A day before preparing the stew, marinate the venison. Clean the pieces from the white membrane covering them and cut into bite-sized pieces. From the 2 kilos, it reduced to about 1,400 grams. It loses a lot, yes, but I'm picky about fatty and tendon-filled meat, so I like to leave it lean.

Season the meat pieces with salt and pepper and place them in a large glass bowl. Add 3 halved garlic cloves, the bay leaf, red wine, and brandy. Stir a bit, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for 24 hours.

The next day, continue with the recipe. Remove the bowl from the fridge and drain the meat pieces well, reserving the marinade liquid (discard the garlic and bay leaf) as it will be used in the stew later. Heat a good amount of oil in a pan over medium heat. Prepare a large plate with flour and coat the meat. Brown it in batches and set aside on a plate. This will take a little while.

While cooking the meat, chop the onion and heat it over low heat in a large pot with 6 tablespoons of olive oil, an open and seedless cayenne pepper, and a pinch of salt. The onion will take about 20 minutes to become translucent. During this time, prepare the paste that will give our stew an exquisite flavor. Chop the other 2 garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, and parsley and place them in a mortar.

When the onion is ready, add the paste and the crushed tomatoes and mix with a wooden spoon. Now add all the browned venison and the marinade liquid. Stir everything gently and increase the heat. When it starts to boil, lower the heat, cover, and stew the meat slowly for about 2 hours.

After an hour, I noticed the sauce was too thick, so I added the water and a bit more salt. You can adjust as it cooks.

When there are 15 minutes left for the meat to finish cooking, prepare the potatoes. Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes, and fry them in plenty of hot oil. When they are almost golden, drain them well and add them to the pot with the meat, stir carefully, and cook for 5 minutes. If you like, just after adding them, remove the pot from the heat and let everything rest for 5 minutes.

Our braised venison is ready to serve and delight the palate. The result is a dish with tender, lean, and flavorful meat with a thick sauce that invites you to dip bread. Oh! Don't forget to remove the cayenne pepper, or it will burn your tongue later.