Stokes Sauces: British Game Week - Venison 3 beautifully tasty ways

Up your Game

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

It's British Game Week 19 - 25 November. Most of what we call game tends to be farmed these days.

This makes it more readily accessible, removes certain animal husbandry concerns and reduces the rich taste of wild, shot fowl which is often too punchy for household enjoyment.

Your butcher is the best place to start for advice on the cut of the joint, contents of the sausage and the background of the bird (whether it might contain shot or not).

Supermarkets are getting much better with their game range, but delicatessens and farm shops are usually the best place for a good range of prepared seasonal meats - many stock Stokes Sauces too.

In general, British game is reared for a great life in our fields, moors and woodland. It is a very tasty, versatile role as an ingredient, sits well with our seasonal root vegetables and tastes so good with Stokes.

Venison 3 Ways

Loin of Venison

You'll need:

1 kg of Venison loin, ask your butcher to trim it
1 tsp of dried thyme leaves
1 tsp of ground fennel seeds
1 tsp of ground caraway seeds
100 ml of Ruby Port
150 g of blueberries
3 tbsp of Stokes Cranberry Sauce
2 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
200 ml of beef stock

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7.

Make a rub by mixing the thyme, fennel and caraway. Oil the loin and roll it in the rub, covering thoroughly.

In a hot ovenproof pan, sear the venison well on all sides for about 5 minutes. For a very pink centre it will only need 7 or 8 minutes in the oven. Check it as you would a thick steak or use a cocktail stick to prick the centre and judge it to your liking. 4 minutes more will make it medium rare.

Remove and rest for at least 10 minutes. While it's resting, deglaze the pan with the port, add a good knob of butter followed by the blueberries which need crushing to release the juices. Pour in the stock and reduce the liquid by half, stirring in the cranberry and the brown sauce. If it tastes too tart, add a couple of spoons of Stokes Redcurrant Sauce.

For its final sheen, add and stir in a knob of butter. Slice and serve the meat with the sauce and a potato & parsnip mash with Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce stirred through it.

Venison Stroganoff

Here's how:

Quickly brown off 500 gm of venison haunch cut into thin slices. Do this in batches and set aside.

Use the same pan to melt a knob of butter and fry 4 finely chopped shallots 2 sticks of finely sliced celery and 2 grated garlic cloves. Add 1 tsp of smoked paprika and 3 or 4 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup, then add 200 ml of roughly torn mushrooms.

Pour 750 ml of rich chicken stock with 250 ml of Riesling wine into a pan, bring it to the boil and reduce it by half. Add this reduced stock to the venison, simmer and reduce the liquid further still - it should just cover the meat.

Add 250 ml of double cream and simmer very gently for 10 minutes. This rich meaty sauce with its smoky chipotle finish works really well with thick pasta such as pappardella.

Venison Casserole

This simple classic is big on colourful flavour. A bowlful with a chunk of bread and glass of red wine is delicious for lunch. With a pile of roasted potatoes and winter roots it's a genius supper - with a heavier red wine or two.

Here's how:

Fry about 1 kg of cubed venison shoulder in batches and set aside as above.

Deglaze the pan with 250 ml of red wine and a knob of butter. Reduce the liquid then return the seared venison with 7 or 8 small shallots, 4 carrots cut into chunks and two sticks of sliced celery.

Stir in 1 tbsp of flour, 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and pour in the remaining wine (1 bottle in all) with 3 or 4 sprigs of thyme. Bring the pan to a gentle simmer, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

Before serving, add a couple of decent glugs of Stokes Brown Sauce, stir it in and serve. The rich sauce now carries a gentle sweetness of dates, Worcestershire sauce and special spices to lift the deep red wine gravy.

Make Winter Wonderful - with Stokes