Caroline’s Glen Dye Wild Venison Casserole.

BY CAROLINE GLADSTONE

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced

• 2 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced into rounds about ½ cm thick

• 4 fresh bay leaves

• 500g diced venison

• sea salt and ground black pepper

• 1 large glass of red wine

• 2 tsp ground juniper berries

• 175ml vegetable stock

• 1 tbsp rowanberry jelly

• olive oil

Method

First of all, turn your oven on to 150˚C.

Add a good glug of olive oil to an overproof casserole dish, tip in the diced onions and soften over a low heat until the onions are sweet and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook out for another five minutes. Stir in the bay leaves and set to one side.

In a bowl, combine the venison with the salt, pepper and ground juniper and mix well. I use my hands for this, a much more effective way of ensuring that each piece of meat it well seasoned. Heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy based frying pan, and brown off the meat in small batches.

Add the seared meat to the casserole dish with the vegetables, and then deglazed the frying pan with the red wine, making sure you scrape up all the delicious bits. Tip the wine into the casserole and stir in the stock and the rowanberry jelly. Bring the casserole to the boil and then simmer, with the lid on for about 15 minutes. Transfer the dish to the oven and leave to braise for about 2 hours. Check it after an hour and give it a good stir. Check the seasoning and add a bit more seasoning or rowanberry jelly if necessary.

Serve with mashed potatoes and wilted greens.