VENISON & GUINNESS PUDDING

If you like a good hearty meal then this venison suet pudding is for you!

A tasty alternative to Sunday roast on a chilly afternoon. 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1kg of Venison

1 large Onion

3 anchovy fillets

Fresh chopped herbs (I used lovage and rosemary)

1 tablespoon of plain flour

1 can of Guinness (or any beer)

salt & pepper

 

Suet pudding

200g of self raising flour

100g of suet

water to bind together

salt

Cut up the venison into large chunks removing any sinew and put into a large mixing bowl.

Slice the onion into thin pieces and add to the venison.

Finely chop the herbs and anchovy's and add to the venison

along with the plain flour.

Mix with your hands crushing and squeezing to fully combine.

 

 

For the suet pudding, mix the ingredients together in a bowl and add enough water to bind together

Divide the suet pastry in two allowing 1/3 for the lid and 2/3 for the bottom.

Roll out the bottom and line the pudding bowl with enough of a overhang to fold over the lid later.

Fill lined pudding basin with the venison and pour in enough Guinness to just cover the meat.

Roll out the suet lid, big enough to cover the top and place over the meat.

Fold the suet base overhang over the lid using a little water to help stick down and seal. 

 

Cover with some grease-proof paper and secure with string.

Leave enough length in the string to make a handle.

Place into a steamer and steam for 4 hours.

 

                                                           

After 4 hours

 

Turn out on to a serving plate and take to the table.

 

Serve with carrots, curly kale, mash potato and dollop of dijon mustard

 

And a glass of Guinness - optional :)

 

 

SPICY BUNNY BURGERS WITH SUN DRIED TOMATO MAYO

Best burgers ever or so my sons says, and I have to agree!

Made with rabbit shot and prepared by my own fair hands but

you can buy yours from your local butcher for around £4 each.

 Pile high with salad, cheese, home-made tomato sauce in a freshly baked bun

and serve with home made chips

Ingredients

1 Rabbit (once boned, about 600g)
300g of pork belly (optional)
1 onion (chopped)
Free herbs (rosemary,chive,thyme,marjoram or any you have) chopped
1 chopped chilli
Salt & Pepper

Tomato mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
3 Sun dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon of tomato puree
dash of Tabasco sauce (optional)

To Dress
Tomato
Salad leaves
Gherkin
radish
red onion
Cheese

First, skin and bone out your rabbit (or buy ready prepared from your butcher)
along with the pork belly to add some fat to an otherwise very lean meat.
This will make the burger moist and more flavour but can be left
out for a healthier option.

Mince the meat together in a Kenwood mixer with attachment 

or similar gadget.

Bind the mincemeat, herbs, chilli, salt and pepper together and make into good sized burgers.

Do this by taking the meat and rolling into a ball roughly the size of a peach.
Press flat between your hands and lay on a board.
Shape the edges round while flat if required.

Fry the burgers on a high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes a side.

Once you turn the burger put the cheese on top

so it can melt while the second side cooks

We made fresh bread rolls with dough from our superb bread maker.

A Panasonic that we've had for over two years now and couldn't do without.

I can count on my hand the number of times we have bought bread since buying it.
These were made with wholemeal flour and were delicious with the rabbit.

For the spicy tomato mayonnaise

simple chop the sun dried tomatoes,

add to the mayonnaise along with the

tomato puree and Tabasco sauce and mix together.

Build your burger.

Start with the salad, red onion and tomato,

then the spice mayonnaise and burger,

topped off with the Gherkin and sliced radish

Dig in!

SOYA & GINGER VENISON FILLET

 Seeing as it was national barbecue week last week and the weather was good, we decided to cook up the venison fillet we still had left.

First thing to do is trim off any sinew (the stringy bit!)

The best way to do this is using the same technique as skinning a fish.

Place on a chopping board.

Start with the sinew facing upwards and using the tip of a sharp knife, lift up a corner of the sinew and carefully slice the meat away until you about 25mm loose.

Turn the meat over so the sinew is underneath, continue to slice along whilst pulling the sinew. 

Keep the knife flat to the chopping board. 

The meat is now ready to marinate.

Do this at least a couple of hours before or over night if you have time.

1tspn dried ginger

2 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp ground nut oil

2 tsp vegetable oil

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

Cook on the BBQ for 4-5 minutes a side, constantly turning.

We cooked ours to a core temperature of 55 degrees which is medium rare.

Thinly slice across the grain of the meat as shown and serve



  

                  

French stick with cranberry and Dijon mustard

                              

  

VENISON LEFTOVERS

Many of you will have seen my previous post on venison, a roast haunch for Sunday lunch on the BBQ.  Well, as is usually the case with a roast dinner, there was plenty left over which we ate throughout the week - and it was just as good cold.

Apart from cutting a slither off every time I opened the fridge, we've had a lunch of

stuffed venison pitta breads and a meal of cold venison with char grilled Mediterranean veg.

Toast and split the pitta bread

 Stuff with the cold sliced venison, red pepper, spring onion, tomato and goats cheese

And drizzle over some sweet chilli sauce for an extra something

This one is locally handmade from Gulls Cottage, Dedham, bought from our local deli.

Warm and crunchy with a spicy hot kick!

Use any other cold meat or remove altogether for a vegetarian option

For the venison with charcoal grilled Mediterranean veg.....

Grill three peppers on all sides until the skin has charred and is bubbling away from the flesh. 

Put into a plastic bag for 5 minutes to allow to sweat.   

Remove from the bag, peel off the skin, de-seed and thinly slice. Put to the side.

Steam a handful of green beans and put to the side.

Slice one courgette and four mushrooms and toss in a desert spoon

of olive oil with six whole trimmed spring onions.

Char grill in a griddle pan, placing just a few slices in at a time and cooking on both sides.

No oil required.

Press them down as they cook to get an even colour.  

In a separate bowl add a desert spoon of chopped chives and one of chopped lovage.

(two chives if you don't have the lovage)

Add eight finely chopped black olives and a teaspoon of finely chopped capers

and then mix in one teaspoon of dijon mustard and a tablespoon of raspberry vinegar

or good red wine vinegar.

Throw in the char grilled vegetables, sliced peppers and green beans and toss together.

Serve with slices of cold venison and cous cous

 So, all in all its fed the family well for the last week and it didn't cost a bean!

CHICKEN LIVER & PHEASANT PATE

Being a country boy and a keen shooter, we are never short of game meats and the freezer is generally packed full with offerings.  I hate to see anything go to waste and make sure I use everything we get.

This week I made this chicken liver and pheasant pate or is it a terrine? I'm not sure of the definition but either way, it was delightful and pretty simple to make.

Ingredients

500gm chicken livers, 2 pheasant breasts and 2 pheasant thighs4 slices of parma ham or bacon,

 4 cloves of garlic (chopped), olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, glass of red wine

Chop the pheasant and flash fry in a pan with olive oil and two cloves of garlic just enough to lightly brown the outside (you don't have to fry but I think it adds more flavour)

Do the same with the chicken livers and the remaining garlic and put aside.

Deglaze the pan by adding the wine whilst scraping off the meaty residue (sticky bits) 

heat and stir whilst it reduces down and then add to the blender with the pheasant and chicken livers

Season with salt and pepper and whizz to a puree.

Grease the baking tin and line with the parma ham or bacon

Spoon in the pate mix

Cover with greaseproof paper and bake in a bain marie for an hour and a half at 160 degrees.

Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate, preferably overnight, before turning out.

Pate is traditionally quite high in fat, however this recipe uses very little. 

The texture is firm, smooth with no chunks and has a medium to strong flavour.

If you prefer a course pate, chop the pheasant rather than puree or lightly blend after the livers.