Sorry Rudolf!

For some the idea of eating deer just seems wrong and misplaced in today's modern society, and if you have kids you couldn't pick a worse time than around Xmas to prepare a meal using this kind of meat. Either way it tastes absolutely divine, has a lower fat content than beef and can be obtained far more cheaply too, yet despite this it isn't very accessible in supermarkets and as result most people tend not to think about when it comes to cooking.

I love it and tonight I prepared a meal inspired by a recipe I found online.

Serves 3-4 people:

500g of diced venison (shoulder)
extra virgin olive oil
50g of unsalted butter
2 medium white onions
2 decent sized carrots
2-3 sticks of celery
1 swede
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 hot green chilli (I keep the seeds in)
2-3 bay leaves
3 tbsp of redcurrant jelly
1 bottle of red wine (cheap stuff will do)
a few sprigs of rosemary
400 ml of beef stock
250g of oyster mushrooms
1 handful parsley

Roughly chop all of the veg into small chunks and add to a heavy pan with a few glugs of olive oil, half the butter and the bay leaves. Fry this off gently on a medium heat for 10-15 mins stirring frequently. Remove from the pan and add to a large bowl

Lightly flour the venison (this will help it seal) and season with salt and pepper before adding to the same pan with a few more glugs of oil and the remainder of the butter. Cook the meat on a high heat until nicely browned all over (approx 5-8 mins).

Return the veg to the pan, add the redcurrant jelly and stir for a few minutes before pouring in roughly 500ml of red wine (pour yourself the rest!). Bring to the boil, add the rosemary and turn the heat down slightly for a few minutes.

Add the beef stock, place a lid on the pan and slide into a preheated oven at 175 degrees C for 1.5 hours stirring half way through.

Remove from the oven, place over a low heat and add the roughly chopped mushrooms. Cook for a further 10-15 mins, garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley, season and serve with a glass of red (I had a Valpolicella Ripasso). Spot on.

Sorry Rudolf! Actually I'm not, I'm bloody grateful.



Trivia: the word venison derives from the Latin vēnor (to hunt or pursue) and originally described meat of any game animal killed by hunting.

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