With Simon Osborne, Blagdon Farm Shop
For my first Appetite column, I’m celebrating the season with produce which is easy to source and cook and doesn’t cost a fortune. Game is lean, healthy and tastes fantastic, as well as being the ultimate free-range meat. It doesn’t have to have a strong gamey taste (partridge, for example, has a delicate, almost sweet flavour) and if you’re not familiar with game, this is a great place to start.
Wild roe venison loin with red wine, black pepper and rosemary sauce
Author: Simon Osborne
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 2 x 12.5cm-long wild roe venison loin pieces (or 2 x 10cm-long red deer venison, which is larger)
- salt + black pepper
- fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ½ bottle fruity red wine (I use Zinfandel)
- knob unsalted butter
Method
- Remove venison from the fridge and allow it to reach room temperature (approx. 20 mins).
- Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4.
- Mix 2 tbsp salt, a good grind of black pepper and a few sprigs of rosemary together and sprinkle over the loin.
- Leave to stand for 10 mins.
- Heat the butter in a frying pan and pan fry loin on a good heat for 2 mins or so per side until it starts to brown.
- Remove from the pan and roast in the oven for 10 mins, turning once.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine and allow it to simmer gently.
- Remove the venison from the oven and allow it to stand for 5 mins, keeping warm under foil.
- Slice venison into medallions about 1.5cm thick at an angle to expose face of the meat.
- Drizzle sauce over the meat and serve.