Wednesday Jan 2
Venison Fillet with Beetroot Puree and Gratin.
This dish is for beetroot fanatics. It's a great combination of flavours and both the venison and beetroot are good winter ingredients. Beetroot is my favourite vegetable, and it is very versatile, pairing well with many things, and able to be cooked in many ways.
 Medium - serves 4 - prep 15 mins - cook 3-4 hrs for the puree
600-800g venison fillet
sea salt and black pepper
100ml vegetable oil
20g unsalted butter
Sauce
1 baked beetroot
250ml brown chicken stock
1tbsp beetroot puree
squeeze of lemon juice
To serve
1 recipe beetroot gratin
1 recipe beetroot puree
1, When you remove the gratin from the oven, cover it with a sheet of greaseproof paper. Lay another tray on top to compact the gratin, then leave to cool and chill. When chiled, you can cut it into squares with a knife, or into discs with a biscuit cutter.
2, Preheat the oven to 170/325f/gas 3.
3, season the venison on all sides with salt and pepper. Put the oil in a hot pan, add the butter, then seal the venison on all sides until golden, about 3 minutes. Place the fillet on a wire rack over a roasting tray in the preheated oven, and cook for about 7-8 minutes for medium/rare (well-done will take about 15 minutes). Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
4, The square or discs of gratin should go into the oven to reheat about 5 minutes before you cook the venison. Warm the puree gently through on top of the stove.
5, To make the sauce, cut the baked beetroot into 5 mm dice. Put into a pan with the chicken stock, beetroot puree and lemon juice, and heat gently.
6, Slice the venison into 5mm thick slices. Place a circle of pure in the centre of each plate, put the gratin in the middle, and the venison slices on top. Pour the sauce around.
 Beetroot Puree
This intensely flavoured puree will be great with any game like venison or partridge, as well as roast scallops.
Medium - serves 4 - Prep 20 mins - cook 3-3.5 hrs
600g beetroot
300ml fresh apple juice
100ml white wine vinegar
200ml port
Beetroot juice
10 medium beetroots
1, Preheat the oven to 170c/325f/gas 3.
2, For the beetroot juice, peel the beetroots, then cut into quarters. Juice in a juicer, and pass this through a fine sieve. You should have about 500ml.
3, Wrap the beetroot individually in foil, then bake in the preheated oven for 2-2.5 hours. Leave to cool in the foil for 15minutes, so that they sweat, then unwrap and rub the skins off. Chop the beetroots finely.
4, Put the chopped beetroot, beetroot juice and the remaining ingrediants into a pan and cook on a slow to medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 1 hour.
5, Place into a blender to puree, the pass through a fine sieve.
Beetroot Gratin
This can be used with any Sunday roast and with game when it is in season.
Easy - serves 4 - Prep 50mins plus infusing time - cook 35-45 mins
3 medium beetroots
500ml double cream
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
6g fresh thyme leaves
2 large white potatoes
Sea salt and black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/Gas 4
2 Put the cream, garlic and thyme in a pan. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Pass the mixture through a sieve, pressing well.
3 Peel the beetroots and potatoes, and slice on a mandolin, about 1-2mm thick.
4 In an earthenware dish or flat tray (about 2.5cm deep), start with a layer of cream then layer the vegetables in alternate layers, topping each one with a little cream, salt and pepper. Once built up, the gratin should be 1.5cm deep.
5 Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-45 minutes. To check if it is done, plunge a knife into the gratin - it should go through without resistance.
Brown Chicken Stock
You can make lamb stock if you replace chicken bones with meat bones, and add 500g chopped plum tomatoes.
Easy - makes 3.5 litres - prep 15 mins - cook 4.5 hours
250ml vegetable oil
25g unsalted butter
2kg chicken wings, chopped
300g carrots and 300g onions, peeled and chopped into 1 cm pieces
160g celery stick, chopped into 1cm pieces
25g garlic cloves, peeled
100g tomato paste
20g fresh thyme
8g coarse sea salt
4g black peppercorns, crushed
1 Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/Gas 6. Put a roasting tray in to heat up.
2 Add he oil, butter and chicken to the tray. Roast for 45-60 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Place the roasted chicken in a large saucepan.
3 Add the vegetables to the tray and roast for 30-40 minutes until golden, then add the tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4 Add the vegetables to the pan with the thyme, salt, peppercorns and 4.5litres water. Bring to the boil on a high heat, skim off any scum, then simmer for 2.5 hours.
5 Turn the heat off and lift out the bones and vegetables. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Returnto the boil, turn down to a simmer, removing any scum, and cook for 30 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean container. It is now ready to use, or place in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze.
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