Venison stew with juniper berries
Local cookery enthusiast and a proud regular to the Farm Shop, Tracy, as created this hearty venison stew ideal for when the nights start closing in. Packed full of protein and low in fat, venison is a great meat for the autumn. Venison is one of the most sustainable meats you can get, with ours coming direct from Windsor Great Park, where the deer graze naturally on grasses and fallen nuts for a flavourful and nutty taste.
Posting as maycontainstracys, Tracy’s Instagram journey began in 2018 as a way to highlight nut free recipes in response to her son’s nut allergy.
Serves: Between 4 and 6 people. Can be frozen for up to three months.
Ingredients
- 800g Windsor Farm Shop venison, diced. Speak to our Butchery team and they will dice it for you.
- 2 tbsp for vegetable oil
- 12 shallots, peeled
- 3 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp of plain flour
- 250ml red wine
- 500ml beef stock
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp juniper berries
- 2 bay leaves
- A few thyme sprigs
- Chopped parsley
Method
- Infuse the juniper berries
Crush the juniper berries and slowly infuse them with 1tbsp of olive oil. Then remove the berries.
- Brown the venison
Pan-fry the venison over a high heat. Season and brown the venison all over, then remove from the heat.
- Add the vegetables
Add the remaining oil and cook the shallots, carrots and celery for 10 to 12 mins until softened.
- Re-add the venison
Stir the venison back in, then sprinkle in the flour. Stir to coat everything then pour in the red wine and simmer for a few minutes.
- Prepare the stew
Pour in the stock to cover, adding water if needed to cover completely. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer.
- Cook
Reduce the heat so that the stew is just bubbling, and cook for around 3 hrs until the meat falls apart easily.
- Serve
Scatter with parsley and serve with roasted parsnips, potatoes and tenderstem broccoli
Tip: Juniper berries don’t melt down and can remain quite hard and better. Rather than crushing the berries to infuse with the oil, you can use a herb bag to add to the stew.
