Wild venison, cherry and chocolate
Serves 4
Ingredients for the venison bon bon and sauce
500g venison haunch Rapeseed oil, for cooking
50g each of chopped carrot, celery and diced onion 1 sprig thyme, 1 clove garlic and 1 bay leaf 750ml red wine
10g Guanaja chocolate Breadcrumbs, to coat the bon bons Salt and pepper
For the cherry compote
250g sour cherries, pre-stoned and quartered 60g caster sugar
5g sherry vinegar
60g cherry purée
For the chocolate emulsion
50g Guanaja 70% chocolate 18g cocoa powder
40g rapeseed oil and 10g hazelnut oil
For the venison
800g venison loin, silver skin removed, trim reserved for sauce 100g unsalted butter
3 sprigs thyme
Salt and pepper, for seasoning Rapeseed oil, for frying
Method
Prepare the sauce and venison bon bon. In a hot pan, colour haunch with a little oil. Remove from the pan once caramelised. Add the veg to the pan and cook until browned. Add the meat back to pan along with the herbs and enough wine to cover. Cover and cook in the oven at 150°C for 2 hours.
For the bon bons, shred the meat, discard any fat and sinew and add a little wine. Season then roll into 20g balls. Coat each ball in breadcrumbs and deep fry until golden brown.
In the pan with the cooked veg and meat juices, add the remaining wine to make the sauce. Grate in the chocolate and keep warm.
For the cherry compote, cook cherries slowly with the sugar, vinegar and purée.
For the chocolate emulsion, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and melt over a bain-marie. Once fully combined, emulsify the mix with an electric hand blender.
Next, prepare mashed potato to your liking and put aside. Finally, season the meat all over with salt and pepper. In a hot roasting tray, colour the loin of venison in a little oil. Make sure to evenly sear on all sides. Add the butter and thyme to the pan and baste the loin until it’s medium rare, this should take about 8 minutes. Continue to turn regularly as it cooks. Once cooked, rest the meat on a cooling wire and then carefully pour over the butter. Let the meat stand for 10 minutes before carving. Neatly assemble everything on the plate to serve.
Recipe from Simon Attridge of Gleneagles, Perthshire