Canal Boat — January 2018

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat January 2018 81

O

ne of the great

things about

spending time in

the countryside is

having access to some simply

wonderful wild food. My

husband regularly turns up

with a fallow deer or two in

the back of the truck at this

time of year, giving us a glut

of meat that lasts through the

winter. A hearty stew is a

great way to use up the

tougher cuts, such as the

shoulder, and venison has a

rich, earthy flavour that

works brilliantly with the

mushrooms that can be

foraged in the fields and

woods. Field mushrooms,

parasols and horse

mushrooms all work

brilliantly in this dish. But

remember – never pick or eat

wild fungi unless you are 100

per cent sure of your

identification!! If you want to

give things a bit of a festive

twist, cooked, peeled

chestnuts add a little

sweetness and contrast the

salty bacon lardons.

I’ve used beef stock, port,

red wine and even just water

to make the braising liquor in

the past but a good hearty ale

works really well. I always

think that part of the appeal

of a seasonal stew should be

versatility – so feel free to add

favourite seasonings or

alternative ingredients.

Serve simply with a good

loaf of crusty bread to mop

up the juices or with lashings

of fluffy mashed potatoes if

you want to make a more

luxurious meal of it. For a

true one-pot version, you can

cook whole new potatoes in

the braising liquor which

suck up the juices as they

slowly cook, and taste

marvellous! It’ll even work as

a pie with a simple puff

pastry lid.

Leftovers keep well, with

the taste often improving

after a day or two in the

fridge, and this stew also

freezes brilliantly so we

often cook up an extra large

batch and keep some

stashed for an easy supper.

Many butchers and some

supermarkets will stock

venison (either farmed or wild)

year round but this recipe

works just fine with traditional

stewing cuts of beef. And if you

aren’t confident enough to

source wild mushrooms then

shop-bought chestnut

mushrooms can be substituted.

Seasonal, hearty and incredibly versatile, this venison stew is a one-pot wonder

that you’ll want to keep going back to, writes Victoria Holtam

Venison and mushroom stew

VENISON AND

MUSHROOM STEW

Victoria Holtam COOKING :BACK CABIN



Ingredients

1kg Venison shoulder in

large dice

1x 200g pack of cooked,

peeled chestnuts (optional).

1x 225g pack smoked bacon

lardons or pancetta cubes

1 pint of good quality real ale

200g wild mushrooms

1 large onion (sliced)

2-3 cloves garlic (sliced)

Heaped dessert spoon

of flour

3x bay leaves

Fresh or dried thyme, salt

and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Season the venison well and brown the meat over a medium

heat in batches so as not to overcrowd your pan. Put to one

side. Fry your lardons until crisp, add in the onions and garlic

until they begin to soften and then the mushrooms.

Return the venison to the pan, add the flour and stir well,

fry for a couple of minutes and then add the beer, the bay

leaves and thyme plus the chestnuts. You want your liquor

to be just about covering the meat. Top up with more beer,

water or stock if required.

Cover and cook in the oven at 160C for about 2 hours

until the venison is tender and flaking.