Venison casserole Recipe
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 25g/1oz butter
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 rashers smoked bacon, chopped
- 500g/1Ib 2oz chestnut mushrooms, halved
- 2.5kg/5½lb haunch or shoulder of venison, diced
- ½ bottle red wine
- 400ml/14fl oz water
- 2 beef stock cubes, crumbled
- 3 tbsp redcurrant jelly
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 50g/2oz cornflour
- punnet redcurrants, to decorate
- 6 sprigs rosemary or thyme, to decorate
- new potatoes
- wilted spinach
- Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
- On the hob, heat the olive oil and butter in a large lidded casserole dish. Add the onions and cook until softened, but not browned.
- Add the garlic, bacon and mushrooms and cook for a further minute.
- In a frying pan, brown the venison a handful at a time and add to the casserole. When all the meat is browned, add the red wine, water, stock cubes, redcurrant jelly and salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil and stir well. Put the lid on the casserole and place in the middle of the oven – cook for 90 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Make a paste with the cornflour and two tablespoons of water. Add as much of the paste to the casserole as is needed to thicken the sauce – add a little at a time if you are not sure how much you will need.
- Transfer the casserole to the hob, and, on a low heat, cook until the gravy has thickened – this will take about five minutes.
- Serve with new potatoes and wilted spinach. Decorate each plate with a sprig of rosemary or thyme and a bunch of fresh redcurrants.
