Venison Meatballs

Yesterday I found this recipe for venison meatballs on Hank Shaw's website and I recalled that I had ground venison in the freezer.  I went to the butcher but was unable to get caul fat.  I did get uncured pancetta which was sliced very thinly which I used to wrap the meatballs.  I did have to make several other changes to the recipe:  I didn't have extra bacon or deer liver, so I just used 1.75 pounds of ground venison; I used turkey stock rather than beef stock because that was the richest stock I had, and I made gravy with the braising liquid/drippings and added sauteed hen of the woods mushrooms.

They were so good, the 13 year old asked if I could make them every single day!  (Sadly, even though the 9 year old helped me make them, they weren't a favorite.  At least 3/4 of us liked them.  Loved them, actually.)  And they were filling.  The recipe made 6 meatballs and we have one and a half left.