This indulgent venison dish would grace any Christmas table that does not need to feed a crowd expecting a huge turkey and turkey sandwiches to follow until the new year.
Venison is a beautiful lean meat that has a natural affinity with root vegetables such as parsnip and celeriac. Celeriac is the ugly knobbly one that many people don’t know what to do with.
It’s a regular staple for the French and Belgians though, either as a remoulade (thin shreds mixed with mayonnaise and a dash of mustard), as a sandwich topper, with a light vinaigrette in a salad, in soups, or roast or pureed as a vegetable accompaniment.
The flavor of celeriac is akin to celery, the colour and texture are more like a slightly watery potato. It can be eaten raw or cooked. The possibilities are endless.
Add some earthy wild mushrooms, chestnuts and a touch of juniper, and your venison is in good company.
I served this as part of a “Flavours of Autumn” menu.
Tartare of Beetroot and Apple, Smoked Eel Toastie and Vodka Horseradish Crème Fraiche
Loin of Venison with Celeriac Two Ways, Girolles, Chestnuts and a Juniper Jus
Squashed Pear Frangipane Tartlet, Chocolate Sorbet and a Salted Butter Chocolate Sauce
THE RECIPE
Loin of Venison with Celeriac Two Ways, Chestnuts , Girolles and a Juniper Jus (serves 4 – GF LC RSF)
The venison can either be pan fried or cooked sous-vide.
For entertaining, you can make all the individual components in advance, reheat and put he finishing touches to them just before serving. That way, it’s pretty much an assemby job.
Except the venison, but if pan frying it doesn’t take long while you reheat everything else. And if preparing sous-vide, it just happily cooks away in the water bath while you spend time with your guests.
Individual components of this dish can be used in other dishes too. The remoulade works well in a salad, or with smoked fish or other game. The celeriac puree is a good foil for game such as partridge, wild boar or even a simple chicken leg. The baby roast potatoes go with just about anything just as they are.
Ingredients
For the venison
600 gr loin of venison (I used roe deer)
A few sprigs of thyme or rosemary
S&P
1 tbsp oil
½ tbsp butter
For the sauce
1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2-3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary
10 juniper berries, bashed with the flat side of a cook’s knife
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
125 ml red wine
100 ml port
100 ml Madeira
500 ml beef or game stock
250 ml beef demi-glace (or use a total of 750 ml beef or game stock instead of 500 ml)
1 whole garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
For the celeriac puree
2/3 celeriac, peeled and cut into even-sized chunks
300 ml whipping cream
200 ml whole milk
S&P (white pepper if you have it)
1-2 tbsp butter
freshly grated nutmeg
For the celeriac remoulade
1/3 celeriac, peeled and cut into julienne (or spiralized)
1-2 tbsp mayonnaise, preferably home made
1/2 -1 tbsp whole grain mustard
S&P
For the girolles and chestnuts:
120 gr girolles (AKA chanterelles) or other fresh wild mushrooms, washed and dried
120 gr whole cooked and peeled chestnuts, halved (I used Merchant Gourmet)
200 gr baby potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
A few sprigs of thyme or rosemary
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
A good handful or 2 of spinach, blasted in the microwave for 1 min on high and squeezed dry
S&P
Method
Preheat the oven to 190 C
Heat a pan over medium-low heat and add 1 tbsp oil. Add the shallots, herbs and juniper berries and sweat until the shallots are translucent.
Add the vinegar, red wine, port and Madeira, letting the liquid reduce well in between each addition of liquid.
Add the beef stock (and demi-glace if using). Reduce over medium-low to a rich sauce, skimming any scum as it rises.
Add the redcurrant jelly and the garlic clove 2/3 of the way through the reduction process.
It’s up to you how much you’d like to reduce the sauce. I let mine bubble away for a couple of hours to end up with about 225 ml. It’s rich when you reduce it that much, so you don’t need floods on each plate. It also won’t run into the puree and cause a mess. For me, this is the perfect consistency.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing through as much of the juice as you can and set aside
Mix the mayonnaise with the mustard. Stir through the celeriac julienne. You’re looking for a light coating, so add less than you think you need first, and you’ll likely find that’s actually enough. Season and chill until needed.
Add all the puree ingredients except the nutmeg to a large pan and gently bring to a boil and then simmer on medium-low until the celeriac is tender and the liquid has slightly reduced and thickened.
Puree the celeriac with 1-2 tbsp butter and enough of the cooking liquid to form a smooth puree. You likely won’t need all the liquid. Add the nutmeg and check the seasoning. Set aside.
Mix 1 tbsp oil in a bowl with a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary, chopped garlic and seasoning. Stir through the potatoes to coat. Transfer to an oven tray and roast for 15 mins or until golden and crisped up. Set aside.
If you are cooking the venison sous-vide: Heat the water bath to 54 C. Season the venison and vacuum seal in a food-grade bag with a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary. Cook for 2 1½ – 3 hrs for medium rare.
Let the remoulade come up to room temperature.
If pan frying the venison, heat a little oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan and sear the venison on all sides, cooking about 6-7 mins for medium rare, 7-8 mins for medium. You may need a little more or less depending on the thickness of the meat. Turn off the heat and cover with aluminium foil to rest for about 5 mins.
Gently reheat the sauce and the puree, either on the stove or in short bursts in a medium-high microwave, stirring through in between bursts.
Heat oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the girolles, a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary and fry over medium-high for 4 mins. Then add the chestnuts and the potatoes to heat through. Finally add the spinach to heat through and season generously. Stir through a little chopped parsley right at the end.
Remove the venison from the water bath and its bag. Pat dry and sear all around in a piping hot pan with some butter and oil for 20-40 secs.
To serve, add a small mound of remoulade to each plate. Add a spoonful or 2 of the puree. Slice the venison and divide over the plates. Remove the thyme or rosemary from the girolle garnish and divide between the plates. Spoon the sauce over and around.
Leftovers
In a bold move, I fried off some bacon and garlic, added leftover celeriac puree, girolle garnish and lots of freshly grated Parmesan, then stirred it through GF spaghetti with some pasta cooking water the next day. I added toasted pine nuts, more Parmesan and lemon zest to serve. The flavours and textures worked surprisingly well together, so can recommend.
Else serve any leftovers with a chicken leg or a good steak. The celeriac puree freezes well for up to a month, or can be thinned down with a good stock to make an unctuous soup.
Any leftover remoulade can be used in salads, to top a ham sandwich or as a side to a sandwich made from leftovers from the first course.
