Pan-fried Venison Fillet, Red Wine Jus and Macerated Roast Blueberries.

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Pan-fried Venison Fillet, Potato Cakes, Celeriac Purée, Roast Cabbage, Red Wine Jus and Macerated Blueberries – whilst the name shares what is on the plate, it does not adequately describe the wonderful explosion of flavours and textures on the palate.

• Macerated Roast Blueberries – grilling and macerating the blueberries, with a touch of sugar and vodka, concentrates and enhances their flavour and texture; they bring a welcome, sweet, fruity balance to this dish.
• Oven-baked Potato Cakes – delicious oven-baked crispy cakes of shredded buttery, potato perfection.
• Celeriac Purée – this silky, smooth, creamy, buttery purée is also rich in antioxidants and nutrients, and is a great source of dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins.
• Roast Pointed Cabbage – crispy, caramelised chunks of delicious, sweet cabbage, cooked to perfection in the oven.
• Red Wine Jus – richly flavoured with shallots, herbs, stock and red wine, the key is to use jolly good quality stock.
• Pan-fried Venison Fillets – cook quickly in minimal fat and serve pink for a moist, tender, lean steak. So good.

Although there are many component parts to this dish, the majority can all be prepared in advance and popped in the oven, or heated up, when you are ready to eat. Indeed, only the cabbage and venison need last minute cooking, and these can all be prepared, ready for cooking, ahead of time.

NB If you need any additional details on cooking these component parts, click on their title to see more detailed photographs.

Lyngen Lodge

This amazing plate of food is an interpretation of a meal we enjoyed during our trip to Lyngen Lodge last April. I made a few minor changes to the original meal, out of both necessity and choice. They described their dish as ‘Reindeer fillet, mushroom and celeriac purée, oven baked potato cakes, roasted pointed cabbage, red wine reduction, macerated crowberries‘. Funnily enough, reindeer fillet was not available in Wimbledon Village Farmers’ Market and neither were crowberries, so these were replaced with venison and blueberries. I also decided not to add the mushrooms to the celeriac purée; as much as I love mushrooms, I felt the plate looked rather brown and for this simple reason, I omitted them.

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How to make Pan-fried Venison Fillet, Red Wine Jus and Macerated Roast Blueberries.

Collect all your ingredients together:

Macerated Roast Blueberries:

• fresh blueberries
• caster sugar
• vodka

Red Wine Jus:

• olive oil
• unsalted butter
• shallot, peeled and finely chopped
• fresh herbs – thyme, rosemary, bay leaf
• black peppercorns
• red wine or sherry vinegar 
• red wine
• beef stock
• redcurrant jelly
• cold, unsalted butter
• freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Pan-fried Venison Fillets:

• venison fillets
• olive oil
• freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Serve with:

• Oven-Baked Potato Cakes
• Celeriac Purée
• Roast Pointed Cabbage

First, make the Macerated Roast Blueberries:

1. Scatter the blueberries on a baking tray and sprinkle on the caster sugar.
2. Place under a pre-heated grill and cook until the blueberries have burst – this will take around 5 minutes.
3. Tip into a small bowl, leaving behind any burnt sugar and juice from around the edges.
4. Sprinkle over the vodka and set aside to macerate.

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Next, make the Red Wine Jus:

1. Heat the oil/butter and cook the shallots, rosemary and thyme for 5 minutes until lightly caramelised.
2. Add the vinegar, peppercorns and bay leaf and cook until the vinegar has almost disappeared.
3. Add the wine and reduce by half.
4. Add the stock and redcurrant jelly and reduce by half again.
5. Use a sieve to strain the sauce into a saucepan.
6. Place the saucepan on a moderate heat, add the cold butter to the sauce and shake the pan until incorporated.
7. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.

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Now, pan fry the venison:

1. Heat a frying or cast-iron pan over a moderately hot temperature.
2. As it heats, massage olive oil into the flesh of the venison fillets and season with salt and pepper.
3. When the pan is hot, add the venison, top side down. (If you have a preferred side for service.)
4. Cook for around 3 minutes and then turn the venison and cook for a further 3 minutes, or until the venison is cooked to your liking. Remember, venison is a very lean meat and is best served pink. Overcooking can make it quite dry. Don’t forget that the venison will continue to cook a little after it has come off the heat.
5. Transfer to a heated plate, cover with kitchen foil, and leave to rest for 5 minutes, before you serve it.

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Bring all these wonderful parts together:

1. Divide the celeriac purée between the plates and add a couple of potato cakes.
2. Top the purée with 1 or 2 venison steaks (depending on size) and one or two wedges of roast cabbage.
3. Add some macerated roast blueberries to the plate and drizzle on some wine red jus.
4. Serve any additional celeriac purée, potato cakes, venison steaks, roast cabbage, macerated blueberries and jus separately, at the table.

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Made this recipe?

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