This is a very simple reinterpretation of our earlier recipe for haunch of venison – available here.
The haunch is the top of the hind leg running into the rump. We were fortunate to be given the meat by friends who don’t enjoy venison!! The deer was a wild red deer which had been butchered locally. The bone had been removed leaving a tunnel through the meat which we were going to stuff. The meat was marinated overnight as before. The differences from our earlier recipe were minor and primarily involved stuffing the leg. This effectively replaces the bone with the stuffing which was made from 80g of Haggis mixed with 2 shallots, 2 large mushrooms and 4 prunes and roughly chopped. After stuffing the cavity the leg was securely tied.
The venison was cooked as before over a little water in a pan with 2 quartered onions, and the meat was basted with some beef stock every 30-40 minutes. The stock and the meat juices were collected in this pan. Once the meat had reached a core temperature of 54C it was removed and double wrapped in foil and left to rest for 20 minutes whilst the vegetables cooked and the sauce was made.
The sauce was based on the liquid collected under the venison, thickened with cornflour and finished with 60 ml of Pineau des Charentes (in the absence of any Marsala) and a little thyme jelly for sweetness. The whole dish took around 2 hrs to cook at 170C and went perfectly with carrots and tender stem broccoli and some Red Emmalie potatoes from Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes.
All in all a very satisfying dish ………….
……………….. and served cold the following day it was perhaps even better!!
Haggis stuffed Red Deer Haunch
Ingredients
- For the marinade
- Rapeseed oil
- Thyme
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- Rosemary
- 8 crushed juniper berries
- Maldon salt
- Ground black pepper
- For the Stuffing
- 80g Haggis
- 2 mushrooms
- 2shallots
- 4 prunes
- For the roast
- Whole boned venison leg
- 250ml concentrated beef stock
- 2 onions quartered
- Water
- 60ml Pineau des Charentes
- spoonful of thyme jelly
- 1tsp cornflower
Directions
- Step 1 To make the marinade combine the rapeseed oil, thyme, garlic, rosemary, crushed juniper berries, salt, and pepper into a spreadable paste.
- Step 2 Put the venison into a vacuum food bag and once inside the bag rub the paste over the meat. Vacuum and seal the meat then place in the fridge overnight.
- Step 3 Remove the meat from the fridge several hours before starting the cook. Set up the BGE for indirect cooking at 180C. Add a little beech wood to flavour the smoke. Roughly chop the mushrooms, shallots and prunes and mix with the Haggis and stuff into the leg cavity. Tie the joint tightly
- Step 4 Sit the meat on a metal trivet over a roasting pan containing 2 quartered onions and a little warm water. The meat must sit above the water. Leave the venison to roast over the water undisturbed for about an hour. After an hour turn the meat over and baste with 150ml of stock. Leave to roast for another 45 mins till the core temperature approaches 50C. Turn the meat over again and baste with a further 150ml of stock. Continue roasting
- Step 5 When the core temperature reaches around 55C remove the meat and double wrap in aluminium foil and leave to rest for at least 20 mins
- Step 6 Pour the liquid from the roasting pan and any accumulated meat juices from the meat into a separate pan. Thicken 50ml of Pineau des Charentes with cornflour and add to the pan with a little thyme jelly. Reduce the sauce and sieve into a serving jug
- Step 7 Serve with potatoes and vegetables in season
