I'd often shy away from cooking with game meats such as venison through fears that I'm just a homecook an hat to get the best from these types of protein you should have some kind of cheffing experience, well I was wrong. In this recipe I just treat the diced venison as I would diced beef, the flavour is entirely different from beef, very irony and rich so the subtle wintery spices in this stew really compliment it!
Prep time 10mins
Cooking time 2 hours in the oven, 4 hours in slow cooker
350g diced venison
1.5tbsp plain flour
1tbsp cornflour
Salt & Pepper
2tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and cut in to wedges
2 celery sticks, washed and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 small cinnamon stick or 1 large cassia bark
2 star anise
5 whole cloves
1/2tsp ground mixed spice
300ml red wine
400ml beef stock
Preheat your oven to 170ºc (alternatively you can cook this in a slow cooker but it will take an extra 2 hours)
Mix the two flours together in a bowl and add a nice amount or salt and pepper, around 1/4tsp each. Mix well.
Toss the diced venison in the seasoned flour.
In a deep frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium to high heat.
Add the floured venison and brown off quickly in a pan, you can do this in batches if need be so not to over crowd the pan. Once browned remove and put in to an ovenproof casserole dish. (or your slow cooker).
Add a dash more oil (1tbsp) and add the onion, and celery. Cook until beginning to soften, around 5mins. You can add a splash of water (around 50ml) if the pan is too dry so that they don't burn.
Now add the crushed garlic cloves cinnamon, star anise, cloves and mix spice, cook until fragrant, around 2 minutes but don't let them stick and burn, again you can add a splash of water to help stop this.
Now add the red wine, and allow to reduce by half.
Once the wine has reduced by half add the beef stock. Turn the heat up and allow to come to a boil. Once it has reach a boil add to the casserole dish or slow cooker with the venison.
Pop in the oven for around 2 hours until the meat is lovely and tender. Alternatively pop in the slow cooker for around 4 hours. Check every so often to make sure there is still plenty of liquid, add a splash more water if is seems too dry.
After the cooking time your should have a wonderful thick rich gravy but if it is a little thin for your liking then carefully (as it will be hot) transfer it to a saucepan on a medium heat and let it reduce until it reaches the thickness you enjoy.
Have a taste and adjust the seasoning if need be.
Enjoy.
Tip.
if you make too much you can always freeze for later.
