Autumn Venison and Pheasant Stew
Comments Off on Autumn Venison and Pheasant StewPheasant has just come into season and when combined with a bit of venison and a splash of red wine it makes for a hearty stew. Recently game has been growing in popularity as an alternative to more everyday meats and can be bought at Marks and Spencers as well as Sainsbury’s. This is likely to be a combination of it’s versatility and nutritional benefits as it tends lower in fat and rich in iron. The butternut squash is added in two stages in order to allow the initial batch to break down and add body to the stew. I used butternut squash as that is what I had to hand, but pumpkin and acorn squash are also in season and would add a sweet richness to the stew as well.
Written by Robert
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 2.5 hours
Ingredients
- 250g Venison, boned
- 400g Pheasant, boned
- 2 tbsp of flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 butternut squash
- 1 onion
- 1 parsnip
- 2 carrots
- 300ml red wine
- 600ml chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- Handful chopped rosemary
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Equipment
- 24cm ProWare Copper Tri-Ply Stockpot
- Chopping board
- Kitchen knife
Cooking Method
- Preheat the oven to 150°C.
- Dice the venison and pheasant and then toss lightly in flour.
- Peel and finely slice the garlic. Peel all the vegetables. Dice the butternut squash, quarter the onion and cut the parsnip and carrot into chunky batons.
- Heat the oil in the base of the stock pot, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the meat and brown over a high heat.
- Once the meat is browned reduce the heat and push it to one side of the stock pot. Add the onion and gently sweat them for 3-4 minutes.
- Add half of the butternut squash along with the wine, stock, bay leaves and the rosemary.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste. Cover and place into the pre-heated oven for an hour and a half.
- Remove the pan from the oven, stir the stew and then add the other half of the butternut squash, the parsnip and the carrots.
- Cover and then place back in the oven for a further hour.
- Remove from the oven, check the seasoning, serve with a sprig of rosemary on top, some sourdough bread and a glass of bold red wine.