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Venison with pickled prune

Venison with pickled prune and horseradish salad

This recipe was created by Charlie Hibbert, who is the chef patron of Thyme, a culinary oasis in the Cotswolds, comprising the Ox Barn restaurant, 31 bedrooms, the Swan pub, the Baa Bar and a cookery school.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Venison
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg Venison leg or loin
  • 4 Red onions, medium
  • 6 Spring onions
  • 1 bunch Flat parsley
  • 1/4 stick Fresh horseradish (or use grated)
  • Sea salt flakes
  • Fresh cracked black pepper
  • Oil

For the beetroot

  • 400 g Beetroot, whole
  • 1 head Garlic separated into unpeeled cloves
  • 4 sprigs Thyme

For the prunes

  • 350 ml Red wine
  • 220 g Redcurrant jelly
  • 75 ml Red wine vinegar
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 200 g Dried Agen prunes, de-stoned

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6).
  • Scrub the beetroot, skin on, and trim both ends. Place it on a large sheet of greaseproof paper, add in the thyme, garlic cloves and a good splash of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Wrap everything in the paper, then an equally large piece of tin foil. Seal and place into a baking dish. Bake for 1 hour, or until beetroot is soft, but take the garlic out after 50 minutes.
  • Halve the onions, cut off the bottoms but leave the skin on. Put the onions into a baking tray, skin-side-up. Drizzle over with olive oil and salt flakes and pop into the oven for 35 minutes.
  • You can cook both the beetroot and the onions at the same time. Once softened, remove from the oven, and keep aside.
  • To prepare the prunes, put the ingredients into a wide pan, except the prunes, and bring to the boil. Add in the prunes. Allow everything to start boiling again for no more than half a minute, then take the pan off the heat.
  • Leave the prunes to sit in the syrup.
  • Turn the oven up to 220°C (200°C fan, gas mark 7).
  • Rub a little oil, salt and pepper over the venison and place the meat in an ovenproof frying pan or cast-iron skillet. Heat upon the hob until the venison browns all over.
  • Transfer the dish into the oven for 5-10minutes, then remove and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
  • Peel the beetroot, garlic cloves and the onion, then cut the beetroot and the onion into rough pieces.
  • Slice the venison steak and arrange everything on a serving platter.
  • Deglaze the venison cooking pan with 4-6tbsp of the prune cooking liquid and drizzle over the salad.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roughly chop the spring onions and scatter over the salad with the parsley and a good grating of horseradish.