Wondering what to make with venison liver? This venison braunschweiger or liverwurst dumpling recipe is the perfect thing to serve. Everyone will like it, whether your family likes deer liver or not. They end up tasting a bit like summer sausage and you don't need a sausage stuffer to make them.
I'm always looking for interesting ways to serve deer liver to people that don't think they like offal. These traditional German dumplings are a great way to do that.
Liver and kidneys, especially from ruminants like deer, lamb and goat, are some of the hardest to get people to like. Cooking with them means finding a way to hide them or dress them up. These smokey, bacon-y braunschweiger dumplings are a study in different you can do that.
3 ways to calm liver: cut it, leech it and smoke
Calming the liver is basically a 3-pronged process. First, the liver is soaked. Typically you'll see liver being purged in milk, which works.
When the livers are from venison, I'll soak them in a few changes of water. This is similar to how I leech the tannins from acorns. The longer you soak the liver liver, the more gamey flavor you'll remove.
The second part is cutting the liver with another ingredient, in this case, breadcrumbs. Flour can work, but, if overworked will toughen. Breadcrumbs won't form gluten strands or get tough.
Lastly, smoke. Liver loves smoked things, especially bacon. If you're not aware, see my original post on venison bacon here. Of course, you can use good old pork bacon, but it won't be the same.
Venison bacon is fatty, and, that's a good thing, as the fat helps the dumplings firm up after adding the breadcrumbs. Pork bacon isn't as easy to puree as homemade bacon, so make sure to pulse it first in the food processor.
Freeze the bacon first to make it easier. You can also use pork fat, but it won't have the smoky flavor liver loves.
After you make the puree of liver, you just add some breadcrumbs, season it up a bit, and let the batter firm in the fridge. Traditionally you'd poach the dumplings directly in some good broth, and serving them could be as simple as that.
I like to blanch them in salted water and then add them to another soup. The soup at the top of this post is a good example. All it is is a simple soup of celery root, kale, cauliflower and potatoes cooked in chicken broth.
More Venison Recipes
Venison Braunshweiger or Liver Dumplings
Equipment
- High speed blender or good food processor
Ingredients
- 12 oz venison or other liver cut into 2 inch pieces
- 4 oz venison or other bacon finely chopped or ground
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup breadcrumbs preferably sourdough
- 1 large egg
- 10 scrapings of fresh nutmeg or ¼ teaspoon ground
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram or ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger or ½ teaspoon dried
- ½ small onion 2 oz
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Soak the liver in water to cover by ½ inch for 24 hours, changing the liquid a few times during the process.
- In the bowl of a food processor or high speed blender, pulse all the ingredients except the baking powder and breadcrumbs. Puree until as smooth as possible to blend the meat and fat.
- A highspeed blender is the best option here. If you use a food processor, consider blending all ingredients except the liver, which you should add in small batches.
- The mixture should be liquid enough to be pourable. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, stir in the breadcrumbs and allow to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Bring 2 qts of stock or water to a simmer. Season the liquid with salt to taste. Sift the baking powder to break up lumps, then beat into the meat mixture.
- Using a scoop, or two large spoons, form dumplings about the size of small golf balls, and poach in the beef stock for 10 minutes. Serve the dumplings in their broth, or cool them and reserve, and add to another soup.
ashok
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.