Watch How to Cook Well with Rory O'Connell at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
Venison is the leanest of all meats and requires very careful timing when cooking. Traditional methods of cooking this fine meat were very heavy-handed indeed and have left many people with less than pleasant memories of eating it. Red wine marinades, full of strong spices and seasonings were considered de rigueur and as a result the meat was strong, and quite often seriously overcooked. Venison has such a low fat content that cooking it more than medium tends to produce a very dry and flavorless result.
To avoid this happening, I always weigh the meat and calculate the cooking time most carefully. The suggested cooking time seems short, but in my experience it is absolutely accurate.
The juniper is a berry that most people will have ingested or at least enjoyed the flavour of whilst enjoying a gin and tonic and in fact a gin cannot be called a gin unless it has some of the berry infused in the making of the spirit. It has certainly come under pressure over the past few years as a dizzying array of flavorings have been flung into the previously minimal concoction, thereby challenging the berries position as the spice that for most people determined the taste of a gin. Interestingly it is not a true berry but a seed cone but really has the appearance of a berry with a deep blue dusty colour.
Its flavour is reflected in its scent which is quite aromatic and somewhat antiseptic. There is also fruitiness and a hint of pepper going on too. I also love it with pigeon and wild duck. I have also tasted it in cakes and set creams but am not sure that is the best place for it.
In this recipe, the fiery horseradish sauce, walnuts and pink venison combine brilliantly. I serve a simple green vegetable such as kale or sprouting broccoli alongside.
Serves 6-8
- 1 kg Loin of venison, trimmed of all grizzle
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons juniper berries
- 4 tablespoons of brandy
- 300ml red wine
- 300ml beef or chicken stock
- 55g Butter
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
Method
- Preheat oven to 200c
- Weigh the meat and calculate 10 minutes roasting time per 450g.
- Rub the venison with olive oil.
- Place the juniper berries in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and grind to a coarse powder. Add a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Rub the oiled venison in the spice mixture.
- Heat a heavy sauté pan until quite hot and seal and colour the venison on all sides and place on a baking tray and roast for c 10 minutes.
- When the meat is cooked, remove from the roasting tray. Place on an upturned plate sitting inside a larger one to capture any escaping meat juices and allow to rest in a warm oven.
- Place the roasting tray on a medium heat and add the brandy. Let the brandy bubble up and evaporate almost completely. Add the wine. Allow the wine to boil and stir the bottom of the pan to loosen any caramelized meat juices. Allow the wine to reduce
- by three quarters. Add the stock and allow to boil. Strain into a small saucepan and bring to the boil again and reduce until the sauce thickens very lightly.
- Taste and if you are not happy with the intensity of the flavour, keep reducing. Otherwise, turn the heat down so that the sauce barely simmers and add the cold butter. Shake the pan to and fro to create a gently swirling liquid or little waves. Gradually the butter will melt and thicken the sauce a little more. The sauce should be glossy now, lightly thickened and taste deliciously flavorsome and rich.
- To serve, carve the rested meat, (adding any meat juices to the sauce), into 1cm thick slices. Arrange on hot plates. Place a blob of very cold horseradish cream carefully on the very edge of the meat or pass separately if preferred.
- Sprinkle plates with a little finely chopped chives and serve immediately.
