The Food Gatherer's Note: You could use beef shin instead of the venison, but the richness of the venison works beautifully with the aromatic juniper.
Slow cooked Venison and Juniper Stew
This simple heart warming stew is perfect for when it’s cold outside. Venison has become a winter favourite in our house - it's delicious served with creamy mash or even Italian style with soft polenta. The recipe is based on one from Jamie Oliver’s book Jamie's America and can be found on his website www.jamieoliver.com -
Ingredients:
4 tbsp plain flour
800g stewing venison
2 onions chopped
3 carrots chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
1 tbsp juniper berries crushed
2 sprigs of rosemary chopped
6 sprigs of parsley
2 beef stock cubes
600g new potatoes (or quartered seasonal larger potatoes)
1 clove garlic chopped
Knob of butter
To Prepare:
In a bowl, coat the venison meat in 2 tablespoons of flour and season well.
In a large pan on a high heat, add some olive oil and fry the meat for a few minutes to brown it. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, crushed juniper berries, rosemary and a knob of butter. Then add a tablespoon of water and stir well, covering with a lid and leave to steam for 5 minutes so the flavours develop.
Remove the lid and allow to fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Chop the parsley stalks finely and when the onions are caramelised add them, saving the parsley leaves until later. Mix in 2 tablespoons of flour and crumble in the stock cubes. Add a splash of water and mix through.
Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Add the potatoes and leave for 2 hours. Add more water if it looks like its too dry.
Mix the chopped garlic with the parsley and a teaspoon of sea salt and pepper and mix in to the stew.
Enjoy x