We first had slow cooked venison when my wonderful husband surprised me with a trip to France to be with my best friend, Véronique, and her family for New Year celebrations a few years ago. This was the dish prepared for lunch on New Years Day and her son, Fabien was in charge of cooking it. The venison, a shoulder, was to be cooked in the oven in the gite where we would be sleeping, and Fabien needed to have it in the oven by 5am! We quickly gave him the key and told him to let himself in and out as he needed, while we slept after a wonderful (but late) New Year's Eve of Celebrations with the family. The meal was outstanding and has been forever in our memories.
With a knuckle of venison in the freezer, I decided that I would try to replicate the recipe. I messaged Fabien and he told me that it had to be seared then cooked with vegetables, garlic and white wine (preferably a sweeter white wine), for seven hours. So this is the recipe that came from the messaging.
Reduce the heat, add the bag of aromats, and then cover the entire surface of the liquid and meat with a “cartouche” (see notes).
For a cartouche simply cut a circle of parchment/baking paper slightly larger than the dimension of your pot, scrunch it up and place under running cold water to dampen and soften it. Flatten it and then place it onto the liquid surface of a casserole, soup, stock or sauce. This slows down the evaporation, prevents a skin from forming and helps to keep the ingredients submerged, as well as moist.
A mirepoix is a combination of finely diced vegetables such as carrots, parsnip, celery and onions used to add flavour and aroma to food during the cooking process.