3Tbsp olive oil
1kg casserole venison cut into 3cm cubes
2 onions thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2Tbsp plain flour
350ml beef or vegetable stock
125ml port or red wine
2Tbsp redcurrant jelly
6 Juniper berries, crushed
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg
175g vacuum packed chestnuts (optional)
Salt and pepper
Baked or mashed potatoes to serve.
Preheat to 150c/300f
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the venison in batches if necessary, and cook until browned all over. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large casserole.
Add the onions and garlic to the frying pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 8 min, or until golden. Transfer to the casserole. Sprinkle the meat in the casserole with the flour and turn to coat evenly.
Gradually add the stock to the frying pan, stirring well and scraping the sediment from the base of the frying pan, then bring to a boil. Transfer to the casserole and stir well, ensuring that the meat is just covered.
Add the port, redcurrant jelly, juniper berries, cinnamon, a little freshly grated nutmeg and the chestnuts, if using. Season well with salt and pepper and stir well. Cover and cook in the center of the oven for 2 - 2.5 hours.
Remove from the oven and adjust seasoning if necessary.
This casserole benefits from being made the day before and reheated. Store in the refrigerator over night.
This one was from a Marks and Spencer cookbook. It was the first time I cooked Venison, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s an interesting meat, so dark, it almost looks like liver, and it had a different feel to it too. The flavor is really rich, which I was expecting, but still it caught me a bit off guard.
This was a very Christmas-y recipe. It had the cinnamon and nutmeg and chestnuts in it, I could totally imagine making this around the holidays.
The flavors were so rich and warm. To be honest, it was a bit overly rich for me. It might be nice to serve it with rice or couscous to break it up a bit. My husband didn’t think it was too rich at all, he appreciated it’s richness, but thought it was just right, so it’s definitely a matter of taste. If you like very rich foods, give this one a try. I don’t know if I’ll make this again, but I’ll be sure to try more things with venison.
3 comments:
There are many kinds of venison-deer meat. If this recipe is using very dark meat, it might be elk or Sika deer. Whitetail deer and Axis deer are much the color of beef and can use beef recipes. Whitetail meat needs to be marinanted and cooked longer-Axis doesn't. Fallow deer and Red deer can be beef color or a bit darker. Recipes using Juniper berries have originated from Europe where Fallow deer and Red Deer are the usual venison. Fallow deer has a stronger flavor which the juniper berry complements.
Thanks for the post, really effective info.
Pretty effective info, thanks for the post.
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