VENISON STEW

You’ll be able to get a decent piece of venison right now but because you can’t be sure if it has been hung long enough, now you need to give it a while to break down the heavy fibres. One thing you can do is to leave it at the back of the fridge for a week so it gets ever so slightly high. So chop it up and marinate it in a chermoula mix – coriander and parsley chopped, garlic, oil, lemon juice and rind, pounded juniper berries, red peppercorns and olive oil. A dash of soy sauce and some red wine will help too.

If possible leave it overnight to stew in its juices but a few hours will do. Take out the venison and brown it in butter on all sides, turn a little flour into the pan as well. This will help with thickening the sauce as it cooks.

Next chop some duck livers and fry them gently in butter and spoon of sherry vinegar. Add it to the venison and marinade with sprigs of thyme and a couple of bay leaves. Add slices of celeriac, borlotti beans (tinned is fine) and carrots to the dish. Cover with any mixture of stock, red wine and water and simmer for a couple of hours.

Serve with stir-fried kale and mashed potatoes.

Cooking celeriac, red wine, venison