Roe Fillet wrapped in leek and bacon
We were thrilled when Eat Wild kindly sent us this recipe – Roe is a lovely delicate venison which has a smooth texture and this recipe tastes delicious and well worth trying.Eat Wild Gloucestershire born brothers William and Culum Thompson had a vision; to bring real food to real people at real prices by harvesting, cooking and retailing sustainably sourced wild meat and game. In 2010 they founded EAT WILD and are excited to announce the launch of their first EAT WILD restaurant in their home town of Cirencester.The décor of the restaurant is almost as spectacular as the food, taking on a mix of old English country pile meets urban London warehouse. The two rutting stags sprayed by Visual Drop provide an electric backdrop to the space, with taxidermy from local artist Kate Latimer filing every corner of the intimate restaurant. The Thompson brothers are all about attention to detail from their food through to the service, and this is notable in the interior too.
Ingredients
- 2 portion size fillets roe venison
- 1 leek
- 6 rashers British streaky bacon
- 150 grams spinach
- 1 large parsnip
- 2 medium carrots
- 5 white potatoes
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 glass full fat milk
- 2 cloves garlic
For the gravy
- 1 large carrot
- 2 small red onions
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 250 ml stock game or beer
- 1/2 pint sloe gin
- 1 roe heart
Instructions
- Start by making the gravy as this takes the longest, roughly dice the heart and slice the onions. Slice the carrots into thin discs.
- Soften the onions in a pan with rapeseed oil and then add carrots, heart and thyme
- Brown all of this until it takes on a strong colour. Add the sloe gin and reduce down making sure you lift all the colour from the bottom of the pan.
- Once reduced add the stock and continuing reducing and topping up with water throughout the course of the cook and season to taste before serving
- Next slice your parsnip and carrots lengthways and quarter them, place in a roasting tray.
- Crush the garlic cloves with the flat side of a veg knife and add the cloves to the roasting tray
- Splash with rapeseed oil and tumble around the tray to get a good coverage. Add a sprig of rosemary and drizzle with honey.Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and put in a pre-heated oven at about 180 degrees.
- Next wash and peel the potatoes, cutting into halves or quarters. Cover with water in a saucepan and add a pinch of sea salt. Do not boil just yet!
- Bring a separate salted pan to the boil. Trim your leek and then halve. Add the leek to the pan and soften.
- Heat a frying pan and sear both roe fillets, starting on each end followed by the sides.Once seared remove to a chopping board, separate the leek leaves and lay three or four on the chopping board (to the length of the fillet) and place the fillet on top.
- Starting from one side fold the leek leaves over the fillet until you are left with a ‘leeky’ parcel
- On a separate chopping board lay the bacon horizontally and place the leek wrapped fillet in the centre, the end rashers should finish where the fillet does. Use the same process as for the leeks to wrap your fillets in the bacon
- By now your roasted veg should have been in the oven for about half an hour. Place the roe fillet parcels in the oven for 15-20 min. Set a timer!
- Bring the potatoes to the boil and simmer for 15 min or until soft. Drain and leave in the pan whilst you lift out the fillet and leave to rest wrapped in foil for ten minutes. Mash the potatoes and add, milk, butter, a good pinch of sea salt and plenty of black pepper. Leave somewhere warm. The roasted veg should be nearly ready. Bring another pan to the boil and simmer your spinach for two – three minutes then drain.
- Pad any excess oil from the roasted veg with kitchen towel and add to plate, carve the fillet into medallions with a sharp knife and serve. Serve spinach and mash. Strain the gravy and serve.
