COOK: Lugnasadah Venison Jagerschnitzel with Wild Mushrooms

What’s a better way to celebrate a harvest festival than with a meal of wild foods?

Lugnasadah, or Lammas, is the first of the harvest festivals- a cross-quarter day in the modern “Wheel of the Year”. It’s August 1st, the midpoint between the summer solstice and Mabon.

Traditionally, the first of the “corn” (which would have been oat, barley, or wheat, not maize, obviously) would be harvested as an offering, pilgrimages to sacred springs or mountain treks, and games and feasts held.

We don’t have any wheat fields from which to gather (yet), but the three of us (me, K, and Tormod the dog) took a four and a half mile hike through some woods, snacked on some tiny wild blackberries (which, though the size of a pinky nail, pack in more foxy flavor than the gooseberry-sized thornless ones we grow at home).

And hallelujah, found a bounty of mushrooms. Well, enough for a supper or two, anyway! A couple small clumps of pearl oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus), a few chanterelles (probably Cantharellus chicagoensis), and two wee chestnut boletes (Gyroporus castaneus).

 

I had pulled a venison heart out of the freezer to thaw before we left, but wasn’t sure what I was going to make until after I found these mushrooms.

We luckily have a few deer hearts stashed in the chest freezer, as K’s dad had everyone save the hearts and livers for us from deer camp last year (we weren’t able to go, stupid plague, but his dad took care of us and sent us home with a few coolers of venison and fish when we were finally able to visit this summer).

I had a batch of multigrain no-knead bread rising (bread flour, and fresh stoneground wheat and rye berries), and homemade cabbage-apple kraut with caraway and mustard seed in the fridge, and a still-new-to-me very-vintage Kull spaetzel press that I’m trying to get the hang of… And what’s a better pairing than venison jagerschnitzel? (which translates to “hunter’s schnitzel”, with a mushroom sauce, since you’d be just as likely to stumble upon those while out hunting for your hind in the forest).

I trimmed and rinsed the deer heart, and gave Tormod the scraps that I didn’t save for stock…Best. Dog. Treats. Ever… his reward for *mostly* staying out of the kitchen while we cook.

Slice the cleaned heart into two slabs and pound them thin with an aluminum mallet while the bread was baking (in a vintage Romertopf that works great for no-knead breads instead of a dutch oven — just make sure you soak and then preheat it with the oven with a bit of water in it, then drain the water, oil the pan lightly, turn your proofed loaf into the pan and cover).

Mince a few cloves of garlic and add a few tablespoons of red wine (I used a malbec that was open) and turn the cutlets to coat with the mixture. Then season some flour lightly with salt and fresh ground black pepper in a shallow dish, and lightly coat the cutlets to dry the surface- this will help get a good sear without overcooking, and thicken the sauce (K. jokingly complained as he was scrubbing dishes while I cooked, “Is there gluten in everything?” Yes?).

Press the spaetzel batter out into a boiling pot of salted water while you sweat the mushrooms and some fresh thyme in a cast iron pan. Scoop out the spaetzel as they float to the top and keep warm in a pot or covered casserole and toss with butter.

Add bacon fat, a small diced onion and garlic to the mushrooms and saute until onion has a bit of color, then set aside.

In the same pan, add more bacon fat and quickly sear the floured slices of heart. Don’t overcook! Overcooked heart is a tragedy- remember that they’ll carry-over and keep cooking as you are making the pan sauce.

Set them aside with the mushrooms, and add some butter and flour to the pan (use the seasoned flour if there’s any left, or a few tablespoons of all-purpose) and whisk to make a roux.

Add 1-2 cups of brown stock and whisk until the sauce is smooth. Reduce and season to taste (I added a few tablespoons of red wine for some acidity, and a dash or two of mushroom soy sauce), and whisk in a knob of butter if you like just before serving.