A haunch of venison makes a splendid party dish and perfect for a Christmas party.
Ingredients
For the meat:
- 1 haunch of venison - approx. 2.7-3.2kg in weight
- 225g pork back fat or fatty streaky bacon
For the marinade:
- 1 dessertspoon mixed fresh herbs: thyme, savoury, marjoram and sage
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 120 ml dry white wine
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gravy:
- 600ml beef or chicken stock
For the horseradish cream:
- 3 - 6 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Lots of freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 225ml softly whipped cream
For the cranberry and port sauce:
- 170g cranberries
- 4 tablespoons water
- 75g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons port
- A few drops of lemon juice, optional
Method
Preparing the venison:
- To prepare the venison, trim the silvery tough skin off the surface of the meat being as economical as possible.
- To lard the venison, cut the pork back fat into 5mm wide strips or lardons.
- Insert a strip into a larding needle, draw a lardon through the meat to make a stitch. Trim the end.
- Repeat at intervals all over the surface of the meat.
- If you do not have a larding needle, you can simply make delicate holes in the surface of the meat and push in the strips of pork or bacon.
- Put the haunch into a shallow dish or roasting pan.
- Sprinkle it with the freshly chopped herbs.
- Pour the olive oil and wine over the meat.
- Cover the dish and marinate the meat for about four hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight, turning the meat occasionally.
- The liquid from this marinade will be used to baste the meat during cooking.
Cooking the venison:
- Preheat the oven to 200c and season the meat with salt and pepper.
- Weigh the venison and calculate around 20 minutes to each kg of meat.
- After 20 minutes reduce the oven to 180°C and cook for the remaining time at this temperature.
- I like to serve venison slightly pink and still very juicy, so I usually turn off the oven then leave the meat relax for 20-30 minutes.
- During the cooking time baste every 10 minutes with the oil and wine marinade.
- When the venison is cooked, remove to a serving dish while you make the gravy.
- Degrease the roasting pan by adding about 600ml homemade beef, chicken or venison stock.
- Bring to the boil and continue to simmer and reduce until you have a flavoursome gravy.
- I occasionally swirl a few knobs of butter into the gravy to add richness and shine.
- Taste and correct seasoning.
- Strain the gravy through a sieve to improve the appearance.
- Bring the gravy back to a boil before serving the venison on hot plates with the accompanying sauces on the side.
For the horseradish cream:
- Put the grated horseradish into a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard powder, salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.
- Fold in the softly whipped cream but do not over mix or it will curdle.
- The sauce keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days, covered, so that it doesn't pick up other flavours.
For the cranberry and port sauce:
- Place the cranberries and water in a small saucepan and place on a low heat.
- Cover and simmer until the cranberries burst.
- Add in the sugar and port and stir well.
- Remove from the heat and taste and correct sweetness. I sometimes add a few drops of lemon juice if I feel the sauce needs sharpening up.