Venison Wellington
This recipe has been given to us by Mark Lloyd one of the Taste of Game Chefs. Mark undertakes game cookery demonstrations for us across the country.Cook, wild food expert, stockman, hunter, fisherman, author, presenter and Food waste warrior…… Renowned for his British wild food knowledge and true farm to fork ethos, he honed his skills in top establishments both in the UK and Europe. These skills saw him head up the first River Cottage Canteen. Mark has a passion for shooting, fishing and foraging, also has reared his own livestock, set up chemical free kitchen gardens, poly tunnels and even a heritage orchard. Mark has an amazing understanding of kitchen gardens and animal husbandry, utilizing every part of the animal and also a lot of the weeds!!! His talents don’t end there, writing features on wild food for some of the top food publications, including BBC Good Food Magazine, Harrods, Elle, and NFU magazine. Mark was also Brand Ambassador/Executive Chef for premium appliance company Miele for 2010-2012. Mark creates amazing recipes with the best offered by Britain’s Larder and we have four on the Taste of Game website.Drunken rabbit, wild rice and fennel flatbreadsVenison Wellington, rosemary and redcurrant sauce, steamed greensDukkah PartridgePot roasted pheasant, properly garnished
Ingredients
- 16 0z venison loin trimmed
- 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
- 1 sheet sushi nori dried sheet of seaweed
- 1 egg yolk
- salt and pepper
For the sauce
- 300 ml game, chicken or beef stock
- 1/2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
- 1/2 tsp rosemary fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
For the stuffing
- 2 salted anchovies
- 2 rashers rindless, smoked streaky bacon finely chopped
- 6 button mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 tbsp French Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Gently fry the bacon and mushrooms until cooked but not browned. Set aside in a sieve to drain off any excess liquid, pour into a bowl, mixing in the mustard to the bacon mix, check the seasoning. Set aside to cool.
- Quickly pan fry the Venison fillets over a high heat to seal and brown and set aside to cool on a cooling rack, again this speeds up the cooling process and allows any excess liquid to drain away from the meat. Keep the resting juices to add to our sauce recipe.
- Unroll the pastry on the paper it comes with and lay the sheet of Nori on top, try to centre it so you have a border of pastry evenly around the outside. It should also form a rectangle slightly larger than the Venison fillet, in the centre of the rectangle, spoon the bacon and mushroom mix across the width, to create a place to lay the venison.
- Place the venison on the bacon mix, brush the border with the egg wash, then gently pick up one edge of the paper the pastry is laying on and roll the spinach over the venison, perfectly encasing it, it’s a very similar technique as making sushi or rolling a Swiss roll.Keep any bacon mixture to add to our redcurrant sauce.
- Place on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash glaze and bake in a pre-heated oven (215 C / Gas Mark 7) for 15 minutes, until golden and crisp. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. A little tip is to preheat the baking sheet to get a golden, crispy bottom to the pastry.
- Reheat the stock. Add the redcurrant jelly and stir until completely dissolved, finishing with freshly chopped rosemary and parsley.Serve with seasonal steamed greens and roots.