Venison Casserole with Port and Rosemary

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Slow cooked succulent venison served in a rich and complex red wine and port sauce loaded with carrots, mushrooms, rosemary, redcurrant jelly and juniper berries. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes or roast potatoes and you have an impressive casserole ideal for guests yet also perfect for a cosy family lunch or supper. I love to serve this on a Sunday and it is also perfect after a day on the slopes.

The layers of flavour in this casserole are created by slowly sautéing the vegetables, browning the meat, long, slow cooking in the oven (or slow cooker) and, if you have time, leaving to sit overnight, to allow the flavours to develop and infuse into each other. Although it is still delicious served on the day you make it, I try, where possible, to make it the day before. This has the added benefit of being able to serve an incredibly tasty and impressive meal with minimal work and fuss on the day.

How to make Venison Casserole with Port and Rosemary

Collect all your ingredients together:

• olive oil
• unsalted butter
• onions, peeled and roughly diced
• celery, finely chopped
• carrots, washed, top, tailed and sliced
• smoked streaky bacon cut into small pieces
• garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• juniper berries, crushed
• button mushrooms
• diced venison
• plain flour
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• port wine
• red wine
• beef stock
• brown sugar (optional)
• rosemary
• redcurrant jelly
• bay leaves

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First, the vegetables:

1. Pulse the roughly chopped onion in a food processor until finely chopped. Alternatively chop by hand.
2. Heat half the butter and oil in a cast iron casserole dish (the one that you will cook the casserole in) over a moderate heat and add the onion. Cook on a moderate to low heat for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft and lightly caramelised. You may need to turn the heat down as the onion cooks – the onion should only be lightly browned.
3. As the onion cooks, finely chop the celery, (either in the food processor or by hand) trim and chop the carrots into larger pieces and finely chop the smoked bacon.
4. When the onions are ready, add the celery, carrots and smoked bacon and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
5. As these are cooking, finely chop the garlic, prepare the mushrooms and crush the juniper berries. Wipe the mushrooms clean; small mushrooms can be left whole whereas larger mushrooms can be halved or quartered.
6. When the onion mixture is ready, add the garlic, juniper berries and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
7. Finally add the red wine and simmer for a minute or two, stirring constantly and scraping up all the gorgeous sticky bits on the base of the pan.

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Cook the meat:

I do this in a different pan at the same time as the vegetables are cooking:

1. Meanwhile put the venison in a mixing bowl with the flour and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
2. Melt the remaining oil and butter in a frying pan and brown the venison a handful at a time. It is important not to cook too much meat at a time or you will end up boiling it in its own juices rather than frying it. As the meat cooks, turn over to brown the other side and then remove from the pan. Add further meat to the pan and continue to cook until all the venison is browned.
3. You will get lots of gorgeous sticky bits on the base of the pan which are loaded with flavour.
4. When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with the port and boil for 1 minute scraping up all those gorgeous sticky bits. The base of your pan should look clear!.

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Reduce the stock:

Whilst all this is happening, I also reduce the stock. Simply pour your stock into a saucepan and simmer until it is reduced by half.

NB I only do this if I am using a good quality stock. If using a stock cube, use only the reduced quantity, but as you normally make it.

• I am useless at knowing when something is reduced by half, so this is what I do. Pour the stock into a saucepan and use a little stick to measure the depth of the stock. Make a mark. I then make a mark at half way so I can use this to know when I have reduced it sufficiently.
• Simmer the stock to reduce.
• Take off the heat when your stock has reaches the lower mark on your measuring stick.

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Bring it all together and cook:

1. Add the venison, brown sugar, redcurrant jelly, rosemary and bay leaves to the onion and red wine mixture in the cast iron casserole. Pour in the port from the pan you cooked the meat in.
2. Also add the stock.
3. Stir well to mix. Cover and cook on a low heat in a pre-heated oven for 3 1/2 – 4 hours until the venison is soft and succulent and the rich sauce slightly reduced.
4. Taste and adjust the seasoning – you may wish to add more salt and/or sugar
5. Ideally leave overnight to allow the flavours to develop and infuse.
6. To reheat the following day, simply heat on the hob over a low temperature until piping hot.
7. I like to serve casseroles with mashed potato, but roast potato is also delicious, and some vegetables, either roast or steamed or a mixture of them both!

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.