Traditional Hungarian Goulash (Gulyásleves)

March 02, 2016 by Aurel Pop in Soup

The time has arrived for me to post my very traditional beef goulash recipe. My first post on this blog was for Chicken Paprikash, another Hungarian staple. After trying it, many of my readers requested my goulash recipe. Goulash is the most famous Hungarian dish in the world. It’s one of Hungary’s national dishes -- the symbol of their country. And it is for a good reason. It’s a dish made with basic ingredients like meat, peppers and root vegetables elevated to perfection by the use of Hungary’s most famous spice: paprika. Goulash can be made with beef, pork or even chicken, but the traditional way of making it is with beef.

Speaking of traditions, goulash is usually made by men. Hungarian men take a lot of pride in making this dish. They are often cook-offs where the best Hungarian goulash cooks measure their skills. When I lived in Hungary, goulash was my go-to dish when I had a large group of friends over for dinner. Also, every time my friends and I went camping, I was the one responsible for making bográcsgulyás, which is a goulash made in a huge enamel cast iron or stainless steel cauldron, outdoors over wood fire.

Making the dish also goes hand-in-hand with drinking pálinka, Hungary’s national drink. There is something about getting smoky while standing around a huge kettle of goulash that’s slowly cooking over a wood fire while sharing a bottle of homemade pálinka with your best friends that makes you feel fulfilled and happy. Stories starting flowing, and playful teasing and bantering follow. That’s what goulash is about: friends, laughter, drinks and flavorful food.

If you ever get to Hungary ask a local to cook goulash for you (preferably outdoors in bogrács). You’ll experience something beautiful, and you’ll get a good understanding of their culture, even if you aren’t able to understand their language. Hungarian is very unique, so don’t get too downhearted if you’re unable to pick it up right away. It’s unrelated to any other language in the world, and it’s rather difficult. A friend of mine, Erin, attempted to learn it after making a dumb bet (when she was drunk of course) with my other friend, Alex. She was so excited about learning Hungarian for about two weeks, after which she gave up.

Hungarians are the proudest people you will ever meet. Although only half-Hungarian, I identify with Hungarian culture. We take pride in our traditions, language, food, and drinks. Our food consists of simple dishes made with simple ingredients turned into delicious, fragrant and hearty dishes. Chicken paprikash (paprikás csirke), Pork stew (sertéspörkölt), and Beef goulash (marhagulyás) are just a few of our most famous dishes. The basic ingredients are the same: meat, onions, peppers, and paprika. Even the cooking technique is similar for all three of them -- sauté some onions, add a bunch of Hungarian paprika to it, add some meat, and follow with peppers. You basically make a stew. From there it’s the final touch that makes a paprikash, paprikash and a goulash, goulash -- add sour cream for the former, and water and root vegetables for the latter.

Hungarian paprika is the signature flavor in most famous Hungarian dishes. It is very different than let’s say Spanish paprika. Hungarian paprika is sundried, whereas its Spanish counterpart is slowly smoked over a wood fire. As a result, the flavors differ significantly. Hungarian paprika is known for its rich, bittersweet, and intense red peppery flavor, whereas the Spanish one is more delicate and smoky. It’s worth the money to buy the Hungarian variety for this dish to get an authentic Hungarian flavor. Jó étvágyat!

TRADITIONAL HUNGARIAN GOULASH (GULYASLEVES)

Serves 10-12
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 2.5 hours
Inactive time: 2 hours

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. pork lard (or bacon fat, or vegetable oil)
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 ½ tsp ground caraway seeds
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ Tbsp. Hungarian paprika
2 dried bay leaves
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 lbs. beef shoulder, cut into ½ inch cubes (chuck and shank are also good)
5 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 Hungarian waxed peppers (or Anaheim peppers), deseeded and cut into half rings
¾ lb. carrots (about 2-3 large carrots), peeled and cut into rounds
½ lb. parsley roots (about 2-3 parsley roots), peeled and cut into rounds (or parsnips)
½ lb. celery root (1 small celery root), peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
3-4 sprigs of fresh parsley leaves, tied together
4-5 cups hot water
1 ½ tsp wood smoked salt, optional
½ TBS kosher salt
sour cream, optional
½ cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

In a large cast iron Dutch oven, heat lard over medium-high heat. When the lard starts shimmering, add onions and cook for 8 minutes. Stir often so they don’t burn. If they start browning, add a tablespoon of water.
Stir in caraway seeds, black pepper and bay leaves, and cook for 2 more minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, and sprinkle paprika all over the onions. Stir often! (Burnt paprika is bitter.)
Return the Dutch oven to the fire. Add ½ cup beef broth, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add beef cubes and garlic. Stir well until each piece is coated with paprika gravy. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the beef cubes start browning.
Mix in tomatoes, peppers and the remainder of the broth (1 ½ cup). The broth should cover the meat and vegetables by an inch or two. If it doesn’t, add hot water.
Reduce the heat to low, cover the Dutch oven, and let it simmer for an hour and a half.
Add the root vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, and potatoes) and the tied parsley leaves to the pot. Add 4-5 cups of hot water to cover by an inch or two.
Season with salt, and bring soup to a boil over high heat. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 30 minutes uncovered.
Using a sieve, skim off the scum. Remove the parsley sprigs and the bay leaves and discard them. Taste and adjust saltiness.
Serve goulash hot with fresh bread. You can add an optional dollop of sour cream to the top and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Notes

I usually add the salt at the end when cooking with beef, so that it stays tender rather than becoming chewy.
Recently I discovered wood smoked salt at my local grocery store, so I used a bit to simulate the subtle smoky flavor that comes from traditional goulash. Historically, goulash was made on wood fire in a cast iron enamel cauldron.

Fondant Potatoes

September 04, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Side Dish

Let me start this blog post by saying that potatoes are my favorite vegetable. They are delicious, filling, versatile and easy to cook. Both in Hungarian and Romanian cuisine the potato is sacred and it's used a lot, either as a side dish, or as a dish of its own (most often a casserole). Ask any of your friends that has been to Eastern Europe what was the side dish for that amazing gulyás, pörkölt or snițel.

As a teenager, I ate a lot. Even though my mom and grandma always found joy in cooking for me, there were times when they ran out of ideas for meals. During the summer it was easy as they would make me grab vegetables from the garden and prepare myself a salad with olive oil and a lots of bread. During the winter though it was harder to get a hold of fresh vegetables so they had to rely on my grandpa who preserved his vegetables in his cellar. Even though it wasn't well-lit, warm or even paved, the cellar was where my grandpa spent a lot of time during the winter. The main reason was that he stored barrels of wine and ţuică (Romanian brandy made out of plums) there, as well as a lot of root vegetables that he harvested during the fall. He filled up a corner of the basement with a foot of sand where he kept the carrot, parsley, potato, kohlrabi and celery roots covered during the winter. The sand kept the vegetables from freezing during the winter, and also kept them hydrated because the sand absorbed the moisture from the ground.

I remember the nights when my whole family would just sit around the kitchen table and eat baked potatoes with fresh butter. My mom would just toss a few whole potatoes in the oven, roast them then serve them with butter, salt and pepper. It was delicious and to this day, every time I eat potatoes with butter, I remember the aroma that filled our kitchen on those cold winter nights.

Fondant potatoes may sound fancy and complicated to a lot of people. If you take a look at the recipe though, you soon realize that they are actually browned potatoes slowly roasted in butter and stock. You probably find them on the side dish menu at French restaurants as Pommes Fondantes. I made this for the first time a few years ago after watching an episode of Essential Pepin. I experimented with different combination of aromatics, but the ultimate winner is the garlic and thyme combo. You can try using rosemary instead of thyme, or pearl onions instead of garlic. Don't be afraid to experiment with this dish, as it's almost impossible to mess up. Have fun!

Serves 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs baby potatoes, halved (peeled or unpeeled)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 TBS peanut oil (canola or sunflower seed)
3 sprigs thyme
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 TBS butter, unsalted
3/4 cup stock (vegetable or chicken)
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
coarse sea salt, to taste
1 TBS parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 415F (210C) degrees.
Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper.
In a heavy bottomed skillet heat up oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is sizzling hot, gently place the potatoes in the pan with the cut size down. It is important that the oil be hot, otherwise the potatoes will stick to the skillet.
Roast for about 4-5 minutes until they get a nice golden brown sear. Turn them over and repeat the procedure for another 4-5 minutes or until the other side becomes golden brown as well.
Add thyme, garlic and butter. Toss to coat the potatoes with melted butter and cook for about 2 minutes.
Carefully pour in stock and season with salt and pepper. The hot grease may splatter when it gets in contact with the stock, so pay extra attention.
Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender and easy to pierce with a knife.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle more black pepper, salt and parmesan cheese if you'd like and toss. Serve hot.

Pork Belly and Oyster Mushroom Potato Hash

August 24, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Breakfast/Brunch

The time has come for me to post a heartier and manlier dish here on gourmetcubicle. As of late, I committed to getting back in shape by losing the extra weight I gained during my business trip. I picked up running again and, for the first time since college, I started lifting weights. Getting enough exercise has never been a concern of mine though, as I've always been active, either playing soccer in Zilker Park or volleyball on various leagues around town. The biggest challenge for me when it comes to losing weight is to hold back from eating so much. I severely lack discipline in the kitchen.

I love carbs. It doesn't matter if it's pasta, fresh crispy breads or starches, I embrace them all. I like to blame my weakness for carbs on the Romanian and Hungarian food culture. Bread and potatoes are two things that are never missing from the dining table. Abundance is the word that best describes both these cuisines. You'll never walk out of the house of a Romanian or Hungarian feeling hungry or anything short of being completely full.

It all comes down to our culture of hospitality, and Romanians take hospitality extremely seriously. We greet our guests and visitors with fresh baked bread and salt. It's a tradition that dates back to before Christianity and it is seen as a symbol of acceptance and kindness. But why two simple things like bread and salt, you may ask? Well, bread was the main source of food representing the wealth of the fields for the peasants, whereas salt, for a long time in history, was one of the most expensive and valuable assets in trading.

Fun Fact: the word companion, which is defined as a person or animal one shares significant time with, comes from Latin and has at its roots the words com- meaning "with" in English, and panis, which is "bread".

Moving on to our recipe today, this is a dish so versatile that you can serve it for breakfast, brunch or even dinner. It is a savory, flavorful and filling dish, easy enough to be prepared even by a beginner cook. The pork belly can be substituted with bacon if that's something that is more accessible, and the brussels sprouts can be replaced by broccoli florets of roughly chopped cabbage. Enjoy!

PORK BELLY AND OYSTER MUSHROOM POTATO HASH

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TBS sunflower seed oil (or peanut)
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2-3 jalapeños, sliced (remove seeds and membrane for milder version)
1 1/2 lbs medium potatoes, unpeeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 lb brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
4-5 green onions, roughly chopped
1 lb oyster mushrooms, rinsed
1 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 medium lemon juiced (about 1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 eggs, pasture raised
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
1 tsp smoked paprika (for garnish)
salt, to taste

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork belly with salt and pepper.
Heat one tablespoon oil in an oven proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add pork belly and cook for about 10 minutes until the bits become crispy and golden brown. Stir occasionally.
Remove the pork bites from the pan and transfer them to a paper towel lined plate or a wire rack. Add the rest of the oil to the skillet.
Preheat oven to 400F (200C) degrees.
Add onion to the skillet carefully. Be careful not to toss it in because you risk getting burned by the splattering oil. Cook for 3 minutes. Add jalapeños and cook for another 2 minutes. Add potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper and one teaspoon smoked paprika. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes stirring every now and then. Add the brussels sprouts. Cook for 10 minutes and then add green onions, mushrooms, butter, lemon juice and quarter cup parsley (half of the total amount). Cook for 5-7 more minutes. Toss and stir occasionally.
Remove skillet from the heat. Toss in the pork belly bits and gently stir. Crack the eggs on top of the hash and place the skillet in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the eggs are cooked to your favored consistency. 10 minutes baking will yield a runny egg (my favorite) whereas 15 minutes will get the egg cooked all the way through.
Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and smoked paprika. Taste and adjust saltiness. Serve hot.

Potato and Leek Rösti with Poached Eggs

July 20, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Breakfast/Brunch

This week I'm going to show you how to make one of my favorite brunches. It's a vegetarian dish that can be served either as a side dish or on its own with a dollop of sour cream. It also can easily be turned into something more filling, by adding smoked salmon and poached or fried eggs to it.

I love weekends so much especially when I don't have to travel. Not only because I get to relax, but mostly because I get to spend a lot of time around the kitchen cooking. Another important aspect of the weekends is that I can cook and eat my breakfast in my pajamas without having to fully wake up. I don't enjoy talking early in the morning, at least not until I get to eat. Roni also gets grumpy without having food or coffee first thing in the morning. For the sake of everyone in Austin, we try not to leave our house without eating or drinking coffee, and take out the grumpiness on each other.

Although I named this dish rösti, which is a Swiss dish, I found inspiration for it during my time in Hungary. Over there it's called either tócsni or lepcsánka depending on which region you visit and who you ask. It is very similar to the traditional rösti, but Hungarians sometimes add flour and eggs to the concoction. I prefer it without flour as it makes me feel better about eating healthier.

I made a few modifications of course, namely I added leeks and parsley to the potatoes. I like bold flavors and find potatoes alone to be a bit bland. If you don't like leeks, you can substitute them for onions or carrots. Same goes the parsley- use spinach or kale instead if that's what you prefer. Dare to improvise and try different combos until you find your favorite. As for me, this is my favorite. Jó étvágyat!

POTATO AND LEEK RÖSTI WITH POACHED EGGS

Serves 2-4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 large leek, cleaned and finely chopped
8-10 cremini mushrooms
2 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 TBS kosher salt
1/2 TBS, black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter, unsalted
1 TBS olive oil
8-10 tomatoes on the vine
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS butter, unsalted
1/2 TBS butter, unsalted
2-4 eggs, pasture raised
kosher salt, to taste
1 TBS white vinegar
2 oz. smoked salmon (optional)
1 TBS crème fraîche (or sour cream)(optional)

Instructions

Clean the leek by cutting and discarding the dark green woody leaves and the root end. Clean, chop it finely.
Clean the mushrooms by trimming the dry tip of the stem.
In a medium bowl combine the grated potatoes, leeks, parsley and jalapeño. Sprinkle half tablespoon salt and mix well until the mixture is evenly coated with salt. Set aside and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.
Handful by handful, squeeze the potato and leek mixture to get rid of the starchy and salty water. Sprinkle half tablespoon of freshly cracked black pepper, one teaspoon salt, and one tablespoon of olive oil and stir until everything is well mixed together and evenly coated.
Heat one tablespoon butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts and starts foaming, scatter the potato mixture over the skillet. Using a spatula, gently press molding it into a 1/2-3/4 inch pancake. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, shaking skillet occasionally, until edges are golden brown.
Meanwhile, heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Drizzle with one tablespoon olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the mushrooms and tomatoes to the pan. Sprinkle with a pinch salt and pepper. Let them cook while you flip and cook the other side of the rösti, shaking the pan every now and then.
Cover the skillet with an inverted large plate. Flip rösti onto the plate. Add another tablespoon of butter to the skillet and let it melt. Once the butter starts foaming, slide the rösti back into the skillet, cooked side up. Cook for another 10-15 minutes until the bottom becomes golden brown. While it is cooking, using a silicone brush, spread half tablespoon butter on the top of the rösti.
Remove the tomatoes and mushrooms from the heat and set aside until you're ready to serve it.
In the meantime, poach or fry the eggs, whichever you prefer.
Poaching may be more challenging if you’ve never done it before. If poaching, fill a medium non-stick pan with about 2 inches water. Heat the water over medium heat. Add one tablespoon white vinegar and a pinch of salt and bring water to a simmer. Crack eggs one by one into a espresso cup and slide them into the simmering water. The vinegar in the water will prevent the egg whites from spreading. Turn heat to minimum, cover the pan and let the eggs poach for about 4 minutes. When done, remove with a sieve.
Once the rösti is ready, slide it on a cutting board or a large plate. Cut in four and serve with smoked salmon and poached eggs on top and a side of roasted tomatoes and mushrooms. You can add a dollop of creme fresh or sour cream to the top, too. Enjoy!

Notes

To clean leek, use a pairing knife to slice it lengthwise starting from about 1/4 of inch from the root up to the leaves. Rotate the leek, and slice it again starting from the root. Fan the leeks open and place them under cold running water. Rinse out any dirt or sand until the leeks are clean.
To clean mushroom, fill a quarter of a bowl with cold tap water. Drop mushrooms into the bowl. Submerge each one and then lift them out of the water with your hands. Place them on a paper towel and let them dry. Never clean mushrooms by rinsing them under running tap water, as the flavors will be washed away as well.
I love fresh black pepper, so I usually add more than half tablespoon to the potato and leek mixture.

Bacon Wrapped Venison With Balsamic Fig Reduction

June 25, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Main Dish

I'm now in Singapore, but my mind is still in Hungary. I love going there and getting to see old friends that I worked with for 4 years before moving to Austin. It always fills me with joy being around them. I wasn't able to let all of them know that I would be coming home, so when I ran into them in the office hallway or cafeteria they were surprised and happy to see me. We just start talking and it always feels as though I never left, even though we hadn't seen each others in years. The conversations start where they been left off years ago.

The thing that I love to do the most while I'm in Hungary - apart from hanging out with old friends- is eat. Eating is sacred in Hungary and meat, in any form and shape, is the ultimate food. Game meat is especially common in Eastern European cuisine.

Although my dad and grandfather were big into hunting, it never turned into something that I was interested in. As a kid I joined dad on a few of his hunting trips, but I was more fascinated by the nature than killing animals. As kids our role was to herd the game towards the hunters. I shot only a few times in Romania, since firearm restrictions are a lot more strict. I never actually shot anything, but came close to shooting a duck once. Another time I saw a deer about 50 feet away from me but when I pointed the gun in its direction and saw its big wet eyes, I couldn't pull the trigger. My dad wasn't happy with that, so he stopped taking me hunting.

What I loved most about dad's hunting trips was that we never returned empty-handed even though we didn't always shoot something. If we saw beautiful mushrooms, we'd pick them. I learned which ones were edible and which one were not from my mom, who read several books and was able to recognize the good ones. Other times we'd pick wild berries. Or sometimes dad would shoot pike fish. Pike is well known to spawn really close to the surface where they are visible from the shore. That's when my dad would shoot them and bring them home.

I know game meat is not for everyone. Roni, for example, will not eat any game meat, no matter how well prepared it is. Venison tenderloins and backstraps are absolutely delicious and if you haven't tried them, please do because you're missing out on something extraordinary. I prefer marinating them before cooking to remove the gamey taste and infuse them with great aromas. When preparing game meat in Romania and Hungary, juniper and nutmeg are always present, as they help bring out the sweetness of the meats that makes them so delicious. Game meat pairs really well with fruity sauces or reductions. If you have fresh berries on hand you could use that instead of figs.

As for a side dish, I prefer mashed potatoes with pan roasted meats. I also found parsnips and broccoli in the fridge so that's how this mash came to be. Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Venison With Balsamic Fig Reduction

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Inactive time: 1/2 day

Ingredients

Marinade

1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 juniper seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Venison

1 1/2 lbs venison backstrap, cleaned (or tenderloin)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
8-10 slices bacon (or prosciutto)
2 TBS peanut oil (or sunflower seed oil)
2 TBS unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 sprigs fresh oregano (or rosemary, thyme, or tarragon)
salt, to taste

Balsamic Fig Reduction

1 small shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 cup dry Solera sherry
1/3 cup beef stock
10-12 fresh figs (or 1/2 cup fig preserve with lemon juice to reduce the sweetness)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 TBS unsalted butter
salt, to taste

Parsnip and Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and diced
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1/2 lbs broccoli florets
1 1/2 TBS salt, for boiling the vegetables
3 TBS butter (or basting fat from the venison or a mix of both)
1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream)
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
salt, to taste

Instructions

Mix all marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag along with the venison backstrap. Seal the bag and shake well. Put the backstrap in the refrigerator and let it marinade overnight.
Preheat oven to 360F (180C) degrees. Put the parsnip, potatoes and broccoli into a large pot. Cover with water, add 1 1/2 TBS of salt and bring to a boil.
Remove venison from the refrigerator, pat dry and discard the marinade. Sprinkle fresh ground pepper on it. Lay bacon or prosciutto overlapping each other about a quarter of an inch on a plastic wrap. Place the venison on the top and slowly lift the plastic wrap starting from the top end. The venison will start rolling over the bacon. Wrap everything tightly in plastic plastic wrap. Set it aside and let it rest for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
By this time the vegetables should be boiling. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork. Set an alarm if you have to because you'll be multitasking.
Add oil to a heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet.
Heat oil over medium-high heat until it starts shimmering. When it's almost smoking add wrapped venison and roast it for 3-4 minutes on each side until the bacon is crispy. If using prosciutto you may need to cook it for about 2 minutes on each side.
Reduce heat to medium, add butter, aromatic herbs and crushed garlic and baste venison wrap for 5 more minutes. Scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of grease and save it in a small bowl. You'll need it for the cumberland sauce and the mash.
Remove skillet from heat and place it in the middle shelf of the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes or less. If you have a thermometer make sure the inside temperature of the venison is not higher than 125F (50C) degrees.
While the meat is in the oven, start the cumberland sauce by adding half of the saved fat to a small or medium sauce pan. Heat it up over medium heat and add shallots. Sweat them for 2-3 minutes and add the sherry and vinaigrette. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add the beef stock and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add the figs and lightly crush them with a spatula or spoon. Cook for 5-6 minutes, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until the sauce thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Transfer venison to a plate and wrap it in tin foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. This is an essential step for every meat that you roast. If you don't rest it the meat will bleed when sliced losing the delicious and precious juices.
By this time your vegetables are tender as well. Drain them well and while they are still warm, add butter (or grease from the venison basting sauce), cream, and black pepper. Using a potato masher or a hand mixer, mash the vegetables to your desired consistency. If you like it creamier add more butter and mash them longer. I prefer my mash chunky so I always use the masher. Taste the potato mash and adjust saltiness. You will need more salt than usually because of the sweetness of the parsnips and broccoli.
Cut venison into medallions and serve with the fig reduction. Serve with parsnip and broccoli mash, or alternately with asparagus, roasted rustic potatoes or creamy polenta with cheese.

NOTES

I use a plastic wrap to help with wrapping the bacon tightly around the venison. It also saves me some time as I don't need to wrap the bacon strips around the venison one-by-one.
If you are not using a heavy skillet, the cooking times may need to be less. I prefer cast iron because the heat is distributed evenly and the shifts in temperature aren't that sudden when reducing/increasing heat under it.