GAME season has well and truly kicked off this month and I, for one, am excited!
This week, I will introduce you to some different varieties of game available here in the UK and also introduce you to my good mate ‘Dash’ from Carlisle (way up north near the Scottish border) who is one of the country’s best game distributers. All his products can be posted to your door within days and he has supplied so many tasty fillets of kangaroo for mate’s birthdays this year that they have nicknamed him ‘Skippy’.
The majority of good butchers in the UK embrace the game season. They fill their counters with game birds that are ‘oven ready’, as we call them in the restaurant game. This means you won’t need to prepare or handle the meat too much which can be off putting if you are new to English game.
The great thing about living in London is you can easily go to the local butcher and buy everything from pigeon wrapped in pancetta or bacon; quail tried and stuffed with herbs; or venison diced and ready to panfry…
Don’t be put off by the stronger cooking aromas, as the end result is well and truly worth the effort.
As in each of my features, I try to get every reader cooking something new and broadening their culinary skills (so as to impress the mates when they come around). We just don’t have the same variety of game available back home so now is a great chance to try a number of unique products that this country has to offer. Each of the following recipes will make a beautiful dinner for two, so be it a special date with your partner or just impressing the housemates, get some tasty cuts from your local butcher or from my mate Dash (Bellsfishmongers.co.uk) and enjoy!
Game to watch out for:
Pheasant, Partridge, Quail, Mallard (wild Duck), Venison, Grouse, Pigeon
Recipes
Pigeon wrapped in pancetta, chili, rosemary with roasted squash
What you need
2 x whole ‘ready to roast’ pigeons wrapped in pancetta (ask your butcher to do this for you)
2 cloves of garlic
½ tsp of dried chili flakes
4 sprigs of rosemary fresh
1 x small butternut squash or pumpkin
0live oil
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
What to do
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
Chop the squash into small chunks and toss with olive oil, chili flakes and salt and pepper.
Take a small roasting tray, place the seasoned pigeons in the tray and scatter the squash around the birds. Throw in the cloves of garlic and rosemary sprigs.
Place in the oven and roast for 35 minutes.
Test the birds are ready by slicing into the leg joints and there should be a light pink tinge when ready.
If you would like it well done, place it back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Black pepper venison fillet with baby golden beetroots, spinach and blackberries
What you need
2 x 180g 8oz trimmed venison fillets
6 x golden baby beetroots washed with stalks removed
2 x good handfuls of baby leaf spinach
100ml of white wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic
Pepper mill with loads of black pepper corns
Olive oil
Sea salt
Handful of fresh blackberries
What to do
Take your best frying pan and pre heat on a medium heat on the stove.
Crack a large amount of black peppercorns onto a cutting board covered with cling film/Glad wrap.
Season the fillets with the sea salt and a touch of olive oil.
Take the fillets and lay them onto the cracked peppercorns so that the fillets are covered with the black pepper.
Place the golden beets into a saucepan of water and add the white wine vinegar, garlic cloves and a tablespoon of salt. Boil until the flesh is easily pieced with a fork. Peel and set aside on the warm part of the stove.
Add olive oil to the fry pan and when the oil is hot, place the fillets onto the pan and brown off the venison until golden all over. Add extra oil if the pan is looking dry. Continue to cook for 7-8 minutes.
Do not over cook, as the venison will become dry and tasteless.
Throw in the blackberries and sauté just before removing the fillets from the pan. Toss the spinach in the pan and allow the leaves to soften.
Thinly slice the beets and toss with the spinach and blackberries.
Kangaroo casserole with red wine, shallots, new potatoes and smoked bacon
What you need
300g of diced kangaroo haunch
1 cup of plain flour for dusting the meat
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 stick of celery diced
3 cloves of garlic
2 slices of smoked bacon
1 cup of red wine
1 ltr of brown beef stock (available in supermarkets)
5 sprigs of thyme
5 shallots peeled and halved
5 baby new potatoes
Salt and black pepper
What to do
Take a heavy based saucepan and place on a medium heat.
Place the flour in a shopping bag and season with the salt and pepper. Add the meat and shake so the meat is dusted in the flour. Remove and shake off any excess flour.
Add olive oil to the saucepan and add the meat and brown off until golden. Don’t let the meat stew! Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onion, thyme and smoked bacon. Brown off and add the red wine. Reduce the wine to a glaze and add the stock.
Make sure the meat is covered. Once the stock has boiled turn the stove down to a slow simmer and cook for 3 hours.
Add the potatoes and shallots after 2 hrs of cooking and check the stock levels, add more stock if need be.
The casserole is ready once the meat is tender and falls apart easily.