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Loin of Dartmoor venison with harissa and carrots

  • medium
  • 4
  • 3 hours 45 minutes plus 4 hours to simmer the jus
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Simon Hulstone pairs venison with carrots in this sweet and earthy dish. Venison is served two ways – seared loin with a harissa glaze and braised haunch in a puff pastry tart case. Carrots are confited in venison fat and coated in a seed crumb, as well as puréed and pickled, giving beautifully rich and soft textures, alongside crunchy pickles. Celebrate cultivated varieties of kale to finish the dish in style.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 80g of kale, ideally a mix of cultivated varieties, trimmed and cut into pieces
  • 480g of venison loin, ideally wild, trimmed
  • vegetable oil, for frying
  • nasturtium leaves, to garnish
  • purple micro basil, to garnish

VENISON JUS

PARSLEY OIL

  • 200g of parsley
  • 150ml of vegetable oil

PICKLED RAINBOW CARROTS

  • 25g of sugar
  • 100g of white wine vinegar
  • 50g of water
  • 300g of carrots, peeled, ideally a mix of colours

BRAISED VENISON TART

  • 800g of venison haunch, trimmed and diced into 6cm pieces
  • vegetable oil, for browning
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced
  • 125ml of red wine
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 500ml of beef stock
  • beurre manié, (equal quantities butter and flour beaten together) as needed
  • 400g of puff pastry
  • baking spray

CARROT PURÉE

CONFIT CARROTS

HARISSA GLAZE

SEED CRUMB

Equipment

  • Muslin cloth
  • Squeezy bottle
  • 7.5cm fluted tart tins
  • Piping bags
  • Juicer
  • Temperature probe

Method

1

To make the venison jus, preheat the oven to 200°C. Roast the venison bones on a wire rack over a roasting tray until golden, then remove

2

Place the vegetables in a stock pot or deep pan with a little vegetable oil and brown briefly, then add the red wine and reduce by two thirds

3

Place in the bones, stock and herbs, bring to the boil, then simmer for 4 hours, skimming regularly

4

Strain the jus through a muslin cloth into a clean pan and reduce to a syrupy consistency. Transfer to a container and store in the fridge until needed – this will make more than you need but leftover jus freezes well

5

To make the parsley oil, place the parsley and vegetable oil in a Thermomix and blend at 90°C for 5 minutes, then strain through a muslin cloth, leaving it to drip through

  • 200g of parsley
  • 150ml of vegetable oil
6

If you don’t have a Thermomix, blanch and refresh the parsley, squeezing out excess moisture then place in a food processor. Pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream as you blitz on a high speed for 2 minutes. Strain through a muslin cloth into a bottle, then place upside down in the fridge (cover the nozzle to prevent leaking) to separate any water from the oil. Once separated, squeeze out and discard any water and keep in the fridge until needed

7

To make the pickled rainbow carrots, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and water in a pan on a medium heat, then cool. Julienne the carrots and submerge them in the pickling liquor for a minimum of 2 hours

  • 25g of sugar
  • 100g of white wine vinegar
  • 50g of water
  • 300g of carrots, peeled, ideally a mix of colours
8

To make the braised venison tart, preheat the oven to 150°C. Season the venison pieces with salt and brown them in a little vegetable oil in a large ovenproof pan until golden. Deglaze with water in between batches and reserve the liquid

  • 800g of venison haunch, trimmed and diced into 6cm pieces
  • vegetable oil, for browning
9

Once the meat is browned, add the vegetables and cook in a little oil until lightly golden, then add the wine and reduce slightly

10

Add the bouquet garni, stock and reserved water so it comes two thirds up the side of the meat, cover and place in the oven for 1 ½-2 hours or until the meat is falling apart

  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 500ml of beef stock
11

Strain the meat and vegetables through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pan. Reduce the gravy until thick, using a beurre manié to thicken, if needed. Mix the meat through the gravy. Season, then store in a container in the fridge until needed – this will make more than you need

  • beurre manié, (equal quantities butter and flour beaten together) as needed
12

For the tart cases, preheat the oven to 180°C. Unroll the puff pastry and cut it into 4 x 7cm squares. Lightly spray the tart cases with baking spray and push a square of pastry into each one

  • 400g of puff pastry
  • baking spray
13

Place an additional tart case on top of each pastry case, so the pastry is in between 2 tart cases. Place the tart cases on a baking tray and then place another baking tray on top of the tart cases. Weigh the cases down a bit by placing a couple of pots or pans on top. Bake in the oven for 14 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 30 minutes before removing from the tins. Cool completely then set aside at room temperature

14

To make the carrot purée, juice 500g of the carrots in a juicer, discarding the pulp. Thinly slice the other 500g of carrots, place in a pan and sweat with some vegetable oil until beginning to soften

  • 1kg carrots, peeled
  • vegetable oil, for frying
15

Add the carrot juice and cook until soft, then place in a blender with the butter and blend into a purée. Season with salt and strain through a sieve into a piping bag. Seal completely and store in the fridge until needed

16

For the confit carrots, put all the ingredients into a vacuum bag and vacuum on full. Steam or boil the ingredients until the carrots are cooked through, then leave in the bag to cool completely. Store in the fridge until needed

17

If you don’t have a vacuum packing machine, melt the fat in a small pan with the aromats and a pinch of salt and pepper. Submerge the carrots in the fat and cook on a low heat until the carrots are cooked through. Cool, transfer to a container and store in the fridge until needed

18

To make the harissa glaze, sweat the shallot and garlic in a pan with some oil until soft

19

Add all the other ingredients and cook until most of the liquid has disappeared. Place in a blender and blend until smooth, then strain through a sieve into a container and store in the fridge until needed

20

To make the seed crumb, toast the seeds until golden and fragrant. Add the rose petals and fennel pollen, toss to combine then roughly chop or blend into a coarse crumb. Set aside until needed

21

Blanch the kale in plenty of salted boiling water then refresh in iced water. Once cold, dry well and store in the fridge until needed

  • 80g of kale, ideally a mix of cultivated varieties, trimmed and cut into pieces
22

To serve, season the venison loin with salt and cook in a hot pan with a little oil according to your preference (Simon likes to cook it rare, which is when the meat reaches approximately 53°C in the centre, when probed). Brush the venison with the harissa glaze and leave to rest

  • 480g of venison loin, wild, trimmed
  • vegetable oil, for frying
23

In a pan, roast the confit carrots to reheat them and add colour, then remove to a board and cut the bottoms and tops off so they can sit flat. Brush them with the harissa glaze and cover with the seed crumb

24

Meanwhile, warm 200ml of the jus and 100g of the braised venison tart filling. Warm the piping bag of carrot purée in a pan of hot (but not simmering) water

25

Plunge the kale back into the boiling water to heat through, then finish briefly in a pan to colour slightly

26

To plate, pipe a little carrot purée onto a side plate and secure the pastry cases on top. Spoon the braised venison into the tart cases, brush with the harissa glaze, add some pickled carrot and garnish with the nasturtium leaves and purple micro basil

27

Carve the venison and place on the plates with the carrot and remaining carrot purée, as desired. Add any venison resting juices to the jus, then add the jus to the plates and split it with some parsley oil (keep the rest to use in other dishes). Place on the kale, nasturtiums and purple micro basil

First published in 2026

With multiple successes at the highest levels of competitive cooking behind him, Simon Hulstone's own restaurant The Elephant has now held a Michelin star for over 20 years – an incredible feat.

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