Venison Creole Potage

A one-line substitution rather than a standalone recipe: the method is the Rabbit Creole Potage that precedes it, with venison standing in for the rabbit. The swap is not quite one-for-one, and a few adjustments keep the pot from going dry and stringy.

• Which venison to useTwo pounds of shank, neck or shoulder, cut in 1-inch pieces, behaves most like rabbit in a long-simmered soup. Loin and leg steaks are wasted here; they seize and turn dry well before the vegetables have given anything up.
• Add fatRabbit carries a little fat and a good deal of gelatin from small bones. Venison has almost none, so brown the meat in 2 to 3 tablespoons of bacon fat, lard or oil and leave the fond in the pot. Without it the potage tastes thin.
• Longer simmerJointed rabbit is typically tender in 45 minutes to an hour; cubed venison shank wants 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a bare simmer, covered, until it pulls apart under a fork. Judge by texture rather than by the time given for the rabbit.
• Keep it below a boilA rolling boil is what makes lean game shred into fibers suspended in cloudy broth. Hold the surface at a lazy tremble and the meat stays in pieces.
• Season laterBecause the venison simmers a good deal longer, the broth reduces and concentrates more. Salt and cayenne at the end rather than the start, or the finished potage will overshoot.
• If the meat is strongFarmed venison is mild; a mature buck taken in the rut is not. A soak in salted water or buttermilk for a few hours, then a rinse, is the traditional remedy, as is skimming the pot carefully in the first twenty minutes.
• YieldTwo pounds of meat with the usual soup vegetables should give roughly six generous servings, or eight as a first course.