Recipes
Bitter Chocolate Venison Pie with Potato and Celeriac Topping
Best Recipe Using An Alternative Cut - 2011 New Zealand Guild of Food Writers Venison Recipe Competition
Margaret Brooker won the section for best use of an alternative cut with this imaginative take on a pastry cased pie. The sumptrious venison filling complementing the bitterness of the choclate pastry case, topped off with the smooth creamness of the potato and celeric topping.
Recipe by Margaret Brooker
Venison
Mix the venison with all the marinade ingredients and marinate in a cool place for several hours. Drain, reserving the marinade.
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry the meat at a high heat until brown all over. Do this in stages so the pan is not overcrowded. Sprinkle over the flour and brown briefly, then stir in the reserved marinade, scraping any meat residue from the pan. Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Return meat to the pan, cover and cook at very low heat until the meat is tender and the sauce reduced to thickly coat the meat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pastry
Sift the flour, salt and cocoa together into a bowl. Cut, then rub the butter into the flour mixture until it looks crumbly. Beat the egg yolk and water together in a small bowl, and stir into the mixture until it clumps together.
Alternatively, combine the flour, salt and cocoa in a food processor, pulse in the butter and then the egg yolk and water.
Form the pastry into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out into a circle on a lightly floured surface and line a 26 cm pie dish. If the pastry tears, patch pieces into the pie dish and press the seams together. Cover the pastry with crumpled greaseproof paper and top with blind baking beans or rice. Chill for 30 minutes.
Topping
Peel, dice and boil the potato and celeriac in salted water until tender. Drain well. Mash potato and celeriac - a potato ricer gives a good result. Place mash in a clean pot to one side. Pour most of the milk into the other side of the pot and warm it. Stir the mash into the warmed milk, adding more milk to reach a soft spreadable but not runny consistency. Stir in the butter. Season to taste with salt pepper and nutmeg.
Pie
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Bake the pastry case for 10 minutes, then remove the greaseproof paper and blind baking beans/rice and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Spoon the venison and sauce into the pastry case. Cover the venison with the potato and celeriac mash. Heat until well warmed through and serve.
Preparation: 30 mins
Time to cook: 1 hour
Ingredients
Venison
1 kg diced venison
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour
300 mls robust red wine
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Marinade
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 sage leaves, chopped
sprig rosemary, chopped
3 cloves
4 juniper berries, crushed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons robust red wine
freshly ground black pepper
Pastry
175 g plain flour
30 g cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
125 g butter
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon very cold water
Topping
2 large pototoes (about 800g)
2 medium celeriac (about 650g)
225 mls whole milk (approx)
50 g butter
salt
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
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