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By Mark Hinge
Monday, 30 November 2009
A slow-cooked sloe and venison casserole gives a taste of autumn
It has been a bumper year for sloes, hanging like musket shot from the blackthorn trees. With the autumn now well under way, what better than combining sloe gin with venison in a slow-cooked casserole that is full of freshness and flavour?
Ingredients
• venison • bay leaf • juniper berries • sloe gin • mixed fresh vegetables • garlic • thyme • salt and pepper • water
Method
1. Dice the venison into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl with half a dozen bay leaves, a dozen crushed juniper berries and a full glass of sloe gin. Use sufficient gin to cover the venison. Seal the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for 48 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Dice the vegetables and place them and the venison marinade in a casserole dish. Add two chopped cloves of garlic, a good sprinkling of thyme and season. Add cold water until the mixture is just covered.
3. Put the lid on the casserole dish and place it at the bottom of a preheated oven at 150°C and cook for three to four hours. Stir the mixture every hour. After an hour taste and add seasoning if necessary. The liquid content should reduce to a thick, rich sauce. Serve hot with crusty bread.
Tips
The taste and smell of the sloe gin gives a unique freshness to the casserole. Marinating the venison for two days will make it very tender. Use your favourite vegetables. I used parsnip, celery, carrot and broccoli. The stew makes a good shoot lunch as, being finely diced, the ingredients fit into a vacuum flask. You should find juniper berries in the spice section of a supermarket.
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