Ingredients
- 4x 180g portions of fully trimmed Eton Hall venison loin (ask for the bones and trimmings for your stock)
- 1 X 50ml double cream
- 8 sprigs of thyme
- ground fennel
- cracked black pepper & celery seeds
- 4 parsnips
- 200g trompettes mushrooms brushed and trimmed
- 200g kurly kale washed and chopped
- 100ml vegetable oil
- 24g butter (unsalted)
- Maldon sea salt to taste
- 50ml of red wine(pinot noir if possible)
- 200ml venison stock (passed through muslin & reduced by half)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- pinch of grated nutmeg
- watercress to garnish (picked and washed)
Method
This dish is all about simple flavour combinations and using the best local ingredients that you can find, in season and packed with flavour. The secret is to get as far ahead as possible so that you can cook the venison and the mushrooms at the last minute.
For the purée peel and chop the carrots into salted water with a large knob of butter, half the sprigs of thyme & 2 cloves of peeled garlic. Bring to the boil and simmer until soft, then drain well. Remove the sprigs of thyme & liquidise with nutmeg, salt, pepper, butter and cream to taste. This should be a smooth silky purée to form the background of the dish. Keep warm in a clean pan ready for plating.
The parsnips - While the carrots are simmering peel and par boil the parsnips in salted water for 3-4 minutes then drain and cool well. When you are ready to serve, brown in a pan with a little vegetable oil, butter and seasoning.
Venison - Season the venison with maldon sea salt, fennel, celery seed and cracked pepper and strip the leaves from the remaining sprigs of thyme and sprinkle over the meat. Then in a very hot pan, with a splash of vegetable oil, sear the venison on all sides so that is sealed and slightly browned on all sides. Add two knobs of butter and another splash of vegetable oil and vigorously baste the meat with a spoon for a couple of minutes. This should create a foam. Then take the pan off the heat where it will continue to cook for a few more minutes.
(Allow 5-7 minutes for the meat to rest before carving. Carve to show the lovely pink rare meat)
Mushrooms & kale In a hot pan add a splash of vegetable oil, salt, pepper and a knob of butter. Fry the mushrooms in the pan for just two minutes, remove and try on a paper towel. Repeat this again in a separate pan for the kale.
Plate the dish and enjoy with a good glass of red wine (cepa gavilan, ribera del duero, bodega hermanos prez pascuas, 2005)