Venison Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce

This is my second venison dish and I have to say it is a winner!
Both dishes I have made with this meat have been absolutely delicious and I love that there is absolutely no fat in the meat and contains absolutely no preservatives. It saddens me that the deer lost its life, but I appreciate the healthy red meat it has provided me and Dusty.

I found this recipe from Food Network by Emril Lagasse and altered it to what was in my fridge and pantry. Dusty and I loved this recipe and I will be making it again.
I have to! I've got over 20 lbs of venison in my freezer! I gotta get rid of it somehow!

This is what you are going to need for 2 people:
-1/2 lb of ground Venison
-1/2 cup Buttermilk
-1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
-1 tsp Salt
-1/2 tsp Pepper
-1 tsp dried Rosemary
-1 tsp dried Sage
-1/2 cup minced Yellow Onion
-1 tsp minced Garlic (1 to 2 cloves)
-3 slice of Bacon-cut into 1/2 inch pieces
-2 tbsp Olive Oil
-1/2 cup Red Wine
-1/8 cup Flour
-2 cups Chicken Broth
-1/2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
-1/4 cup Heavy Cream
-2 tbsp cold Butter
-1/4 lb Extra Wide Egg Noodles
-Green Onion-to garnish

This sounds like a lot of ingredients, but I only had to purchase a couple of things from the store. Otherwise I found that most of these ingredients are common things found in the pantry and fridge. Don't let the list intimidate you!

First start by heating your large saucepan at medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain with paper towels, but make sure to leave the bacon grease in the pan! Bacon is sooo good!

Add the onions and garlic to the hot pan and saute for 2-3 minutes until they begin to become golden brown.

Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon so not to make the onions really greasy. Place them into a blender or food processor and pulse until the onion/garlic makes a smooth paste.

Just like this!

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground venison, buttermilk, onion paste, bacon pieces, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs. Now get your hands dirty and mix it all together until combined!

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, form the meatballs.

Add a tablespoon of Olive Oil to the large saucepan and heat it back up over medium heat. Add the meatballs to the pan in 2 separate batches.

Sear the meatballs all over until brown.

Remove the meatballs from the pan and drain them on a paper towel.

Add red wine to the saucepan and deglaze. To degraze, just simply scrape that bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the brown bits from what has been cooking previously with the red wine in the pan. Do this for 1-2 minutes. Then remove the juices and place them in a bowl for later use in the sauce.

Next, add another tablespoon of Olive Oil to the pan and add 1/8 cup of flour. This is so you can make a nice light brown roux for the sauce. With your whisk, stir for 3-5 minutes until the roux turns a light brown.

Add the 2 cups of chicken broth and whisk until the roux is completely dissolved. Allow the sauce to boil and then bring it down to a simmer for 15 minutes so that it can reduce.

After 15 minutes of simmering, add the dijon mustard.

And the heavy cream.

Pour back in the red wine juices from deglazing and add the meatballs back into the pan. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the sauce and meatballs are simmering, boil and prepare according to packaging the 1/4 lb of extra wide egg noodles. When the sauce and meatballs are done, add 2 tbsp of cold butter and stir until melted.

For the garnish, chop up about 2 to 3 green onions. What ever tickles your fancy!

To serve, place a good spoonful of egg noodles on the plate and top with 4-6 meatballs (depending on how hungry you are!) and sauce. Finish with a sprinkling of green onion for garnish!

Enjoy!

P.S. THIS WAS SOOOO GOOD!

Probably one of my favorite dishes I have made!