Venison casserole

[Epona]

Any good tried and tested recipes out there?

I was intending to get some pork shoulder to roast but couldn't find any, diced venison was however on special offer, so I thought I'd give it a go - I can't recall having it before and I've definitely never cooked it.

A lot of the recipes I found call for redcurrant jelly, which I don't have and will not be able to get before tonight, any alternatives?

Also I have a couple of pork and herb sausages that I defrosted yesterday and then ran out of energy before I got round to cooking (I just started a cold yesterday and felt a bit shit), so they need using - I reckon they would probably go alright if I just browned them and added them to the casserole half an hour before the end of cooking time - would that work do you think?

 

[Badgers]

No worries on mixing some sausages with the venison for sure. Make sure you get the meats in flour and sealed before throwing in the casserole.

As for the redcurrant jelly I did this just a few weeks ago in a game stew. Chucked some cranberry sauce in and was fine. Even some raspberry or blackberry jam (seedless ideally).

If no jams then a bit of lemon/lime juice or a few wedges off would do at a push.

 

[Schmetterling]

Fried onion, salt, pepper, sweet paprika, about 10 crushed juniper berries, 1 bayleaf. What time do you want us?

 

[Santino]

Just treat it like a very lean beef. Sausages would go very well with it, adding some much-needed fat.

 

[Epona]

No worries on mixing some sausages with the venison for sure. Make sure you get the meats in flour and sealed before throwing in the casserole.

As for the redcurrant jelly I did this just a few weeks ago in a game stew. Chucked some cranberry sauce in and was fine. Even some raspberry or blackberry jam (seedless ideally).

If no jams then a bit of lemon/lime juice or a few wedges off would do at a push.

Thanks, at this time of year it should be easy enough to get cranberry sauce/jelly of some variety or another! We had a new Morrisons open and had vouchers so did a big shop, but I didn't think of picking up redcurrants, the venison came as a bit of a surprise purchase! I should be able to pick up cranberry sauce somewhere closer though.

 

[Spymaster]

As above, treat it like lean beef. Get an onion fried, flour the meat and brown it off, put your choice of veg and seasoning, whack in some red wine (optional), stock, a little sugar, and simmer until the meat's done. Venison doesn't have much fat so be careful not to overcook/dry it out. I'd take the sausage meat out of the skins, make a few balls of them and put them in with the rest of the meat.

 

[Orang Utan]

remember to take the antlers off first

 

[trabuquera]

You don't need redcurrant anything really, though anything that has a red/fruity/slightly acid tang to it might make the stew a bit richer and complements the slight sourness/gaminess of some venison. A small dab of tomato puree or really tiny dab any other sort of red fruit jam or that slosh of red wine would do the trick just as well. You DEFINITELY need plenty of fat as the venison has almost none, and a bit of fat helps soften the meat as it cooks - a few bits of diced bacon ideally (not much - maybe a third of a rasher per person, cut into bits), or you could try making some sausage balls and frying them first, set aside, then use any of the fat that's rendered out of that to cook your onion/carrot/whatever base and brown the venison. Extra bits of mushroom and/or carrot if you need to pad out the meat. I'd say dumplings but I say dumplings improve any stew ever.

 

[Epona]

I've had a trip to the shops and have procured some cranberry jelly and some blackcurrant jam. Although I quite like the thought of blackcurrant stuff in the casserole, the jam is a very cheap one so probably very low on fruit Therefore the cranberry sauce is probably the better option.

As far as the rest of the casserole goes, I have:

Diced venison,
Bacon,
Pork & herb sausages,
Onion,
Carrots,
Red wine

In terms of herbs I am thinking thyme and a couple of bay leaves, salt & pepper of course.

Will serve with mash. In terms of dumplings, I normally would agree (dumplings with everything!!!) but it is only me eating and I already have a vast amount to get through

 

[Spymaster]

You don't need redcurrant anything really, though anything that has a red/fruity/slightly acid tang to it might make the stew a bit richer and complements the slight sourness/gaminess of some venison. A small dab of tomato puree or really tiny dab any other sort of red fruit jam or that slosh of red wine would do the trick just as well. You DEFINITELY need plenty of fat as the venison has almost none, and a bit of fat helps soften the meat as it cooks - a few bits of diced bacon ideally (not much - maybe a third of a rasher per person, cut into bits), or you could try making some sausage balls and frying them first, set aside, then use any of the fat that's rendered out of that to cook your onion/carrot/whatever base and brown the venison. Extra bits of mushroom and/or carrot if you need to pad out the meat. I'd say dumplings but I say dumplings improve any stew ever.

I've had a pork-cheek casserole blipping away in the oven this afternoon and as a result of this post I put some dumplings on top earlier. Cheers!

 

[Epona]

I've had a pork-cheek casserole blipping away in the oven this afternoon and as a result of this post I put some dumplings on top earlier. Cheers!

Oooh, that sounds good - and would be a good candidate for my cooking with cider experiments (cider is seriously seriously cheap at Lidl, so when on a budget, it makes a very good alternative to cooking with wine for certain meats - worked well with chicken and for pork or sausages it would of course be very good).

The other thing I was looking at today (I'm all about a bargain!) was ox cheeks - I've not cooked that cut before but I am a big fan of braised/slow-cooked/stewed meats so I reckon I'd like that - might try that next time.

 

[Spymaster]

Oooh, that sounds good - and would be a good candidate for my cooking with cider experiments (cider is seriously seriously cheap at Lidl, so when on a budget, it makes a very good alternative to cooking with wine for certain meats - worked well with chicken and for pork or sausages it would of course be very good).

The other thing I was looking at today (I'm all about a bargain!) was ox cheeks - I've not cooked that cut before but I am a big fan of braised/slow-cooked/stewed meats so I reckon I'd like that - might try that next time.

Morrisons. Half a kilo for less than 3 quid.

 

[Epona]

Morrisons. Half a kilo for less than 3 quid.

Yeah that is where I was today
New store opened within walking distance and we got some vouchers through the post - hence the shopping trip today I have another voucher to use before the 19th, so will make another visit next week.

It's actually a good addition to the area, we have 3 branches of Iceland and an independent Turkish supermarket - it doesn't really have a lot of crossover with either of those places tbh so I'm quite pleased. It's like how Waitrose is upmarket for other areas, that is what Morrisons fulfills here I can get a much wider choice of fresh meats, fish, fruit and veg, but will still visit the other (nearer) shops for the stuff I usually get from them cheaper.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

Speaking of dumplings...Jamie Oliver (pfft) has a recipe for dumplings that only uses flour and butter and seasoning.
I thought suet was mandatory?
I've always used suet but switched to vegetable suet a few years ago and it works fine.

Anyone got a really good dumpling mix they use?

 

[telbert]

Speaking of dumplings...Jamie Oliver (pfft) has a recipe for dumplings that only uses flour and butter and seasoning.
I thought suet was mandatory?
I've always used suet but switched to vegetable suet a few years ago and it works fine.

Anyone got a really good dumpling mix they use?

1 part suet
1 part flour
1 part breadcrumbs
Fresh parsley and thyme
Salt and pepper.
Mix together and add enough water to form into golf ball size. Add to stew/ casserole for last 30/ 40 mins.

 

[telbert]

1 part suet
1 part flour
1 part breadcrumbs
Fresh parsley and thyme
Salt and pepper.
Mix together and add enough water to form into golf ball size. Add to stew/ casserole for last 30/ mins.

Rosemary works well with lamb/ rabbit stew.

 

[trabuquera]

Butter in dumplings makes them sort of fluffier and less substantial but let's face it - dumplings are pretty much always good. I don't cook often enough or large enough to make buying suet worthwhile (even though I prefer the end result) so I've survived on butter-using dumplings so far. (but only a bit of butter and the rest stuck together with a splash of milk / sour cream / maybe egg / whatever.) Very pleased to have pushed you to include them Spymaster !

Never tried pork cheek but beef cheek (oooooer) can be amazing if you give it long enough cooking, and that can be aaaaaaaages, like 5-6h and more- plenty of liquid needed over that much time, obviously. It makes sense: what makes meat tasty (rather than tender) is exercise - and what do cows do more of than chewing, using their cheek muscles? So it it might end up fibrous but it will have more flavour than some un-excercised bit of finesse like a fillet steak or what have you. £3 for 500g of ox cheek would get me to Morrison's, going to go and check it out.

 

[Epona]

You can use butter, but I prefer suet, butter tends to result in a crumbly dry dumpling imo.

Vegetable suet works great but a lot of them contain palm oil as the major ingredient, which is a major cause of deforestation globally, so if you choose veggie suet/veg stews for environmental reasons, you might want to see if you can get a palm-free one.

 

[Spymaster]

£3 for 500g of ox cheek would get me to Morrison's, going to go and check it out.

That was for pork cheek.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

You can use butter, but I prefer suet, butter tends to result in a crumbly dry dumpling imo.

Vegetable suet works great but a lot of them contain palm oil as the major ingredient, which is a major cause of deforestation globally, so if you choose veggie suet/veg stews for environmental reasons, you might want to see if you can get a palm-free one.

Ok..I didnt know that..
Used to get Atora veg suet. But I'll look for something palm oil free.

 

[Epona]

Ok..I didnt know that..
Used to get Atora veg suet. But I'll look for something palm oil free.

I just thought I'd mention it because I know a lot of people are veggie/vegan or avoid certain products due to environmental concerns - meat suet is of course also terrible for the environment, but that most veggie ones are also terrible due to use of palm oil can be a surprise. There are other alternatives made from vegetable oils out there.

Actually I just googled and found a load of recipes that use oil instead of butter or suet, that might be worth a go - I very rarely have suet in but always have olive oil and rapeseed oil to hand.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

I dont know why I started using veg suet in a full on Irish stew. I think my mum used it in mutton stew when the mad cow thing blew up. I just got used to using it in beef stews which sounds weird...but I'm not a vegetarian.

 

[Epona]

I dont know why I started using veg suet in a full on Irish stew. I think my mum used it in mutton stew when the mad cow thing blew up. I just got used to using it in beef stews which sounds weird...but I'm not a vegetarian.

I've always got the vegetable suet because Nate doesn't eat meat - so even if I am doing a meat stew for me and a veggie stew for him, I only need to make dumplings the once and just pop some into each pot.

 

[AverageJoe]

God I'm hungry now. This all sounds amazing

 

[Epona]

The mention of juniper berries early on in the thread made me wonder whether gin could be a thing in a venison casserole. I actually found a recipe that involved 600ml of gin in the sauce - I passed - that would make it the single most expensive thing I ever cooked I did use a splash to deglaze the pan after browning the meat

 

[Epona]

I ate really late by the time I had got round to doing spuds to go with it and so didn't report back last night - it was absolutely lush, thanks for all the suggestions! I went with the cranberry sauce in it, and it was delicious in there, worked perfectly - in that I could tell it added to the casserole because I knew it was in there and could detect it, but it blended in perfectly and didn't stand out too much as a flavour - which is just what you want in that sort of dish really.

So yeah, Morrisons 2 packs of diced venison or venison steaks for £4, I went with 2 of the diced which is 600g of meat total - bargain. Half went in the freezer for use at another time.

As was stated earlier in the thread it was VERY lean - I think if I'd gone for lardons that would have been enough fat - but with a couple of rashers of back bacon and 2 sausages I still needed to add a bit of olive oil when browning the floured meat.

 

[JuanTwoThree]

So yeah, Morrisons 2 packs of diced venison or venison steaks for £4, I went with 2 of the diced which is 600g of meat total - bargain. Half went in the freezer for use at another time.

Deer not dear

 

[Baronage-Phase]

Making a beef and mushroom casserole now. I put blackcurrant conserve in with it. Hope it'll be nice. It's in the oven 3 hrs now. One more to go.

 

[Epona]

Making a beef and mushroom casserole now. I put blackcurrant preserve in with it. Hope it'll be nice. It's in the oven 3 hrs now. One more to go.

Let us know how it goes! I might try more of this sort of thing, although as I mentioned earlier I am on a bit of a cider cooking spree atm, which works similarly I suppose.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

It is feckin lovely !!!
Having it with some sourdough straight from the oven and just about to tuck in.