VENISON ON THE BAR-B-Q

I have a friend who regularly hunts deer and last week, I helped him joint his latest bag.

In return I was rewarded with a months supply of meat. A great trade I think.

From the selection of cuts, I chose 'haunch' for this weekends Bar-B-Q, the first of many.

Venison is a particularly lean meat, especially this time of year, coming out

of the winter and can easily dry up if cooked too long.

A little preparation before the cooking - I had decided to bone and roll the haunch

To help baste the meat and keep the moisture in, I wrapped some beef fat

from the local butcher, around the joint.

And then on to the barbie for an hour....ish!

We have a converted oil drum and use wood not charcoal mainly because I

have an endless supply of it but I also like the way it cooks and the smokey flavour it adds.

Use a meat thermometer with large joints.

Core temperature should be between 50-55 degrees for red meat.

Beautifully succulent with just an ever so slight game taste.

With the juices from the meat, I made a red wine and cranberry jus

and served with a fig and cashew nut cous-cous, mixed leaves and green beans. 

Perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon