BBC Weatherman and Sport Relief Bake Off Star tell us how to make his favourite meal to impress his dinner party guests…
Venison stew
Serves 6
Ingredients
Venison 900g chopped into biggish chunks (ideally get it out the fridge and hour before you cook it)
Plain Flour 2 tbsp
Vegetable oil 1tbsp for frying
2 medium onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
4 rashers smoked back bacon chopped
2 carrots chopped into 1cm chunks
A few stems of Thyme
1 Star anise
Chicken Stock 500ml
Red wine 200ml
200g Mushrooms sliced
Dark Chocolate (>70% coco solids) 2 tbsp grated
Method
Preheat oven to 160 C fan.
1. In a bowl sprinkle your seasoned flour over the venison and mix it around so it all gets some. Brown the meat in medium to hot casserole dish in batches, don’t crowd the pan, it’ll take at least 3 batches, which is a pain in the neck but it’s worth it. Scoop out once browned and deglaze the pan with a dash of red wine (splash in and rub all the yummy gunk off the bottom of the pan) and tip these juices on top of the meat.
2. Next fry the bacon in the pan until it’s just starting to crisp and add to the meat.
3. Turn the heat down and gently fry the chopped onion for 10 mins until golden (try not to move them too much). Turn up the heat a tad, add the carrots and sauté them for 5 or 6 mins, chuck in the garlic in for the final minute.
4. Then add the thyme, star anise and wine. Turn up the heat so the wine gently boils and reduces a little. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Return the venison, bacon and all juices to the pan add the stock and bring back to gentle simmer.
6. Put a lid on and stick it in the oven for 1h 30m. Add the mushrooms, stir well and return without lid for 45 mins to an hour.
7. Whack in the chocolate at the end and stir so it melts into the sauce.
Serving suggestions: Serve with mash or even jacket spuds; peas or other green veg or even big chunky pasta.
