Cooking in:Last week I made a last-minute decision to make a venison stew, and apart from a few shallots the vegetable quotient at home was rock-bottom, writes Hugo Arnold.
But needs must, and on I went, searing meat and employing a few spices and some booze to pep things up a bit.
Then I made the same dish again, but incorporating carrots, celery and leeks. Comparing the two was a revelation. The second version was much more satisfying - proof of just how important a role vegetables play in meat stews and casseroles. This made me wonder whether using organic or non-organic vegetables would make a difference. My third version, using organic vegetables, was undoubtedly richer and fuller, a sort of thoroughbred of stews.
There is much debate about organic food. Is it better for us? Does it justify the cost? Carrots, especially, taste better when organic. Venison is sold in licensed game dealers - often fishmongers. Superquinn also carries diced venison. Mulloys of Baggot Street, Dublin 2, to name but one, stocks rabbit (01-6762137).
RICH VENISON STEW
WITH SOFT POLENTA
400g diced stewing venison
olive oil
6 carrots, finely diced
6 leeks, trimmed and diced
4 onions, peeled and quartered
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 head fennel, trimmed and finely diced
200g bacon, cut into cubes
handful dried ceps, soaked in warm water
1 head of garlic, split into cloves and peeled
250g polenta made to packet instructions
Colour the venison in hot olive oil until it is lightly browned. Do this in batches, seasoning as you go. Add the carrots, leeks, onions, celery and fennel to the remaining oil, along with the bacon, and gently colour it over a low heat for 15 minutes.
Return the meat to the pan, along with the ceps and the water they have been soaking in (but not the grit at the bottom, which should be discarded). Season with salt and pepper, add the garlic and cover with water so the meat is submerged. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for an hour, or until the meat is tender but not stringy.
If everything is looking a little liquid, remove the solids and reduce the liquid by up to half its volume. Return the solids, heat through gently, check the seasoning and serve with the polenta.
BRAISED LAMB, PAPRIKA, HARICOT BEANS AND YOGHURT
800g lamb shoulder, in 2cm cubes
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hot paprika
350g haricot beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
sprig of thyme
half 400g tin tomatoes
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp full-fat plain yoghurt
Soften the onion, carrots and celery in three tablespoons of olive oil for 15 minutes. Add the lamb, garlic, paprikas, beans and parsley and cook for two minutes. Add the thyme and 1.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for an hour and a half, or until the meat and beans are tender. Add the tomatoes and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley. Remove from the heat, add a slick of yoghurt and serve.
BRAISED RABBIT WITH CARROTS, GARLIC AND CREAM
(This recipe also works well with chicken)
2 rabbits, jointed
extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1kg carrots, trimmed and scrubbed (if they are really large
you may like to chop them in half)
1 head garlic, separated and peeled
1 glass dry sherry
500ml chicken stock
bunch of thyme and parsley
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
200ml whipping cream
Gently colour the rabbit pieces in four tablespoons of olive oil, then remove them from the pan and set them aside. Add the onion to the remaining oil and gently cook for 10 minutes without allowing them to colour. Add the carrots and garlic cloves and coat these in oil - you may need to add a little more oil - and return the rabbit pieces to the pan.
Add the sherry and allow it to bubble for two minutes before adding the stock and herbs. Bring to the boil, check the seasoning, lower the heat and transfer to a preheated oven, 200 degrees/gas mark six, for 40 minutes. Baste two or three times during this period and turn the rabbit pieces over half-way through. Remove the rabbit and vegetables with a spoonful or two of the juice and keep this warm. Reduce the remaining liquid until you have about six tablespoons of near syrupy liquid. Stir in the mustard and then the cream, heat through and serve with the rabbit.