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 Vineyards |
Kicking off your winter with the beautiful game
Clare Latimer warms to the cold weather by offering ideas for meaty fare to enjoy with a beefy glass of wine from Gallic vineyards
Two things set me off on a game tack this week. The first being Marion, a regular in our shop who is always asking for more game recipes, and then friends who are producing the most wonderful wines from the Luberon in France asking me to a tasting in Marylebone.
For those of you who remember, they owned and ran Peaches Wine bar in Belsize Park many moons ago and then opened Mustards in Smithfield – both a huge success, but France lured them away.
I was bowled over by their wines, in particular the 1999 and the 2003, and they are now firmly on my wine list.
If you want to read more about them go to www.cottagesfaverot.com
Both my chosen wines are beefy enough to serve with any game recipe and, of course, perfect for a winter’s evening.
As a treat, we are serving roast goose in our shop on November 25 along with our usual lunch at £5 and also giving a free tasting of the 2003 wine.
Game pie
Always a lovely winter dish and low in cholesterol.
Ingredients
Serves 8
1 tbsp olive oil
675g mixed game meat such as partridge, pheasant, hare and rabbit, boned
225g venison steak cut into 2.5cm cubes
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, rind removed and chopped
125g button mushrooms, wiped and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 large tbsp flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
1 orange, zest and juice
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
15fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
10fl oz cheap red wine
340g shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten
Little milk.
Method
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish and brown the meat in batches until well browned. Keep on one side. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for three minutes. Now add the bacon and mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes. Stir in the flour, season well and add the bay leaf, orange zest and juice redcurrant jelly, stock and wine. Bring to simmering point, cover and cook gently for 45 minutes until the meat is tender. Leave to cool.
Heat the oven to 200C/ 400F/gas 6.
Put the meat mixture in a pie dish. Roll out the pastry just larger than the dish. Wet the edges of the dish and then cover with the pastry. Trim the edges and use the trimmings for decorating the pastry. Cut a steam hole in the centre. Mix the egg and milk in a cup, then, using a pastry brush, glaze the top of the pastry. Cook for 20 minutes and reduce the heat to 180C/ 350F/gas 4 for half an hour until the pastry is golden. Serve hot
Pheasant with apples and celeriac
Celeriac just says it all as far as winter is concerned. It looks unattractive, but there is hidden warmth and comfort. I would serve this casserole with fluffy mashed potato.
Ingredients
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
200g smoked bacon
Cut up 2 whole pheasants, oven-ready
2 English eating apples, peeled, cored and quartered
½ celeriac, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
1 leek, washed and cut into 2.5cm pieces
2 sticks celery, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 litre strong cider
50g butter.
Method
Preheat oven to 320F/ 160C/gas 3.
Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish, add in the bacon and cook until golden. Add the pheasants and brown on all sides until golden.
Put the pheasants the right way up in the middle of the casserole and arrange the apples, celeriac, leek, celery and onion around the birds.
Sprinkle in the herbs and season with the salt and pepper. Pour in the cider and then bring to the boil. Cover and then cook in the oven for about 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the birds.
Check the birds are cooked by piercing in the inner thigh – the juices should come out clear.
When cooked remove the birds and rest them in a warm place. Put the casserole over a high heat and reduce the juices by half. Carve the birds allowing one leg and a whole breast per person and then spoon over the vegetables and juices.
Serve hot.
Clare’s Kitchen
41 Chalcot Road,
Primrose Hill, NW1 8LS
Tel: 020 7586 8433
www.clareskitchen.co.uk |
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