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Haunch of Venison

A roasted haunch of venison seasoned with salt, pepper, butter, herbs, and vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Haunch of Venison

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Season the haunch of venison with salt and pepper.

Sear and roast

  1. In a large skillet, melt butter and sear the venison on all sides until browned.

  2. Transfer the venison to a roasting pan and surround it with chopped vegetables and herbs.

  3. Roast in the oven for about 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 130°F (54°C) for medium-rare.

Rest and serve

  1. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Thyme + carrottop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Pepper + rosemarytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Rosemary + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together621 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Venison haunch
Lean red meat that is the main component, cooked to a tender, juicy medium-rare.
Butter
Fat that helps brown the surface of the venison during searing.
Vegetables
Surround the meat in the pan and add aroma and sweetness as they roast.
Herbs
Add aroma to the meat and vegetables as they roast.

The step that matters

Roast to temperature, then rest. Lean venison dries out and turns tough when overcooked, so checking the internal temperature rather than relying only on time keeps it at medium-rare. Resting for 15 minutes lets juices redistribute so they stay in the meat when sliced.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, butter, thyme, rosemary, carrot):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, butter, thyme, rosemary, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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