Game dumplings with bashed neeps
As a child I’d buy faggots in the chippy after swimming. I’ve stayed loyal to that spiced livery flavour ever since. Faggots are a good cheap wintry dish. Generally they’re eaten with peas, frozen or mushy, though I prefer mashed potato or root vegetables such as neeps or coarsely mashed parsnips. You could also make a minted pea purée. I suggest making these with lamb or pork caul fat, which a butcher can order for you. It keeps all the flavours in during cooking and isn’t any different from sausage skin . I used the mincing attachment for my stand mixer for this, but you could use the chopping blade of a food processor or just buy readymade mince.
1 HOUR 30 MINUTES | SERVES 4 | A LITTLE EFFORT
onions 2 small, finely chopped
garlic 2 cloves, crushed
thyme leaves picked to make 1 tbsp
juniper berries 3, crushed
vegetable oil 1 tbsp
minced pork belly 200g minced pork or game liver 250g
minced game meat (such as pheasant, venison or hare) 350g
fresh white breadcrumbs 100g ground mace or nutmeg Ω tsp
red wine 100ml
caul fat 100-120g lamb or pig, soaked for 1 hour in cold water SAUCE
vegetable oil 1 tbsp
onion 1 small, finely chopped
butter a generous knob
plain flour 1 tbsp
tomato purée 1 tsp
dijon mustard 1 tsp
red wine 100ml
beef stock 250ml
Gently cook the onions, garlic, thyme and juniper in the oil in a frying pan for 4-5 minutes or until soft, add the pork belly and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, stirring well. Remove from the heat, tip into a large bowl and cool.
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Mix the liver, game meat and breadcrumbs into the pork belly, season well with salt, pepper and mace, and stir in the red wine. Mould the mixture into 200g balls and wrap each in a double layer of caul fat. Roast the faggots in a deep baking tray for 20 minutes or until nicely coloured, then drain off the fat.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a thick-based pan and gently cook the onion for 8-10 minutes with a lid on until lightly coloured – add a splash of water if they are catching on the bottom of the pan. Add the butter, flour and tomato purée, and stir well over a low heat for 1 minute. Add the mustard, stir well, then gradually add the red wine, stirring again to prevent lumps forming, and then gradually add the beef stock. Season, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Turn down the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the faggots into an ovenproof dish with the sauce, cover and continue cooking for 40 minutes. Serve with boiled and crushed swede.
PER SERVING 651 kcals | fat 35.8G | saturates 13.3G | carbs 23.5G sugars 3.9G | fibre 2.5G | protein 48.1G | salt 0.9G
Located in Corscombe, a pretty hamlet nestled in a Dorset chalk hillside, the 17th-century Fox Inn is the first pub for celebrated chef, restaurateur and Dorset native Mark Hix. In contrast to the fish and seafood focus at his Oyster & Fish House down on the coast in Lyme Regis, Mark champions local meat and game at the Fox Inn, with hearty seasonal dishes such as Forde Abbey pheasant club sandwich, Downhouse Farm mutton curry and Bellair Haye bangers with colcannon on the menu. Visit the website for up to date opening hours (thefoxinncorscombe.co.uk).