Venison loin and bolognese

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Simon Haigh's autumnal venison recipe pairs the gamey meat with a rich bolognese sauce, also containing venison, and an earthy celeriac cream. For the sauce, ask your local butcher to supply the venison bones needed for the stock or simply buy a ready made one.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Venison loin

Venison bolognese

Venison sauce

Celeriac cream

Equipment

  • Blender

Method

1
For the venison bolognese, coat the base of a medium pan with olive oil and place over a medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion and carrots and cook for at least 20 minutes or until very soft and sweet with no colour
2
Meanwhile, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. As soon as the pan begins to smoke, add the venison mince in small chunks
3
Leave each piece to color evenly to a dark golden brown and remove from the pan into a bowl. Deglaze with the red wine, bring to a boil and add to the venison
4
When the onion mixture is ready, add the garlic, thyme and dice tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the venison and red wine, bring to a simmer and reduce until almost dry. Use a wooden spoon to roughly break up the chunks of venison
5
Next, add the brown chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the sauce has reduced to become thick and rich. Finally, add the juniper, redcurrant jelly and season to taste with salt
6
Preheat the oven to 200˚C/gas mark 6. Roast the venison bones until a dark golden brown colour is achieved. Remove from the oven and set aside
7
Meanwhile, place a large pan over a high heat and add vegetable oil. Once the pan is hot, add the onion, leek, and carrot and cook until dark golden brown
8
Deglaze the pan with the sherry vinegar and reduce until almost dry. Add the red wine, bay, juniper and thyme and reduce by half. Add the chicken, concentrated veal stock and roasted venison bones and reduce until the consistency of a syrup. Adjust the final flavour with the port reduction, crushed juniper and redcurrant jelly
9
For the celeriac cream, combine the celeriac, garlic, thyme and enough chicken stock to cover and place on a high heat. Cook until tender, strain off the liquid and return the solids to the pan with the double cream
10
Reduce the heat and simmer until the cream thickens. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth, pass through a fine strainer and season with salt to taste. Set aside
11
Place a large frying pan on a high heat and add vegetable oil. Season the venison loin with salt and pepper and place in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes and then turn to sear the other side for a further 3 minutes. Set aside to rest
12
Reheat the bolognaise and celeriac cream, arrange on a plate with roast winter vegetables and mushrooms of your choice. Add the venison to the plate and drizzle with the venison sauce. Serve immediately
First published in 2015

Simon Haigh cut his teeth at the famed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, working with Raymond Blanc, whom he cites as a key inspiration to this day.

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