It's going wild: Countrywoman Stefanie Wörnzhofer cooks spicy roast venison for Christmas

Created: 12/17/2022, 12:02 p.m

By: Barbara Schlotterer-Fuchs

Well, if that's not a holiday meal: Stefanie Wörnzhofer and her brother Seppi Gerold, with the support of (from left) Kathi (8), Melanie (12) and Leni (14), have put something on the plate.

© Barbara Schlotterer-Fuchs

For the last part of our Advent series, we were guests of Stefanie Wörnzhofer in Peiting.

The farmer's wife and her brother Seppi Gerold cook a festive game menu for Christmas.

Peiting - Now it's going "wild"!

But something!

Together with the Peitingen country woman Stefanie Wörnzhofer and her brother Seppi Gerold, who is a hunter, we dare to try a delicious holiday dish that many people shy away from: game.

Strictly speaking deer.

So much can already be revealed: You don't have to be good at game.

"You just have to dare," recommends Jäger Seppi.

He shot, gutted and butchered the deer himself.

A first class local product from the Hirschauer cattle pasture.

Deer as a festive meal for Christmas: Stefanie Wörnzhofer and Seppi Gerold make every move perfectly

It's easy to guess that he and his sister aren't the first to dare to try leg and saddle of venison.

Every move is right here.

Bones and tendons are removed from the club.

It all goes in one pot, with red wine.

That's the secret that will give the sauce the finishing touch at the end of the day: the bones and leftovers simmer with red wine for just as long as the roast in the oven - namely two hours - and are refilled again and again.

In the end, it's just a tiny remnant that should stay.

Half a liter of red wine has then evaporated in the pot.

What remains after draining is a minimum of sauce.

"That would now become jelly when cold," explains Seppi.

This in turn makes the sauce really creamy at the end.

Sossenbinder: None.

Oven roasting ceremony lasts two hours

Meanwhile, the seared venison is simmering in the oven.

The seasoning is simple: pepper, salt, garlic.

The roast is peppered with bacon.

Also on top comes another layer of bacon with flakes of butter.

Without bacon it would be a dry affair.

Root vegetables are chopped into cubes on top.

The roasting ceremony in the oven lasts two hours.

In ten-minute intervals it is alternately: pour in the broth, pour in the red wine, broth, red wine, and so on and so forth.

And also with butter is brushed again and again.

"So that it stays nice and juicy." The vegetables have long since slid into the corner of the Raindl.

Bay leaves and allspice are added.

It simmers and simmers and simmers.

Lamb's lettuce with caramelized nuts for a starter, baked apple muffins for dessert

The good piece of local meat would not even have been necessary.

After all, Stefanie Wörnzhofer is very clear in her idea of ​​​​good local products: nothing needs to be stewed to death here.

She focuses on quality.

"I want it young and tender."

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During the simmering season, she and her three daughters prepare the side dishes, appetizers and desserts.

The Christmas menu that the Wörnzhofer family has put together for the readers of the Schongauer Nachrichten reads like a dream: Lamb’s lettuce with caramelized nuts is followed by an amazing main course with bacon-wrapped deer, spaetzle and red cabbage, followed by baked apple muffins with berries with vanilla ice cream.

Delicious!

The siblings' Christmas menu used to look different

By the way: when Steffi and Seppi – who grew up in the Gerold house with three siblings in Langau – were still children, at least the Christmas Eve meal looked very different: shish kebabs at lunchtime.

Weisswurst in the evening.

In the evening?

Yes, of course!

Dad had to go to the barn in the farm in the evening.

"And we children still wanted to get our presents quickly," the siblings say.

Incidentally, they kept the shashlik for Christmas Eve lunchtime, Stefanie, her brother with her parents, and the siblings too.

Nothing beats family tradition!

But today is a real feast.

And that takes a lot of hands: Kathi (8) hands out the spices, Melanie (12) makes the dressing for the lamb's lettuce, and Leni (14) caramelizes the nut mixture – she just learned that in home economics class at school.

Meanwhile, Stefanie is grinding in the spaetzle.

A tip from the trained housekeeper: fished out of the boiling water, they first end up in a cold water bath.

This keeps the fresh pasta from sticking together.

Stories from childhood days: the family donkeys brought the Steingaden crib to life

What a delightful culinary family event!

The afternoon of Christmas Eve at the Gerold family's home in Riesen near Steingaden was more busy when today's chefs were children.

The donkeys that brought the living nativity scene to life in Steingaden lived on their parents' farm.

In the afternoon, on the occasion of the Christmas animal use, it was groomed and neatly dressed up.

And while the deer is being poured and painted in the oven, Seppi and Stefanie talk about the Christ Child.

Even today, her father – today as grandpa – still tells the grandchildren the story that as a child he secretly looked through the keyhole and was discovered by the Christ child.

The caught Santa would then have collected all the presents again.

The deer falls onto the plate soft as butter - the menu is ready

"That's why we never dared to look into the room," says Stefanie Wörnzhofer.

Not even through the keyhole.

After all, they, brother Seppi and the other three siblings, might have had to forfeit the presents otherwise.

Well, we're glad that we don't have to look through the keyhole while cooking today, but can get a taste of the pot of divine culinary art.

The oven opens one last time, and a wonderful scent fills the whole kitchen.

Delicious smells creep up the nose.

Seppi presses the finished meat with his thumb.

"Oh yeah, that comes off the bone nicely." That's an understatement.

Soft as butter, the deer falls almost directly onto the plate.

The root vegetables remain in the sauce, they could also be pureed for children.

The dream sauce does not need binding, but can be refined with a dash of cream if you like.

Local and made with love: how much more festive can such a Christmas menu be?

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The menu to cook at home

The ingredients:

1 saddle of venison or parts of venison

Salt, pepper for seasoning

1 clove of garlic

1-3 tbsp oil for frying

8 to 12 slices of bacon

some butter for rubbing

1-2 onions

1-2 carrots

2 bay leaves

some juniper berries

1 small sprig of rosemary

500 ml broth

1 bottle of strong red wine

some cream to top it off

cranberries

The recipe:

Clean the venison, salt, pepper and rub a little with garlic.

Lard the venison with bacon if you like and then sear briefly on all sides.

Line the roasting pan with bacon and then place the remaining ham on the saddle of venison.

Spread with butter.

Add the root system and the wild spices and then push into the oven and roast at 150 degrees for about 1.5 hours, depending on the size.

Brush occasionally with butter and alternately pour broth and red wine over and over again.

At the same time let the eyes and bones simmer in the red wine.

After 1.5 to 2 hours, carve the venison.

Round off the sauce with cream.

Spaetzle, red cabbage and cranberries complete the dish.