Pan-fried Venison Fillet, Red Wine Jus and Macerated Roast Blueberries.
Pan-fried Venison Fillet, Potato Cakes, Celeriac Purée, Roast Cabbage, Red Wine Jus and Macerated Blueberries – whilst the name shares what is on the plate, it does not adequately describe the wonderful explosion of flavours and textures on the palate.
Ingredients
Macerated Roast Blueberries:
- 200g fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon vodka
Red Wine Jus:
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 15g unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped (roughly 40g – 50g prepared weight)
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar
- 250ml/1 cup red wine
- 500ml/2 cups stock, beef, lamb or chicken
- 20g – 40g/1 – 2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly, or to taste
- 35g cold, unsalted butter
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Pan-fried Venison Fillets:
- 4 – 8 venison fillets (depending on size. Allow a total of 100g – 150g per person)
- 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
- freshly ground sea salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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1. Pre-heat the grill setting, on your oven, to high.
2. Scatter the blueberries on a baking tray and sprinkle on the caster sugar.
3. Place under a pre-heated grill and cook until the blueberries have burst – this will take around 5 – 10 minutes.
4. Tip into a small bowl, leaving behind any burnt sugar and juice from around the edges.
5. Sprinkle over the vodka and set aside to macerate. Set aside for a minimum of 10 minutes, but ideally for an hour or more.
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1. Heat the oil/butter and cook the shallots, rosemary and thyme for 5 minutes until lightly caramelised.
2. Add the vinegar, peppercorns and bay leaf and cook until the vinegar has almost disappeared.
3. Add the wine and reduce by half.
4. Add the stock and redcurrant jelly and reduce by half again.
5. Use a sieve to strain the sauce into a saucepan.
6. Place the saucepan on a moderate heat, add the cold butter to the sauce and shake the pan until incorporated.
7. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
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Pan-fried Venison Fillets –
1. Heat a frying or cast-iron pan over a moderately hot temperature.
2. As it heats, massage olive oil into the flesh of the venison fillets and season with salt and pepper.
3. When the pan is hot, add the venison, top side down. (If you have a preferred side for service.)
4. Cook for around 3 minutes and then turn the venison and cook for a further 3 minutes, or until the venison is cooked to your liking. Remember, venison is a very lean meat and is best served pink. Overcooking can make it quite dry. Don’t forget that the venison will continue to cook a little after it has come off the heat.
5. Transfer to a heated plate, cover with kitchen foil, and leave to rest for 5 minutes, before you serve it.
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Now, bring all these wonderful parts together –
1. Divide the celeriac purée between the plates and add a couple of potato cakes.
2. Top the purée with 1 or 2 venison steaks (depending on size) and one or two wedges of roast cabbage.
3. Add some macerated blueberries to the plate and drizzle on some wine red jus.
4. Serve any additional celeriac purée, potato cakes, venison steaks, roast cabbage, macerated blueberries and jus, at the table
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
Macerated Roast Blueberries
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- baking tray
- mixing bowl
Red Wine Jus
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- chopping board and knife
- small saucepan
- sieve and bowl or jug
Pan-fried Venison Fillets
- frying pan
- warm plate, to rest the meat
Prepare in advance as much as possible!
Although there are many component parts to this dish, the majority can all be prepared in advance and popped in the oven, or heated up, when you are ready to eat. Indeed, only the cabbage and venison need last minute cooking, and these can all be prepared, ready for cooking, ahead of time.