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Maple-Roasted Rack of Venison

Servings 4
Author Emily Weeks, RDN, LD

Ingredients

For the Venison:

  • 2 - 2.5 lb rack of venison trimmed
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • olive oil
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled
  • 5 large carrots peeled and sliced
  • 15-20 pearl onions peeled

For the Polenta:

  • 1 32oz box of chicken broth
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 1/4 cup yellow corn meal
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup shallots, finely minced
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

For the venison:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the venison with salt and pepper, and rub a little olive oil and let rest at room temperature.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, chicken stock, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns and garlic. Boil until reduced by half.
  3. In a large pan, melt the butter over high heat. When hot, add the rack and brown on all sides. Remove from pan and add to a large roasting pan, meat side up. Add the carrots and onions, season with salt, and cover everything with the maple reduction.
  4. Cook for ten minutes, flipping the meat half way through. Continue cooking until a thermometer registers 130 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes more.
  5. Remove the rack from the oven and let rest for 1 minutes before slicing.
  6. Slice the rack and serve with the roasted vegetables.

For the polenta:

  1. In a medium sauce pan, add the chicken stock, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Sprinkle corn meal, 1/4 cup at a time, into the hot stock mixture, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the polenta reaches a porridge-like consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in the parmesan. Stir until smooth and set aside.

  2. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the shallots and dried thyme, stirring until shallots are soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the shallots and the cranberries to the polenta mixture.