A Perfect Night For Stew

Venison BourguignonOK, not really. It's hot and muggy here. But my brother mistakenly defrosted some venison stew meat for the fajitas, so I had to cook it. It's wild venison and probably a little tough, so I decided to stew the meat. I had opened a less then stellar bottle of wine, so I guess I am making "venison bourguignon." Juniper berries which--you guessed it--grow on Juniper trees are sweet and piney, and work well with game meats. I also added some onion and carrots, tomato paste, garlic, star anise, cloves, rosemary, and thyme. Hopefully it tastes good. If not, there is always take-out!

Whenever I cook venison, I think of Switzerland. I promise, this is not a non-sequitur. I found this restaurant in Zurich that, to this day, is still my favorite restaurant in the world. It is called Caduff's Wine Loft. Caduff, the chef and owner, prepares the day's menu based on what looks good in the market. The restaurant, which isn't in the greatest area of town, is unpretentious. I have to admit, I was unimpressed when I walked in and saw the stark, white-washed walls. This was before I visited the wine cellar. Instead of a wine list, Caduff takes you downstairs to his cellar. It is dark, and candle lit, and the crates of wine are dusty and covered in spider webs. Anyway, getting back to venison. My mom, brother, and I were perusing the menu written in German trying to decide what to have for dinner. Unfortunately none of us speak German. Our waitress tried to explain what each dish was in very broken English. We were doing great until we got to the Rehfleisch.  After she futilely tried to explain what it was, we commenced a game of quasi-charades.  "You know, its like Bombay," she said.  "Curry?" I asked, "no, no, Bombay."  "You mean Bambi?" my mom replied.  From now on, I am on my mom's team.

I better go check on the meat....