Braised venison is a wonderfully warming dish in the winter, especially when steeped with the flavour of chilli and chocolate.
Although there seem to be a lot of ingredients in this recipe, you can make the marinade one day, cook the stew a day or two later and eat it several days later. Each stage is fairly quick, so by the time you eat it you scarcely feel as if you’ve had to work. It is a really delicious stew – my favourite, I think. At home I like to make double the recipe and freeze some for a rainy day – sadly not possible in a wall tent! Serve it with hunks of bread or mashed sweet potato.
Feeds 10
1. Make sure your fire has lots of hot embers (or preheat an oven to 190°C/gas 5).
2. Cut the venison into 2.5cm cubes, removing large bits of fat or gristle. Put these into a double-layered plastic bag, along with all the marinade ingredients. Set aside for a day in a cool spot in the river (or in the fridge if you have taken your quarry home), turning every so often so that all of the meat comes into contact with the marinade.
3. When you are ready to cook, remove the venison from the marinade, setting the marinade aside for later.
4. Heat a large casserole over a high heat until it is smoking hot. Pour in a tablespoon of olive oil and when it is very hot add the venison cubes, 6 or 7 at a time, so that you are not overcrowding the pan and thus bringing down the temperature of the oil.
5. Brown the meat on all sides for 1–2 minutes, letting the pan get hot again between each batch and adding more oil if necessary.
6. When the meat is all browned, set it aside while you brown the vegetables.
7. Add a tablespoon of oil to the casserole and sweat the onions for 5 minutes before adding the carrots, celery and parsnips. Cook for a further 10 minutes, allowing the vegetables to start caramelising without letting them burn. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Return the venison to the casserole, along with the reserved marinade and the rest of the ingredients. Bring up to a gentle simmer, stirring to melt the chocolate into the sauce. Cook in the Dutch oven (or preheated oven) for about 90 minutes or until the meat is tender and falling apart.
The Wild Gourmets: Adventures in Food and Freedom by Guy Grieve, Thomasina Miers, published by Bloomsbury. RRP £20.
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