Venison with Stornoway Black Pudding and Roots

By Neil Forbes at Cafe St Honore

For more information see: www.cafesthonore.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g piece of venison haunch, seam-boned

Four slices of Stornoway black pudding

One parsnip, peeled and batoned

One carrot, peeled and batoned

One beetroot, peeled and batoned

One handful of kale or cavolo nero, blanched in boiling salted water

1tbsp beef or duck fat

A few sprigs of thyme

1 litre of thick, strong beef stock

125ml of red wine

1tbsp of redcurrant jelly

One shallot, peeled and chopped

3tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Two knobs of butter

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1 To make the sauce, add the shallots to a pot with a little oil and fry until browned. Add the wine and redcurrant jelly, bring to the boil and cook until jam stage. Then add the stock and reduce by two-thirds or until the desired consistency is achieved. Pass through a fine sieve and keep warm.

2 Heat the oven to 200°C.

3 Blanch the root veg in boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until just cooked. Refresh in cold water then dry on a cloth.

4 Heat a large ovenproof pan on the hob and add half the beef fat and half of the remaining oil. Add the root veg and thyme. Season and fry until they start to go golden, then add a knob of butter and roast in the oven for 10 minutes until cooked and golden. Keep to one side.

5 Heat an ovenproof pan on the stove with the remaining oil and a knob of butter, season and brown the meat all over for 2 to 3 minutes, then place in the oven and roast to your liking. I like it medium rare, which takes about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest.

6 Using the same pan as the venison, add the blanched green veg with the remaining beef fat and butter and season with salt and pepper. Stir and heat through thoroughly. Whilst cooking, grill the black pudding.

7 Before plating, carve the rested venison into slices then divide the green veg between four warmed plates and place the carved meat on top. Add a slice of black pudding to each plate and arrange the roots alongside. Finish with a trickle of sauce all over each plate. If you like a stickier sauce, simply reduce by half again. Season the whole plate with a little salt and garnish with the thyme from the root veg.