Treats and things

This was my lunch today. Delicious? That is an understatement.

I had been out yesterday afternoon and came home to baby in the highchair eating his dinner and hubby cooking this for our dinner, how lucky am I?! Better still, he didn’t just buy this venison, he shot it himself. We have a freezer full of it and so enjoy trying new recipes. This is a recipe we will definitely be repeating. Full of flavour, juicy, tender and the gherkins add a contrasting freshness. You can see why I was so excited to eat the leftovers for lunch today!

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe. Jamie is great at really describing the method in a conversational (rather lengthy) way but I am going to give you the brief version, however feel free to ask questions in the comments if need be.

Wild mushroom and venison stroganoff for two lucky people.

200g white rice
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
300g venison loin, fat and sinews removed, trimmed and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
250g mixed exciting, robust mushrooms, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves torn off and roughly chopped, stalks finely chopped
a knob of butter
a good splash of brandy
zest of 1/2 lemon
150ml creme fraiche or sour cream
a few little gherkins, sliced

Cook rice according to packet instructions.
Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and pour in a glug of the olive oil. Add onions, garlic and cook until softened and golden. Remove from the heat, spoon out the onions and garlic and set aside.
Season the meat with the salt, peppper and paprika. Rub and massage the flavourings into the meat. Place the pan back on high heat and pour in some more olive oil. Add the mushrooms and fry until they start to turn brown. Then add the meat and fry for 1-2 minutes before adding the parsley stalks, cooked onion and the garlic. Toss and add the butter and brandy.
After a couple of minutes of simmering, stir in the lemon zest and all but 1 tablespoon  of the creme fraiche and season to taste. Continue simmering for a few minutes.
Serve over fluffy rice. Spoon over the remaining creme fraiche then sprinkle over sliced gherkins and the parsley leaves. Eat at once!