Quick Roast Venison and Vegetable Medley

This is a quick and easy way to cook a piece of tender lean venison, like a loin or fillet. This meat can often be tricky to cook as it is very low in fat, so can go dry easily. The method here seals in all of the juices and serves it with a rich medley of vegetebles and bacon to make every bite nice and moist. We served it tonight with steamed beans and carrots, sauteed baby courgettes and fluffy roast potatoes but any seasonal vegetables and parsnip mash or creamed celeriac and potato, or Yorkshire puds would also be delicious.

Ingredients:

• 800 g venison fillet or loin of venison
• 150 g fatty lardons
• a punnet of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large leek or two small white onions, finely chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• a wineglass of red wine
• a wineglass of chicken stock (use low-salt boullion if you have to make from powder)
• half a bunch of tarragon
• 3 tbsp redcurrant jelly

Preheat the oven to 220 C; remove the meat from the fridge an hour before you want to cook so that it reaches room temperature. In an oven-safe frying pan, sear the meat on all sides to seal it and then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cover with foil for 10 minutes, and save any juices to add to the gravy.

To make the accompanying gravy, fry the lardons until crisp and golden, then remove. Fry the mushrooms in the fat, and remove when they have reduced and softened. Soften the onions or leeks in the same pan, adding more oil if necessary. Crush in the garlic and stir in the plain flour and cook for a further two minutes. Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Replace the mushrooms and lardons, stir in the chicken stock, tarragon and redcurrant jelly and bubble for a few minutes until thickened. Season to taste. Slice the venison into bite-size pieces and place on a platter, topping with the vegetable medley. Don't worry if it looks rare as you slice it; it should be served pink and will darken as soon as it is put on a plate.