VENISON CASSEROLE AND HERB DUMPLINGS

Serves: 4

Our venison is sourced from Scottish wild deer. It’s red meat but it’s comparatively very lean and low in cholesterol, and full of flavour. Try it as a delicious alternative to beef in this casserole recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g diced venison haunch
• 30g plain flour
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 6 shallots, peeled and halved
• 2 carrots, peeled and 1cm dice
• 2 sticks of celery, 1cm dice
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
• 100ml red wine
• 500ml chicken or beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• For the herb dumplings:
• 100g self raising flour
• 50g vegetable or beef suet
• 25g grated mature cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 75ml ice cold water
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD

For the venison casserole, place the flour in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the diced venison and toss to cover the meat in the flour. Set the remaining flour to one side.

Heat half the oil in a large casserole dish and brown the venison until golden brown all over. This will take about 8–10 minutes, then remove and set aside.

Return the casserole dish to the heat and brown the carrots, shallots and celery in the remaining oil until golden brown. This will take about 6–8 minutes. Return the venison to the pan and add the crushed coriander and the remaining flour and cook for about 4 minutes.

Deglaze the casserole dish with the red wine and cook until the wine becomes thick and sticky, then add the stock.

Add the bay leaf and rosemary, cover the casserole dish with a lid and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over a very low heat for 25–30 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent it from burning.

In the meantime make the herb dumplings.  Weigh the flour and suet into a mixing bowl, add the chopped chives, salt and pepper and mix well. Add the ice cold water and mix quickly; do not knead the dough as it will become heavy. Form 8 evenly sized dumpling balls.

Place the dumplings on top of the venison casserole and cook for a further 15- 20 minutes without a lid.