I really wanted to have something a bit special and different for supper one night this week, so ended up driving out to Sunnyfields Organic Farm to see what they had on offer and to have a look at all their local produce as well – all I can say is wow – the food looked so good that I could have spent a small fortune!
As soon as I saw the Organic Venison Steaks, I had to bring them home along with an assortment of organic vegetables.
Having never cooked Vension Steaks before, I then set about asking people for ideas and trawling recipe sites for ideas. Someone suggested to me a Redcurrent and Red Wine Sauce, so I set about to find a tasty one online. On the Good Food Channel website I found this recipe by Mary Cadogan and it sounded fairly easy to make and delicious too!
Luckily I had all the ingredients in the fridge or cupboards, so didn’t need to pop out again for anything else. Cooking the meat and the sauce was as easy as the recipe suggested and the proof was in the eating – it tasted fantastic. I served it all up with an assortment of the vegetables, roasting the sweet pototoes in the oven – I even ended up making my carrots looking fancy too!
My girlfriend had never eaten Vension before and was unsure whether she was going to like it or not, until she had her first mouthful and her reaction was “Wow”! She thought it was so soft and tasty and perfectly pink in the middle. We both thought it was richer and tastier than normal steak and it was the something ‘special and different’ that I had been looking for. While it is still in season, we will be going back next week for some more steaks to have again!
This is one recipe I highly recommend to anyone who loves, or wants to try, Venison.
300ml Beef consommé
150ml Red wine
350g Venison steaks, (2-4 depending on size)
Salt, and freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs Thyme
1-2 tbsp Olive oil
2 Shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp Redcurrant jelly
Knob of Butter
Flat leaf Parsley, to garnish
1 Boil the consommé and red wine until reduced by half. This will take about 10 minutes.
2 Season the venison with salt and pepper and scatter over thyme leaves.
3 Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan; add the venison and fry quickly on both sides until browned. Remove to a plate.
4 Add the knob of butter to the pan and then add the shallots and fry gently until softened.
5 Add the reduced stock and red wine and redcurrant jelly and stir to dissolve the jelly.
6 Return the venison to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning until it is cooked to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Garnish each portion with a small sprig of flat-leafed parsley.
Serve with seasonal vegetables or vegetables of your choice.
Anyone For Seconds? 