You cannot cook a venison roast like you would a beef roast. An overdone beef roast still retains some of its juiciness due to fat content while a venison roast will just taste dry and not have good flavor. While the method to cook a venison roast is different, it is certainly not complicated at all.

I recommend a very low-and-slow bake to distribute heat evenly throughout the roast. A roast cooked at high heat can indeed have a perfect medium-rare center, but you will find the outer layers are well-done. Our goal is a larger ratio of pink to gray. To do so, we cook the roast at 175 degrees Fahrenheit for a longer period of time and only crank up the heat to add an outer crust.

An oven-safe meat probe is super helpful here and will allow you to monitor the internal temperature of the roast throughout this process. You’ll want to turn up the heat when the internal temp reaches 112-115 then pull the roast from the oven at 125. But that isn’t medium-rare yet, right? Fun fact: The hot outer layers of the roast will continue to cook the roast. This is referred to as the “carryover effect.” While your roast rests, not only will juices evenly distribute throughout the meat, but the internal temp will rise 10-15 degrees.

The mushroom marsala cream sauce is also very simple but just requires time. It’ll take almost an hour and a half from start to finish to reduce to the sauce texture you want. But trust me: it’s worth the wait. And yes, you can use this sauce on anything, not just this roast recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2-pound venison roast (sirloin tip, top or bottom round all work great)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Granulated garlic powder
• Olive oil
• 2 cups Marsala cooking wine   
• 2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 8 ounces quartered button mushrooms   
• Optional garnish: Freshly chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley

Directions:

A few hours prior to cooking, trim all silver skin, fat, and fascia from fully thawed roast. Dust all sides with an even mix of kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and granulated garlic. Place roast back in refrigerator until ready to cook (ideally allowing at least 3 hours for roast to absorb spices).

When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat roast with olive oil. Place the roast in an oven-safe roasting or baking dish and slide into oven for 1 hour or until internal temp reads 112-115. (A meat probe works best here.)

During this time, in a medium saucepan, add Marsala cooking wine along with a dusting of kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and freshly minced garlic. Heat burner to medium. Simmer until cooking wine reduces to half or one-third. Add heavy whipping cream and turn heat to medium-low. Stir often. Allow liquids to reduce to one-third (now sauce should be thicker, darker, and have a swampy-like texture when bubbling).

After 1 hour in the oven or once roasts reaches 112-115 internal temp, turn up oven to 425. Roast for 10 more minutes then remove and allow roast to rest uncovered for 10 minutes prior to carving.

To finish sauce, after cream has reduced to approximately one-third of its original amount (will likely take an hour total for wine and cream reduction steps), add mushrooms and, while stirring frequently, allow sauce to reduce for another 20 minutes.

Serve sliced venison roasted with sauce below, overtop, or on the side. Optional: Garnish with freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Any questions or comments, please reach out on Instagram: @WildGameJack

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