Braised Venison Ribs

Braised Venison Ribs

This amazing venison ribs recipe comes courtesy of NY chef and hunter, Bill Gross. Enjoy.

 —

After properly breaking down your deer and removing the rib cage you must rinse ribs and remove excess fat. A little fat left on is fine but too much and it will be chewy. Also if desired using a bone saw or bandsaw ribs can be cut in half for easier handling.

The Boil:

1 Large Stock pot

4 oz Kosher Salt

4 Tbsp Liquid Smoke

Enough water to cover the ribs

Bring water, salt, liquid smoke to a boil. Add cleaned ribs to boiling water. Return to a boil and allow to boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for another 25 minutes. Drain water and allow ribs to air cool.

The Smoke:

8 oz Grade A Maple Syrup

8 oz Dijon Mustard

1 oz Gin

4 oz Bourbon

A heavy pinch of each:

Smoked Paprika

Coriander

Cumin

Brown Sugar Granulated

Dried Thyme

Dried Oregano

Dried Basil

Black pepper

Cayenne

Fine Sea Salt

Place all dry ingredients into a blender and allow to blend for 30 seconds. This will be your dry rub.  If you have a favorite please by all means use it instead.  Take the liquids (maple syrup, mustard, gin and bourbon) and whisk together. Brush generously all over the ribs and then dust with the rub. Place in smoker and smoke for 2 hours.

If you do not own a smoker you can you hickory wood chips wrapped in aluminum foil and place directly on top of flames of your BBQ. Just be sure to pierce the foil with air vents to allow the smoke to escape. Leave on high heat until a nice smoke develops then place ribs on rack with flames turned down low. Keep lid shut as to maintain smoke.

Time to confit:

6-8 pounds of lard

8 oz peanut oil

2 Tablespoons of Rub Powder

Any deer fat you may have

Render deer fat then melt in lard. Whisk in peanut oil and rub powder. Bring up in temp just enough for it to smoke a bit but NOT boil!  The poaching liquid should be hot but never boil.  Add ribs. If you need more fat to cover the ribs, melt more lard in a separate pot and add until ribs are covered. Once completely covered poach ribs for 6 hours. After the 6 hours remove from heat and allow the ribs to cool in the fat. The fat will congeal around the ribs and this is exactly what you want. Leave ribs in fat for at least one night or up to 3 days refrigerated.

The Braise:

Preheat oven to 225

3 large cans of crushed tomatoes

1 large bottle of V8 tomato juice

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup of red wine

1 whole garlic chopped

2 white onions chopped

1 heavy pinch of salt/pepper/dried thyme/dried oregano/dried basil/smoked paprika

3 sprigs of rosemary

Heat ribs to remove from lard. Allow to drain and pat dry. Be careful as not to heat too high, you only want to melt the lard off. Place to the side.

Sauté garlic and onions in a bit of peanut oil until golden,  Then add crushed tomatoes and cook for 15 min on med heat.  Add rest of ingredients and puree with a stick blender.  Bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes then you are done. Place the ribs into the hot braising liquid cover and throw into preheated oven.  Cook for about an hour or until fork tender.  Depending on the size and age of the deer this may go faster or take longer so check every half hour.  Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!

Bill Gross

Chef, Hunter and Food and Beverage guy

President of New York Consulting Firm, a professional consulting service for all aspects of the hospitality industry, from restaurant and menu design to increasing profit margins we have you covered. As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Bill has worked in some of the leading restaurants in New York such as Le Cirque,  Eleven Madison Park and Cafe Gray just to name a few. He continues to be involved the restaurant industry and has done consulting for establishments in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., London, Vienna, Hong Kong and Singapore. He currently resides in New York City.

www.thenycf.com

billgross@thenycf.com

More venison rib recipes? Check out these.