Roasted young carrots with smoked venison by Christopher Trotter

This is best with really fresh carrots from the garden; their natural sweetness does not need to be enhanced with sugar; instead, the fresh herbs and the strong smoked flavour of the venison with the rich creaminess of the Crowdie works perfectly.  For my photograph, I actually had some colourful carrots so I sliced them on the angle, looks pretty!

Anja Baak, at Great Glen Charcuterie makes a lovely smoked wild venison, and Crowdie is a traditional Scottish curd cheese; the best comes from Jill and Callum Clark’s organic Connage Dairy.
Visit http://www.greatglencharcuterie.com and http://www.connage.co.uk to buy the products.

Ingredients: Serves 4
1kg fresh young carrots, trimmed
50g butter
2 cloves garlic
Sprig of thyme
Sprig of rosemary
Pack of smoked venison (approx. 75g) from Great Glen Charcuterie
Tub of Crowdie from Connage Dairy
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil or cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Method
1 Place the butter in a frying pan, and as it foams up throw in the carrots, garlic, herbs and a few grinds of sea salt.  Allow to colour, this takes about 10 minutes, then cover, and reduce the heat and cook gently for another 10 minutes.
2 Pull away from the heat and set aside for 15 minutes.
3 Remove the lid and shake 
the pan to coat the carrots 
in the juices. Brush off the 
herbs and garlic. Place the carrots on individual plates 
or a serving dish and dress 
with the smoked venison, 
and a little spoonful of Crowdie on each plate. Garnish with a splash of oil.

In association with Taste Communications.

www.tastecommunications.co.uk