Made a Venison Sunday Sauce this past week. I just took my basic sunday sauce recipe and subbed in some venison shanks and shoulder meat. Here's the recipe.
1.5# venison shanks and shoulder meat, cut against the grain into 1/2" slices.
1 large onion, minced fine
1 large carrot, minced fine
2 stalks celery, minced fine
8 oz mushrooms, minced fine (I happened to have some mushrooms left over, so they went in this dish.)
2 large garlic cloves, minced fine
2T tomato paste
1 cup red wine (something low in tannins, like pinot noir or zinfandel)
1 cup beef stock
1 15-ounce can whole tomatoes
1. Swirl some oil into a hot pan, season the meat with salt and pepper, and brown the meat on all sides in batches. Remove the meat from the pan and reserve. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
2. Add more oil if needed, and add the onion, carrot, and celery and a healthy pinch of salt. Saute that until the vegetables are soft and starting to caramelize a bit. Then add the mushrooms, and cook those down until they're soft. Add the garlic, and cook that for about 30 seconds. Next goes in the tomato paste, and cook that until it starts to lose its red color.
3. Deglaze with the red wine, and cook until the pan is almost dry. Add the beef stock, tomatoes, and go after them with a potato masher to break them up a bit. Add the meat, and add more beef stock or water barely cover the meat if needed.
4. Dump everything into a casserole dish or something suitable for your oven (if you didn't start cooking this in a dutch oven), cover, and braise for 3 hours or until the meat starts to fall apart. Remove from the oven, and remove the meat pieces from the sauce.
5. Shred the meat, removing any tendons or connective tissue that didn't break down. Add the shredded meat back to the sauce, and bring everything to a simmer. Adjust the seasoning, adding salt, pepper, and a little red wine vinegar to brighten it up if it needs it. Serve it with some pappardelle and a shower of cheese.