Category: 2 Recipes

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Shepherds / Cottage Pie

Okay so this is the basic ‘mash on top of a pie’ dish. Shepherds is when it’s lamb, cottage is when it’s beef. You’ll be unsurprised to know I make the cottage pie with Venison…

The key difference between the two is the gravy. For cottage pie you want a richer gravy, so I use venison stock and add red wine. For the shepherds pie I keep the gravy simpler, using a pheasant stock as the base, or just a bouillon base. You can substitute carrots for squash (especially a firmer squash like crown prince, but don’t be tempted by swede or turnip – they change the taste way too much.

Prep: 10min Cook; 40min (20 on the hob and 20 in the oven)

Ingredients – Shepherds pie

200g lamb mince

300g peeled potatoes roughly chopped

1 onion chopped

1 good sized carrot diced or 120g squash diced

250ml stock (pheasant or veg)

1 heaped dstspn bisto

1 dstspn Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper, butter

Ingredients – Cottage pie

200g venisonmince

300g peeled potatoes roughly chopped

1 onion chopped

1 good sized carrot diced or 120g squash diced

200ml stock (venison or beef)

50ml red wine

1 heaped dstspn bisto

1 dstspn Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper, butter

Before the mash

Perhaps the most important thing to get the pie right is the gravy. You don’t want too much or it cooks through the mash and makes it sloppy. But too little is just as bad – a dry pie is no fun at all. The picture shows a shepherds pie pre mash – I cooked it in the cast iron pan so I can get the gravy just right before adding the mash – no guessing – if I transfer it to a crock pot for the oven I can subtly change the balance and I don’t want that.

The filling is a firm layer, the gravy comes up to a few mm lower than the top of the layer – for me that’s perfect. And then…

Just out of the oven

You can see that even with that little gravy some has bubbled up and onto the mash and browned – that’s fine, because there is still plenty in the pie and the mash hasn’t gone watery at the edges – so now I tuck in.

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Rustic pasta

This is a firm favourite of mine, simple, lots of taste and warming for a winters night after a hard day outside. I use either meatballs made from venison or lamb, or if it’s a quick meal I’m after then I’ll chop up some sausages into 2cm pieces and use them as my meatballs.

The thing to remember here is a good quality balsamic vinegar, I use Belazu – it’s a real luxury but you only need a teaspoon for this dish, for basic balsamic you’d need at least a table spoon and it would take a lot more cooking down. If you’ve not got Balsamic then use a good glug of red wine – the richer the better, claret or rioja. Add this with the passata and cook it for an extra couple of minutes.

Ingredients

200g pasta (shells or twists ideally)

200g meatballs

1 onion finely chopped

1 finely chopped pepper

500ml passata

a generous teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

grated parmesan, salt, pepper

Method

  1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.
  2. While it’s cooking heat some olive oil with the balsamic vinegar in a frying pan, to drive off the acetic acid.
  3. Add the onion and pepper and soften them, then add the meatballs and seal and brown them. It will all take a glorious colour from the balsamic.
  4. add the garlic for 20sec to cook before adding the passata. Cook this for 5min to thicken the sauce and ensure the meatballs are cooked through.
  5. Season to taste, mix through the drained pasta and serve with parmesan and a good grind of black pepper.

If you want to use fresh pasta then I use linguini, it’s easy to make and works well with the sauce. I’d make 175g flour plus the egg to make a portion.

If you want to be chefy about it seal the meat balls first then put them aside, adding them back in a couple of minutes before the end – it keeps them very tender, but if your meatballs are good it makes less difference.

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Pasta Bake

An old favourite for me, I love it when the sauce is just a little sloppy and you can just get the zing of black pepper coming through – the tray is a pain to clean but sooo worth it.

Prep: 10min Cook; 25min including 16min in the oven

Ingredients

200g pasta shapes (shells or twists)

500ml passata

4 rashers streaky smoked bacon chopped

200g mushrooms finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed/chopped

1 dstspn sour cream

1 mozzarella cubed

basil (1cube or a handful fresh)

salt and pepper

Method

  1. pre-heat the oven to 225c (fan).
  2. Par boil the pasta in salted water for 8min then drain.
  3. While the pasta is cooking, fry the onions, bacon and mushrooms in olive oil. I add the bacon for a minute first to that when the onions are soft the bacon has a little colour.
  4. Add the garlic to the frying pan for 30 sec then add the passata and cook the sauce.
  5. When you drain the pasta turn the sauce down low 3/10 (induction) and when the sauce reduces from the simmer add the sour cream, basil and some salt and pepper.
  6. Mix through the pasta, and place it all in a lasagne dish, sprinkle the chopped mozzarella on top and put it in the oven for 16min.
  7. When the mozzarella is golden brown it’s ready to serve.

I use passata because the extra liquid is needed to fully cook the pasta (but not over-cook it) when it’s in the oven. If you use fresh tomatoes add a little of the pasta water to make up the sauce and reduce the salt you add to balance it out. You can add a chilli if you like, and a drizzle of basil oil on top when you serve doesn’t go amiss.

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Venison Tandoori

This completes my tandoori recipes, similar but different to my pheasant recipe , so not trying to be authentic – just after something that tastes good to me.

Best starting the marinade after breakfast and cooking that evening, awesome from the BBQ.

Prep: 5 min Marinade: 2+ hours Prep: 5 min Cooking: 24 min

Ingredients

  • 300g cubed venison (leg or blade)
  • 1 green pepper cut into large squares
  • 1 onion cut into large squares
  • 250g tomatillos (halved or as a cooked paste)

For the marinade

  • 1/2 tub sour cream (about 125ml)
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 2 cayenne chilli finely chopped or 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 dstspn garam masala
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed or chopped
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • juice of 1/2 a lime
  • salt and pepper

Method

  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl then add the pieces of meat and stir to give them a good coating. Cover and put in the fridge for as long as you like (6 hours is good). When your ready start on step 2.
  2. Preheat the oven to 225oc (fan).
  3. Make up skewers of onion, pepper and the marinaded meat. place these over a baking tray and pour on any remaining marinade. Drizzle with a little vegetable oil.
  4. Add 50ml water and the tomatillos directly to the baking tray – this is to steam the meat as it cooks and with the marinade drips makes the sauce.
  5. Place in the oven to cook for 24min, baste every 6 minutes and turn at least once during the cooking time.
  6. Take out of the oven and empty the skewers onto the plate, put the baking tray on the hob on a high heat (8/10 on my induction) and stir briefly to mix the remaining water, sauce and roasted tomatillos. Remove the skins and drizzle on top of the tandoori.
Ready to go in the oven

Things to think about…

I normally serve it with a little rice (often flavoured with a cardamon pod in the water), a potato or pumpkin curry and poppadum’s or naan, along with dips – basically I love to have a taps style curry rather than a one dish meal.

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Simple Venison Couscous

Warm and wonderful on a cold night. A one pot dish that takes very little prep and is packed with flavour. Best cooked in a Tagine, or failing that a wide risotto pan with a lid.

Prep: 5min Cook: 10min

Ingredients

200g couscous

200g venison rump cut as batons

1 pepper chopped as small slices

1/2 onion finely sliced

50g chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, figs, sultanas – any or all)

1 dstspn cumin

1 dstspn rose petal paste

1 or 2 chillies finely chopped

500ml stock (ideally venison)

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. heat some olive oil in the pan, when it’s really hot sear the venison for 10-15 sec before turning – be brave. reserve the venison.
  2. Add the onion and pepper, cook in the olive oil until softening, then add the spices and fry for a further 30sec.
  3. Add the stock, fruit and couscous, turn the heat down and cook for 5-6 min until the couscous is cooked and the juices are all absorbed.
  4. test for salt, add the venison and some fresh black pepper and serve immediately.
Venison Couscous ready to eat

This is a basic and very tasty couscous. The rose adds a lovely flavour, you can use rose harissa instead of the rose and chillies – up to you. If you want more bulk you can add some small cubes of squash. For a bit of crunch you can mix a few pine nuts through hat the end, or for a richer nuttier flavour add a dstspn of ground almonds with the couscous.

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Basic Breads

I bake pretty much all my own bread, except bagels (so far). And for basic bread (loaves for toast), I use a bread maker. It’s a Panasonic that’s all singing and all dancing. I use it for basic breads, rye, sourdough starters, dough of all sorts as well as jams. I use it a few times a week and it quickly paid for itself, not least because the bread tastes amazing and making ciabatta or french baton fresh makes the world of difference.

However, as with most things I don’t quite follow the recipes in the book. It’s not that they don’t work – they do, but these are slightly modified for my taste. I use a 4 hour cycle for the white and a 6 hour cycle for the brown, you can set most bread makers to pause before starting so it’s ready when you get home, or fresh for the morning.

Basic white loaf

350g strong white flour

50g semolina flour

tsp salt

10ml olive oil

tsp sugar

280ml water

1/2 a 7g packet of yeast

Brown’ish loaf

60g rye flour

100g wholemeal bread flour

240g strong white flour

10ml olive oil

tsp salt

1 egg

280ml water

1/2 a 7g packet of yeast

I use sugar in the white to get the yeast started, but the longer brown cycle doesn’t need it. I do fortify the brown with an egg (for texture and rise) and the white with semolina for a crumblier texture I prefer.

Basic white bread loaf
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Roasties

I defy you to find someone who doesn’t like roasties. I cook them the way I like them, it’s not chefy but it’s how I want them…

Prep: 5min Cook: 15min then 35min

Ingredients

500g potatoes, halved-ish – in 7.5cm chunks

2-3 beetroot peeled and in thirds/quarters

2-4 decent sized chunks of squash, peeled

vegetable oil

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 225c (fan)
  2. Start cooking the beetroot in salted boiling water, set the timer for 7min.
  3. When it beeps, put a heavy pan in the oven with a covering of about 5mm of veg oil, put the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water. Set the timer for 8min.
  4. When it beeps drain the veg, give the potatoes a gentle rattle around the pan.
  5. Take the hot oil pan from the oven and place it on a medium/high heat (7/10 induction). Add all the veg and turn to coat with oil.
  6. Cook for 35min in the oven, turning once after 20min.

Oil choice is important. Veg oil is lighter, and needs a higher temperature. If you use olive oil the potatoes get crispier, but are also more heavily oiled on serving – up to you. Add an extra 5 min cooking time if you want more crisp, or make the potatoes a bit smaller.

Roasties

I serve roasties with rosemary salt so I don’t add salt or herbs to the pan.

You’ll notice I leave the skins on my potatoes – I like them like that, but if you want fluffy crispy roasties, peel and use a floury potato like King Edwards or Sharps Express. If you prefer a waxier potato the par boil them for 10min not 8.

If I roast carrots or squash I add them raw to the hot oil, and if I do want to add something extra I’ll put a whole garlic halved in to roast as well.

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Fat Boys Breakfast

The cooked breakfast – ‘fat boys’ to me – is, as they say, a moveable feast. There are endless combinations and every part of the UK claims it’s own variation. The key to cooking it is:

  1. One frying pan for every two people if you want everyone to be served at once
  2. Work out a cooking order so you can keep everything that keeps warm without spoiling the flavour in the oven, and always the potato scone last immediately after the eggs.

Cook: 15min

Mini-fat boys, with room in the middle for sauce.

Ingredients (all optional per person)

75g Mushrooms cut into pieces

1/2 tin baked beans

1 slice toast, buttered

2 rashers back bacon unsmoked

1 pork sausage (I use chipolata)

1 lorne (square) sausage

1 slice black pudding

1 potato scone

1 slice white pudding

1 round of haggis

1 egg

Method

  1. warm a large heavy metal dish in the oven (about 60c fan) and warm the plates. If you are cooking for 1 or 2, just warm the plates in a proving oven and serve onto them as you go.
  2. Heat veg oil (1tblspn) in a frying pan (7/10 induction), add the mushrooms. If you want the extra washing up you can cook them separately in butter.
  3. Add the pork sausage to start cooking and after 4 min add the black/white pudding, haggis and lorne sausage.
  4. Turn everything after about 2 min,
  5. Put the bread on to toast. Start the beans on a lowish (4/10) heat.
  6. After 2 min put the mushrooms onto a paper towel to remove the excess oil, move everything else into the oven, then the mushrooms once they’ve drained.
  7. Cook the bacon, with the thin end towards the middle of the pan – where it will crisp better. This will take about 90sec, more if the bacon gives up brine in the pan.
  8. Turn the pan down to 6, move the bacon into the oven.
  9. Add more oil to the pan and then the eggs. While they are cooking butter the toast. Use a spatula to coat the eggs and cook the top (removing any wobbly white).
  10. When the eggs are almost done start serving, and if there is room in the pan add the potato scones. The potato scones only take 30 sec each side and they do soak up oil, I dish up the eggs then turn the scones, and finish dishing everything else up before the scone, which I put on a paper towel for a few seconds first.

Okay so it sounds rushed, stressy and complicated – it’s not. After a couple of goes you get a real sense of the rhythm and timings, and it’s just a simple organised thing that always wins big brownie points for the day ahead.

For me a fat boys is best the morning after a hard physical day, when you know you’ll have an hour or two to let it go down and your muscles are gently aching from the day before.

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Roast Chicken (or partridge)

a roast chicken is a lovely thing. Either with roasties, or ciabatta – always feels like a treat.

Prep: 2min Cook: 90min (depends on bird)

Ingredients

1 Chicken or 2 Partridge

50ml sherry

olive oil, salt, water

Method

  1. preheat oven to 200c (fan)
  2. pour the sherry into the body cavity(s), add about 100ml of water to the base of the pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
  3. Cook and baste. For partridge cook for 30 min, baste every 10 and turn the oven down to 175c after 15min. For Chicken, baste every 20min, cook for 45min/kg + 20min and turn the oven down to 175c after 20min.
A roast chicken, 15min to go…

I put water into the pan to keep a moist atmosphere while the bird cooks. The high initial temperature and the use of olive oil and salt means the bird will still brown, but will also be succulent. I use sherry to flavour the bird, and because unlike using herbs or spices it doesn’t overly distort the flavour from the stock I make from the bones.

If you like you can use a bit of thyme, then the stock is excellent for paella. Or Cumin, then the stock is ideal for couscous or curry. you can also drape a partridge with a couple of slices of streaky bacon and leave the oven at 200c, but you still need to baste to get the best from it.

To serve I simply joint the bird, parsons nose, legs, wings, breasts. Then pull the remaining meat off. Leftovers are for breakfast or the following days tea.

I will very occasionally roast a partridge, but normally stick to chicken. I think you can do much better with partridge in other dishes, and plucking is a pain! I don’t roast pheasant for two reasons, firstly you have to pre-pull the leg tendons with pliers, and as I said – plucking is a pain,

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Venison Chilli

One of the few ‘ready meals’ I make in big batches and freeze. While it does rob it of a little heat, you can always add fresh chilli either at the end or during the reheating, and it’s best cooked for a long time – so making batches is the right thing to do.

Prep: 30min Cook: 100min Cool: 90min

Ingredients

1.5 kg venison mince

3.5 l passata or 9 tins of chopped tomatoes

8 onions, diced

4 carrots, diced or grated

3 tins of kidney beans washed well

12 chillies, chopped, ideally two types

1 tblspn cumin

1 dstspn paprika

1 dstspn fresh ground pepper

1 dstspn salt

50ml olive oil

75g dark chocolate (optional)

Method

  1. Add the olive oil and onions and carrots to a large pan and cook until the onions start to turn translucent and soften.
  2. Add the venison, and cook until the venison mince is browned and starts giving up juices.
  3. put the cumin, chilli, pepper and paprika into the pot stirring well. After about 30 seconds you’ll smell the change in the cumin and chilli –
  4. Immediately add the pasata/tomatoes, stir, bring to the simmer then turn right down (3/10 on induction), with the lid nearly on and cook for 90min stirring occasionally
  5. If you’re adding the chocolate add it now grated and stir through.
  6. Add salt to taste, and check the depth of flavour, add more cumin if needed, and more chilli until it’s almost too hot for your taste.
  7. Place the pot to one side, off the heat, stir through the kidney beans and leave to cool before bagging as 400ml potions (you should have 10-12 of these)

Serve with rice (brown rice is good), sprinkle extra chilli if you want it or black pepper, then grated cheddar, then sour cream, and finally a dust of paprika.

Venison is the king of meat for chilli in my eyes, you can use beef mince, but venison packs a greater flavour. If you use beef add a couple of stock cubes and halve the salt to get more flavour in there.

The chocolate add an extra layer to the taste, it also tones down the chilli a little, so mix it before you test for heat. And talking of heat, I tend to use whatever chillies I’ve grown. My ideal is 2/3 cayenne and 1/3 a hotter variety like a pubescens chilli. Or if I buy them in then a couple of scotch bonnet. Mixing chillies really improves the flavour as each pepper is distinctive, but you have to taste it through the heat to really get that.

If you’re not a fan of hot you can reduce the chillies, but to keep the flavour I would add a couple of finely chopped sweet peppers with the onions. Marconi peppers for preference but red bell peppers will do just fine. That’s a personal taste thing, I think Marconi peppers go better with chilli hotness than red bell peppers, and green peppers would be the wrong taste.