David Sloan's Venison casserole

The seventh in a series of posts that bring together the two sides of my blog: Food and technology. I’ve asked the great and the good from the web standards community to share their favourite recipes. This hearty feast is from David Sloan.

Information

  • Makes: 6 helpings
  • Time: 3 hours

Ingredientss

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  • 1Kg diced venison meat
  • 2 or 3Tbsps seasoned flour
  • 100g pancetta or bacon, cut into small pieces
  • 2 or 3 carrots, chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, chopped
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 50g dried cranberries
  • Rind of 1 orange
  • 10 or 15 juniper berries
  • 2Tbsp redcurrant jelly (or IKEA lingonberry jam)
  • 250 to 375ml red wine
  • Small glass of port
  • Few drops Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 150g mushrooms, sliced or quartered

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 130c/266f.
  2. Put the seasoned flour in a food bag, then add the diced venison and shake until it’s fully coated.
  3. Heat up some oil in an oven proof cooking pot, brown the venison in batches, and then set aside.
  4. Add some more oil to the pot, and sauté the pancetta (or bacon).
  5. After a couple of minutes, add the celery, onion and carrot, fry until softened, then add the garlic and fry a little more.
  6. Return the venison to the pot and add all the other ingredients including the liquids. The less liquid you use the richer the sauce will be, but make sure you cover the meat.
  7. Put a lid on the pot and stick it in the oven for a couple of hours, checking occasionally to give it a stir and add a little water if it starts to dry out.

David's notes

This is a terrific recipe for feeding lots of people – particularly good as a rich, warming winter meal, but tasty in summer too! It’s a great way to use up left-over booze, or an excuse to open a new bottle.

This recipe is adapted from (I suppose I shouldn’t say steal, should I?) one by Antony Worrall Thompson, but the figures are approximate – feel free to experiment with quantities. It’s a long list of ingredients, but only the meat, veg, stock and red wine are absolutely essential...

It tastes particularly good the next day, or you could freeze the casserole, and save it for later. Sometimes I make some dumplings to go on top – add them 45 minutes before the end of cooking time, and turn the heat up to 160 C.

This casserole goes well with mashed potatoes and some kale or spring greens on the side; serve any leftovers with tagliatelle and some parsley chopped over the top.

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