Around here, there’s a time of year that we’ve dubbed “gravy season.” Running roughly concurrently with hunting season, gravy season is a months-long marathon of hearty food drenched in gravy or other rich, creamy sauces. Is it the most refined cooking we do? Not necessarily. But we all have our guilty pleasures. And Wade’s is stroganoff.

He’s probably not alone. One of the most popular recipes for braised venison is crockpot stroganoff, with canned cream of mushroom soup. We do this from time to time- Wade’s childhood in a Mennonite church hasn’t completely lost its influence- but lately I’ve been putting my foot down. If we’re going to do this “gravy season” thing, we’re going to do it from scratch.

This recipe takes the hearty, nostalgic classic up a notch by adding the subtle textures and flavors of wild food we’ve grown to love. The shanks, confited sous-vide in duck fat, are rich and earthy, and we reserve the cooking juices to make a creamy and rich sauce for the chewy homemade egg noodles. Foraged oyster mushrooms asset their own understated flavor and texture.

Venison Osso Bucco Stroganoff

Homemade egg noodles are strongly recommended here but not necessary- you can use store-bought in a pinch. If you can’t find fresh oyster mushrooms, shiitakes will do. We will often cook, then freeze oyster mushrooms as we find them, and then use them for recipes like these. If you’re working with frozen mushrooms, allow them to thaw and then add them towards the end of the recipe.

Prep time: 40 minutes active, 24 hours inactive

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 venison shank, cross cut into 2-2.5” thick pieces

Sous-vide device, set to 176 degrees

2 tbsp duck fat

Venison stock, as needed

½  pound oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 cup sour cream

½ onion, diced fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp butter

Chives, for garnish

Homemade egg noodles, cooked

Season the shanks heavily with salt, wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day rinse off salt and pat dry. Brown shanks in pan with a little oil over medium high heat, about 2 minutes per side. Place shanks in vacuum sealer bag and add duck fat. Seal and cook for 24 hours at 176F.

When finished cooking, remove shanks from bag and reserve the liquid. There should be about 1 cup. If less, add some venison stock to bring it to that amount.

In a large saute pan on medium heat, sweat onions and garlic with butter until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, cooking, stirring often until mushrooms are about half cooked. Add 1/4c dry sherry and deglaze pan, scraping up any browned bits. Add reserved cooking liquid from the shanks, bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium low. Add sour cream, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Warm venison shanks in sauce if needed and serve over egg noodles. Garnish with chives.