Tag: red wine

Venison slow-cooked in red wine

This is a very simple French recipe for cooking a piece of venison weighing around 1kg all in one piece. There is the small matter of remembering to marinade it for a day first, but there is remarkably little fuss. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 900g venison for stewing, all in one piece and tied in an oval shape. 
  • 4 tbsp port
  • 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white flour
  • 1 large onion, sliced finely
  • pork or bacon rind, in one piece
  • A little red wine if required, around 200ml
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Put the venison into a container with a lid, along with the port, vinegar and olive oil. The venison should just fit. Marinade for 24 hours.
  • Take out the meat, pat it dry and coat it with white flour. Put it into a dish with a lit that is just the right size, and pour over the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a layer of sliced onions, and then the pork rind. 
  • Cover with a lid and cook in a slow oven, around 130 to 140C for 4 hours. You may need to check up on the venison during the cooking. If it is looking a little dry, add some red wine. 

When it is cooked it will be very tender and shred easily. Serve on hot plates with celeriac mash, a green vegetable, and with red currant or rowan jelly on the side. 

Roast Venison with red wine and rosemary

I’ve made this twice now, using a large piece of loin from a red deer. This is a very easy and quick recipe, good with mustard mashed potatoes, and green vegetables. The timings given are for a rare to medium rare roast. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 700 to 800g venison loin or haunch
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 to 4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 1/2 celeriac, peeled and cut into large dice
  • 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 8+ wedges
  • 2 tsp red current jelly
  • 1 to 2 large sprigs of rosemary
  • 100ml red wine
  • 250ml stock
  • 1 tsp cornflour (optional)

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 220C
  • Heat the oil in a large oven-safe pan, and brown the meat on all sides, and season with salt and pepper.
  • Pack the chopped vegetables around the meat, and roast in the oven for 15 minutes
  • After 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 180C and roast for another 20 minutes (less for a smaller cut of meat)
  • Remove the pan from the oven, and take the meat out. Put it on a dish and cover with a lid or tin foil.
  • In the pan, add the wine, redcurrant jelly and rosemary to the vegetables, and bring to the boil, stirring to mix in any bits of meat from the bottom of the pain.
  • Simmer for a couple of minutes, and then add the stock and cornflour. Simmer for another ten minutes and adjust the seasoning.
  • Serve the venison sliced with the gravy and vegetables, mustard mash and a green vegetable such as cabbage or broccoli.

Slow-cook shank of venison

I made the weekly raid on the freezer for my birthday evening meal, and pulled out a shank of red deer venison. I hadn’t cooked this cut before, so I did a bit of googling, looked at the ingredients in the fridge and then made this braised venison. I think it would have worked well for up to two shanks, so we have ended up with a very tasty gravy for a second meal. 

I’ve got really into using gluten-free flour as a thickener for stews and soups, the consistency of the gravy is good, not gluey at all. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 or 2 red deer venison shanks (see above)
  • 2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 2 small or 1 large stick of celery, diced
  • approx 50g butter
  • olive oil
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • a bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 250ml red wine
  • 250ml vegetable stock
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tsp juniper berries, bruised in a pestle and mortar
  • 1 tbsp gluten-free flour

METHOD:

  • Season the venison well with salt and pepper. 
  • In a pan that is big enough to cook the shanks, melt the butter in the olive oil. Set the oven to 150C
  • Over a moderate heat, brown the shanks, one at a time, and then set aside. 
  • Reduce to a low heat, add the onions, carrots and celery to the same pan, and cook until softened.
  • Add the red wine, and reduce 
  • Add the stock, bay, thyme, and juniper and tomatoes and cook down for around 15 minutes. This will give a better consistency and taste at the end. 
  • Add the venison shanks, bring back to a simmer and then cook in the oven for 4 hours. For the last 30 minutes of cooking, prepare any side dishes such as mash, cabbage, etcetera. 
  • At the end of cooking, remove the shanks from the pan, and mix the flour with a spoon or two of the gravy before adding to the pan and bringing to a simmer for around 5 minutes. 

And serve. 

Venison back strap (loin) with a red wine and chocolate sauce

I have used red wine and chocolate before, in a stew with beef, served with fried potatoes and prunes in brandy, stunning. This I tried after watching a videoclip of Gordon Ramsey cooking venison backstrap. No quantities were given, but I have found some clues elsewhere. I added rather too much chocolate the first time. I also struggled to find all of the ingredients he used, so I had to substitute a little. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Venison back-strap – allow a piece of meat around 5cm x 5cm x 2.5cm, approx 200g or similar for each person. I took one piece of the back-strap and cut it into three. I used local red deer venison.
  • salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tsp butter
  • 3 shallots or one white onion if shallots are not available – finely chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic – finely chopped
  • 2 bayleaves
  • 5 sprigs of thyme, or a tsp dried thyme
  • 12 black peppercorns, ground
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (the original recipe uses raspberry vinegar, but not available locally
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • 300ml red wine
  • 30g unsweetened dark chocolate, finely chopped or grated. 
  • 100g smoked pancetta or streaky bacon

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 220C. Cut some grease-proof paper, one section for each serving, and large enough to wrap up a portion of venison. 
  • Lightly season the venison with salt. Heat the oil in a pan until it is very hot, and then sear the venison on all sides. 
  • For each portion of venison, place on a piece of grease-proof paper, add a teaspoon of butter, wrap and put onto a small roasting tray. Put into the oven for eight to nine minutes. 
  • To make the sauce, fry the onion and pancetta in a small pan with a little olive oil , thyme, bayleaves and black pepper. As it starts to brown, add the garlic until that too is cooked. 
  • Add 300ml red wine, and reduce to a thick sauce by simmering. 
  • Add 300ml stock, and reduce by simmering. 
  • Strain out the solid ingredients. To the hot sauce, add a teaspoon of vinegar, and then whisk in the grated chocolate over a low heat. Do not bring back to the boil, just hot enough to melt the chocolate and no more. 
  • Take the venison from the oven, slice and then pour over the red wine and chocolate sauce. 

I served this with roasted brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. This is definitely good with mash and green vegetables.