3 LBS venison roast
6 juniper berries, crushed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teapsoon pepper
3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour

Crush the juniper berries. I do this in a mortar and pestle, but you could do it with a pop bottle on a wooden cutting board, rolling over the berries like rolling dough. If you can't get juniper berries, just skip them. Put the juniper berries, thyme, marjoram, salt, and pepper on the outside of the roast, patting the spices onto the meat.

Place about 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy casserole that has a lid, just enough to help keep the roast from sticking excessively. Heat the casserole on the stove over high heat. Add the roast and sear on all sides. To do this, just let the meat sizzle on one side over high heat about 3 to 5 minutes, until browned. When browned all over, add 1 1/2 cups of water to the pot. You want the water to come about 1/3 or 1/2 the way up the roast. It helps if you have a casserole that just barely contains the roast. Bring to a boil. Cover. Place in a oven pre-heated to 350 degrees. Every 30 minutes, remove the casserole from the oven, turn the meat over, and add additional water if needed. Turning the meat over helps keep from drying out the meat on one side.

Melt the butter in a small pot or skillet. Add the flour and stir into melted butter. Let the flour and butter mixture bubble with a low heat under it for about five minutes. Then turn the heat off. This will be used to thicken the sauce later.

After cooking for 3 1/2 hours, the meat should be done and tender. Remove the meat to a cutting board. You should have about 1 cup of liquid in the casserole that can be made into a gravy. If you have too much liquid, boil the liquid down rapidly -- perhaps in a wide skillet -- to concentrate flavor. If you have too little liquid, add some. Add some of the flour-butter mixture to the liquid and stir. Simmer the liquid. After the liquid has cooked for a couple of minutes you will know how much thickening the flour-butter addition has provided. If you want more thickness, add more flour-butter addition, adding just a little at a time so you don't over do it and make the gravy undesirably thick. Adjust the taste by adding salt -- slowly so you don't over do it!

Meanwhile you have sliced the meat into thick 1/2" slices and placed it on a serving plate. Serve the gravy in a separate bowl or dish.

I have cooked many venison and pronghorn roasts in this fashion and everyone likes it.