Venison Casserole and Chilli

I was hunting for game on Sunday, not with a gun on a fell or anything, just with my car and some money and a couple of farm shops. I really wanted birds, but they didn't have any so venison was the next best thing.

I bought a pack of diced venison for about six quid, which seemed fair given that it was labelled as wild and organic. Having thought about it that seems a little strange though. How can meat from a wild animal be labelled organic? The wily old deer could have been slurping from a pesticide infested stream and feasting on Goblin meat puddings for all the butcher knows.

However worthy its origins it wasn't the finest bit of Bambi I've ever eaten, but it did provide a very solid base for a stew, perfect with a big pile of creamy mash. Even better were the leftovers jazzed up into a chilli con carne, something livelier to clear my aching head.

Serves 4 (2 for stew and 2 for chilli, or just stew if you like)

What you'll need for the casserole

1lb (450-500g) venison
1 large onion
1 leek
1 large carrot
2 handfuls of mushrooms
small bunch of thyme
1 scant teaspoon juniper berries
2 bay leaves
2 dessertspoons plain flour
1 stock cube
1 pint water
1 glass red wine
1 dessertspoon mushroom ketchup (optional)
2 cloves garlic
butter and oil

What to do

1. Coat the venison pieces with the flour and season generously with salt and pepper. Brown them in a good splash of oil in a heavy bottomed pan for a few minutes.

2. While the venison is browning slice the onion, crush the juniper berries (in a pestle and mortar or just with the back of a knife) and finely chop or crush the garlic.

3. When the venison is nicely browned remove it from the pan and set aside. Keep the pan on a low heat and throw in the onions. Add a small knob of butter to stop them sticking to the floury bits from the meat.

4. While the onions are sweating chop the carrot, leek and mushrooms into large-ish chunks. Let the onions soften for around 10 minutes then stir in the garlic and juniper berries. Fry for another minute or two then put the venison back in the pan.

5. Crumble in the stock cube (I used beef but Marigold vegetable bouillon would be just as good) then pour in the glass of wine and the water (and the mushroom ketchup if you have any). Throw in the carrot, leek and mushrooms then bring to the boil.

6. Tuck in the thyme (about 7 or 8 sprigs should do it) and the bay leaves then simmer for a few minutes to burn off the alcohol and thicken it slightly.

7. Either turn the heat down and simmer very gently for a couple of hours, or transfer the whole lot to a slow cooker. I cooked mine in the slow cooker on the high setting for about four hours.

8. When it's ready remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves, then chuck in a knob of butter to add a bit of gloss to the sauce. Serve with a big mound of fluffy mash.

What you'll need to turn the leftovers into a chilli

1 large tomato
a few mushrooms
a small tin of kidney beans
2 tsp chipotle chilli paste
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
2 tsps cumin powder
tomato puree (or ketchup)

How to turn the leftovers into a chilli

1. Chop the tomato and mushrooms into small pieces and fry them in oil for a couple of minutes.

2. Throw in all of the spices and fry for another minute, stirring constantly.

3. Throw in the casserole, the kidney beans and a good squirt of tomato puree (or ketchup) and simmer the lot for ten to twenty minutes.

4. Serve with a buttery baked potato.

Oxtail Stew

I bought some oxtail from the farmer's market on Sunday, and turned it into a rather delicious stew. As I was attempting to be both frugal and healthy I served it with a baked potato and some purple sprouting broccoli. For a more decadent meal some buttery mash would be great.

The total cooking time for this is about 3 and a half hours, but for 3 of these hours the stew is sat in the oven minding its own business. There's very little actual effort involved, so it's perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

Here is my recipe. Enough for 2-3 people.

You will need:
800-900g oxtail
1 tbsp flour
1 pint stout
boiling water
6-8 shallots
250g mushrooms 
2 cloves garlic
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp tomato puree
handful fresh thyme, chopped
2 bay leaves
oil (olive, groundnut, sunflower, any will do really)
butter
salt
pepper

1. Check the oxtail pieces and clean them if necessary. Set the oven to 160 deg C (320 F or gas mark 3).

2. Coat the oxtail pieces in seasoned flour, then put a knob of butter and a drop of oil in a casserole (or any sort of pot with a lid that's suitable for the hob and oven) over a medium heat on the hob and brown the meat for around 10 minutes.

3. While the meat is browning chop the shallots into chunky pieces, and the garlic finely.

4. When the meat is a nice golden brown remove it from the pot and set aside. Add the shallots to the pan and fry for 10 minutes or so, then add the garlic and fry for another minute.

5. Now return the meat to the pot, give it a stir, turn up the heat and pour in the stout. I used a bottle of Meantime London Stout, because that's the only one they had in individual bottles in the supermarket. A good choice though because it's lovely.

6. Allow it to bubble over a high heat for a minute or two to burn off the alcohol, then add the bay leaves, the thyme, the mustard powder, the stock cube and the tomato puree.

7.  Add about 100ml of boiling water, give it a good stir, put the lid on then put it in the oven.

8. Leave it well alone in the oven for 2 hours. Don't bother checking it, it will be fine.

9. After 2 hours have passed, remove the pot from the oven and take a look. There will probably be a rather substantial layer of oil at the top as a lot of fat will have rendered out of the oxtail. Skim most of this off and discard it. There should still be plenty of liquid left, just starting to thicken a little. Add some more water if it looks too thick. Have a taste, it should be intensely beefy already.

10. Roughly chop the mushrooms, add them to the pot then return it to the oven for another hour.

11. After the hour has elapsed remove from the oven and you should be ready to serve. Skim some more fat off if necessary. The sauce should have thickened to the consistency of a good gravy with all the gelatinous goodness from the oxtail, and the meat should be just starting to fall from the bones in tender shreds. It should taste even beefier.

This was pretty good but would probably have been even better with the addition of carrots and celery with the shallots. I also put the leftovers to very good use by cooking them up with a small pot of leftover chilli con carne from the freezer. Oxtail chilli. Delicious.