Loin Of Dartmoor Venison With Harissa And Carrots Recipe

medium

Ingredients

80g of kale, ideally a mix of cultivated varieties, trimmed and cut into pieces
480g of venison loin, ideally wild, trimmed
vegetable oil, for frying
nasturtium leaves, to garnish
purple micro basil, to garnish
1kg vension bones
1 onion, halved
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
500ml of red wine
1.5l beef stock
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
200g of parsley
150ml of vegetable oil
25g of sugar
100g of white wine vinegar
50g of water
300g of carrots, peeled, ideally a mix of colours
800g of venison haunch, trimmed and diced into 6cm pieces
vegetable oil, for browning
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
125ml of red wine
1 bouquet garni
500ml of beef stock
beurre manié, (equal quantities butter and flour beaten together) as needed
400g of puff pastry
baking spray
1kg carrots, peeled
vegetable oil, for frying
75g of unsalted butter, softened
4 large carrots, peeled
100g venison fat or duck fat
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
10 coriander seeds
20 fennel seeds
1 shallot, finely sliced

Method · 3 h 45 min

To make the venison jus, preheat the oven to 200°C. Roast the venison bones on a wire rack over a roasting tray until golden, then remove
Place the vegetables in a stock pot or deep pan with a little vegetable oil and brown briefly, then add the red wine and reduce by two thirds
Place in the bones, stock and herbs, bring to the boil, then simmer for 4 hours, skimming regularly
Strain the jus through a muslin cloth into a clean pan and reduce to a syrupy consistency. Transfer to a container and store in the fridge until needed – this will make more than you need but leftover jus freezes well
To make the parsley oil, place the parsley and vegetable oil in a Thermomix and blend at 90°C for 5 minutes, then strain through a muslin cloth, leaving it to drip through
If you don’t have a Thermomix, blanch and refresh the parsley, squeezing out excess moisture then place in a food processor. Pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream as you blitz on a high speed for 2 minutes. Strain through a muslin cloth into a bottle, then place upside down in the fridge (cover the nozzle to prevent leaking) to separate any water from the oil. Once separated, squeeze out and discard any water and keep in the fridge until needed
To make the pickled rainbow carrots, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and water in a pan on a medium heat, then cool. Julienne the carrots and submerge them in the pickling liquor for a minimum of 2 hours
To make the braised venison tart, preheat the oven to 150°C. Season the venison pieces with salt and brown them in a little vegetable oil in a large ovenproof pan until golden. Deglaze with water in between batches and reserve the liquid
Once the meat is browned, add the vegetables and cook in a little oil until lightly golden, then add the wine and reduce slightly
Add the bouquet garni, stock and reserved water so it comes two thirds up the side of the meat, cover and place in the oven for 1 ½-2 hours or until the meat is falling apart
Strain the meat and vegetables through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pan. Reduce the gravy until thick, using a beurre manié to thicken, if needed. Mix the meat through the gravy. Season, then store in a container in the fridge until needed – this will make more than you need
For the tart cases, preheat the oven to 180°C. Unroll the puff pastry and cut it into 4 x 7cm squares. Lightly spray the tart cases with baking spray and push a square of pastry into each one
Place an additional tart case on top of each pastry case, so the pastry is in between 2 tart cases. Place the tart cases on a baking tray and then place another baking tray on top of the tart cases. Weigh the cases down a bit by placing a couple of pots or pans on top. Bake in the oven for 14 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 30 minutes before removing from the tins. Cool completely then set aside at room temperature
To make the carrot purée, juice 500g of the carrots in a juicer, discarding the pulp. Thinly slice the other 500g of carrots, place in a pan and sweat with some vegetable oil until beginning to soften
Add the carrot juice and cook until soft, then place in a blender with the butter and blend into a purée. Season with salt and strain through a sieve into a piping bag. Seal completely and store in the fridge until needed
For the confit carrots, put all the ingredients into a vacuum bag and vacuum on full. Steam or boil the ingredients until the carrots are cooked through, then leave in the bag to cool completely. Store in the fridge until needed
If you don’t have a vacuum packing machine, melt the fat in a small pan with the aromats and a pinch of salt and pepper. Submerge the carrots in the fat and cook on a low heat until the carrots are cooked through. Cool, transfer to a container and store in the fridge until needed
To make the harissa glaze, sweat the shallot and garlic in a pan with some oil until soft
Add all the other ingredients and cook until most of the liquid has disappeared. Place in a blender and blend until smooth, then strain through a sieve into a container and store in the fridge until needed
To make the seed crumb, toast the seeds until golden and fragrant. Add the rose petals and fennel pollen, toss to combine then roughly chop or blend into a coarse crumb. Set aside until needed
Blanch the kale in plenty of salted boiling water then refresh in iced water. Once cold, dry well and store in the fridge until needed
To serve, season the venison loin with salt and cook in a hot pan with a little oil according to your preference (Simon likes to cook it rare, which is when the meat reaches approximately 53°C in the centre, when probed). Brush the venison with the harissa glaze and leave to rest
In a pan, roast the confit carrots to reheat them and add colour, then remove to a board and cut the bottoms and tops off so they can sit flat. Brush them with the harissa glaze and cover with the seed crumb
Meanwhile, warm 200ml of the jus and 100g of the braised venison tart filling. Warm the piping bag of carrot purée in a pan of hot (but not simmering) water
Plunge the kale back into the boiling water to heat through, then finish briefly in a pan to colour slightly
To plate, pipe a little carrot purée onto a side plate and secure the pastry cases on top. Spoon the braised venison into the tart cases, brush with the harissa glaze, add some pickled carrot and garnish with the nasturtium leaves and purple micro basil
Carve the venison and place on the plates with the carrot and remaining carrot purée, as desired. Add any venison resting juices to the jus, then add the jus to the plates and split it with some parsley oil (keep the rest to use in other dishes). Place on the kale, nasturtiums and purple micro basil

3 hours 45 minutes plus 4 hours to simmer the jus

Simon Hulstone pairs venison with carrots in this sweet and earthy dish. Venison is served two ways – seared loin with a harissa glaze and braised haunch in a puff pastry tart case. Carrots are confited in venison fat and coated in a seed crumb, as well as puréed and pickled, giving beautifully rich and soft textures, alongside crunchy pickles. Celebrate cultivated varieties of kale to finish the dish in style.

Imperial

VENISON JUS

PICKLED RAINBOW CARROTS

BRAISED VENISON TART

CONFIT CARROTS

Muslin cloth

Squeezy bottle

7.5cm fluted tart tins

Piping bags

Juicer

Temperature probe