Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 mins Time to cook: 5 mins
1 telegraph cucumber
handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half
handful of black olives
100 g feta cheese cut into chunks
handful of oven dry-roasted pine-nuts
bunch of fresh mint coarsely chopped
400 g packet of venison medallions.
2 egg yolks
50ml milk
1 small packet couscous
4-6 bamboo skewers
1 Tbspn Moroccan spice seasoning
We use New Zealand farmed venison medallions for our skewers – the meat is tender, lean and has a nice and subtle gamey flavour.
The meat
Cut medallions across the grain to make large, bite-size chunks and neatly skewer. You can also use the whole medallion to encrust with the couscous and serve as an individual portion.
The spiced couscous
Cook a small packet of couscous (mini pasta made from semolina flour and wheat flour) following the instructions on the back of the packet (much like a pasta) – instead of water you can use chicken stock for added flavour.
Mix in 1 tbsp of Moroccan spice seasoning to the cooled, cooked couscous. Add ½ cup of currants (optional). Make your own spice mixture, if you have the ingredients and the patience – a minimum pre-ground mixture of: 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp chilli, and grated rind of 1 fresh lemon.
Flouring, egg wash and cold couscous mixture
Beat 2 egg yolks with 50ml of milk. Sprinkle a thick layer of plain flour on a flat plate. When ready to cook, roll venison skewers in the flour, beaten egg wash and then push into couscous mixture to make sure it sticks.
Cooking crusted skewers
If you have one, use a deep-fat fryer on chip heat (190), or shallow-fry the skewers – they can be easily over-cooked so watch it. The idea is to brown the couscous coating while keeping the venison medium rare. It is very easy to overcook lean venison, which is an absolute no- no!
Salad
Cut telegraph cucumber lengthways into long thin strips with a vegetable peeler. Place in a bowl of ice water for an hour or so, to get them to curl. Toss with other salad ingredients.
Dressing
Juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 finely chopped garlic clove, and ½ cup of olive oil - mix thoroughly and season to taste. Douse salad when ready to serve.
Yoghurt dip
Medium-size container of thick, unsweetened, Greek-style yoghurt – mix in
zest of 1 lemon. Present in bowl as a condiment.