Meat mains
Venison and ale casserole or pie
This venison dish is a hearty winter warmer best enjoyed after an ambitious winter walk. Eat with roast carrots, buttery cabbage and celeriac and potato mash, or potato mash laced with a scoop of wholegrain mustard.
Cook's notes
For a different kind of topping, remove a ladle of liquid and mix with a little more mustard. Top with slices of stale French bread, brush with the liquid/mustard mix and bake (again at 180°C/Gas 4) until the bread begins to toast.
Ingredients
- 30g butter
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 650g diced venison
- 1 tbsp seasoned plain flour
- 200ml strong ale
- 100ml beef stock (or strong chicken stock)
- 1 tbsp vinegar (cheap balsamic is good)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 bouquet garni
- 1 tbsp beer mustard, or similar
- puff, flaky or rough puff pastry (if you're making a pie)
- salt and pepper
Method
-
Step 1
Preheat oven to 160°C/Gas 3. Melt the butter in a heavy casserole dish and fry the onions and garlic over a medium heat until lightly golden.
-
Step 2
Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Toss the diced venison in seasoned flour and brown in the remaining butter - you may have to do this in two batches.
-
Step 3
When all the meat is browned, return the onions and previously browned batch of venison to the casserole.
-
Step 4
Pour in the ale and stock, and scrape around the pan to incorporate the meat juices and flour into the sauce.
-
Step 5
Now add the vinegar, sugar, mustard and the bouquet garni, cover and place in the oven, stirring occasionally.
-
Step 6
After 90 minutes, check the seasoning and discard the bouquet garni.
-
Step 7
For a pie, tip into a suitable dish, top with puff, flaky or rough puff pastry, increase the oven temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake until the pastry is cooked.
-
Step 8
Serve with celeriac mash and Savoy cabbage.
