A deep, rich, rib-sticker of a stew. If you want to adhere to tradition then you could marinate the venison in the wine, rosemary, bay and orange zest overnight first, but we’d struggle to notice the difference after a long slow cook. If you do want that extra depth of flavour; cook the stew, cool it, and reheat it the next day before making the dumplings and finishing. Eat this with a pile of simply steamed greens and a good bottle of red.
Venison Stew with Bacon & Chestnut Dumplings
Ingredients
Method
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Turn your oven to 160⁰C/ Gas 3 to preheat.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large casserole or saucepan. Add the shallots, celery, carrots and mushrooms. Cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until starting to soften and take on a little colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep to one side.
Now, add the bacon and fry until it becomes crispy, 6-8 minutes or so. While the bacon is cooking, season the venison and toss it with the flour to coat it. Remove the crispy bacon with a slotted spoon, keeping as much bacon fat in the pan as possible. Now, add the venison to the pan and fry it in the bacon fat, stirring often, until nicely browned on all sides.
Add the vegetables back into the pan along with the half the bacon (keep the other half for the dumplings), the garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, juniper berries and 3 long strips of orange zest. Follow that with the red wine, stock and redcurrant jelly. Use a wooden spoon to scrape and loosen any bits stuck to the base of the pan after browning the meat; it all adds flavour. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Pop on a lid and slide it into the oven for 1½ hours.
Just before you take the daube out of oven, make the dumplings. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, keeping in mind that the bacon will bring some salt to the mix. Stir in about 4 tablespoons of cold water until it just comes together - if it feels too dry, add more water; if a little sticky, then add more flour. Make sure to not overmix, or your dumplings will be heavy and stodgy. Divide into 8 equal balls.
Remove the daube from the oven. Lift off the lid and arrange the dumplings on top. Return to the oven for 25 minutes until the dumplings are plumped up and lightly coloured on top. The daube should be thickened and glossy by now and the meat should be completely tender. If it needs longer pop the lid back on and cook for another 15 mins or so.
Serve with plenty of greens.
