the frozen food section.1 tsp chopped fresh thyme. I sometime use several sprigs of fresh thyme, then remove before serving.2 bay leaves10 oz. good, drinkable red wine1 tsp juniper berries1 rounded tsp red currant jelly1 tsp mustard powder1 heaping tbl flour2 tbl butter2 tbl butter slightly softenedSalt and pepperOlive oilPreparation:Heat one or two tablespoons of olive oil and brown the sausage on all sides. Remove them to a plate and keep warm.Rough dice the pancetta (or bacon) and brown in the pot you browned the sausage in.  I use a splash of olive oil here also.Add the peeled small shallots and crushed garlic cloves in the pot with the pancetta.Slightly crush the juniper berries between your fingers. Set them aside until the sausage and wine are added.Return the sausage to the pot and add the wine, then the juniper berries, thyme and bay leaves.Season lightly with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt. The golden rule is you can always add salt but it's very hard to take it out. I have ruined more dishes with too much salt than anything else.Bring the pot to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Check often to ensure you are not cooking too high. A covered pot retains heat!Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and brown the pearl onions.Push the onions to one side of the skillet and add 1 tablespoon of butter to soften the mushrooms.Add browned onions and softened mushrooms to the pot and cook for an additional 20 minutes with the top slightly open to allow the sauce to thicken.Mix the 2 tablespoons of softened butter, mustard powder and flour. Whisk a little of the mix at a time into the pot. This should thicken the mix fairly quick. You may not want to use all the thickening mix. Use some cooking skill here and mix a quarter, then another quarter and give it a few minutes between mixes to achieve the desired thickness. Some chefs like to remove the meat and vegetables from the pot, thicken the mix, then add the meat and vegetable's back.Whisk in the red currant jelly and it is finished!I try to remove the shallots and garlic cloves with a slotted spoon prior to serving.I like to serve along with mashed potatoes and something green; either a salad, asparagus, broccoli or some other vegetable that adds color.This is the basic recipe. We have prepared a video to give some tips and pointers and I encourage you to watch. You can click the link below, or go to my YouTube channel: Eddy's Kitchen Episode 8. Venison Sausage with Red Wine Reduction. Hope you like it as much as we do!https://www.youtube.com/embed/KcPwY4eHU-4When Eddy isn't in his kitchen, we wish he were. He's welcome to be our camp chef any time!