Pale Ale Braised Venison
This simple venison stew is packed full of flavour and perfect for a cooler night, while the horseradish and parsley dumplings make it a complete dish.
Ingredients
Fresh Ingredients
- 1 kg Stewing venison, diced into 4cm square pieces
- 2 Large onions, chopped
- 2 Large carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 Whole garlic bulb,halved around the equator
Store Cupboard Ingredients
- 75 g Plain flour
- 5 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Tomato purée
- Sea salt flakes
- Freshly ground blackpepper
- 500 ml Pale ale
- 600 ml Rich beef stock
- 1/2 tbsp Marmite
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp Dried thyme or mixed herbs
- 3 tbsp Redcurrant jelly
Dumplings
- 150 g Self-raising flour
- 75 g Beef suet
- 1/4 tsp Dried thyme or mixed herbs
- 2 tbsp Chopped parsley
- 3-4 tbsp Creamed horseradish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan
- Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and season with a little salt and pepper. Toss the pieces of venison in the flour until coated.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and brown the meat in small batches.
- Once browned and caramelised transfer the venison to a casserole pan using a slotted spoon and repeat, adding more oil to fry each further batch of venison.
- Add the remaining oil to the frying pan along with the chopped onions and carrots and cook, stirring until golden, and then add the garlic bulb halves, cut side down.
- When all the vegetables are caramelised add the rest of the seasoned flour to the frying pan along with the tomato purée and cook for a further 30 seconds.
- Pour the pale ale into the frying pan and stir well, scraping the sticky bits off the bottom of the frying pan and then tip the whole lot into the casserole pan.
- Add the stock, Marmite, bay leaf, thyme or mixed herbs and redcurrant jelly. Stir well,bring to a simmer, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours in the preheated oven until the venison is cooked. Check the casserole from time to time adding more stock if necessary.
- Towards the end of the 2 hours cooking time, make the dumplings.
- Mix all the ingredients together, season with a little salt and pepper and add 4-5 tablespoons of cold water until you have a slightly sticky dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into 10 equal sized balls.
- Remove the casserole from the oven, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If the sauce is looking a little too thick, add 100ml of water before placing the dumplings on top.
- Turn the oven up to 180°C/160°C fan, return the casserole to the oven and cook uncovered for 25-30 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and slightly caramelized.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and serve immediately.