Quick and easy starter from venison guru Nichola Fletcher, is the author of many vension recipe books. this recipe is from her The Venison Bible, published by Birlinn at £4.99.
NICHOLA Fletcher and her husband John started Britain’s first deer farm in 1973, and Nichola has devoted her life since then to helping people to appreciate, understand and cook venison and other game meats.
While running their renowned venison business Fletchers of Auchtermuchty, (The business has since been sold to Vikki Banks and is now called Seriously Good Venison Limited), the Fletchers were nominated for a Slow Food Award, were joint winners of the Best Food Producer category in the BBC Food & Farming Awards, and won awards from Good Housekeeping and Great Taste Awards.
Nichola has advised businesses all over the world on venison production and processing and in 2014 was honoured with an MBE for her services to the venison industry.
This quick and easy recipe uses a piece of venison steak which is cooked quickly and served pink so it stays moist. Ideally the meat is cooked and then sliced and served immediately but if there is likely to be any delay, undercook the steak and if it is too rare when ready to serve, simply swirl it round in the warm pan with a drop of water and warm it through very gently, when it will lose its redness but remain moist and succulent.
As well as using a normal steak, you can use cubes of the more tender cuts (loin or haunch) if you have offcuts to use up. And of course you can use these slices of steak in many different ways, laid over many different vegetable or salad ideas.
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You can also substitute watermelon slices for the pomegranate in the summer – it’s delicious. And you can use chunks of venison instead of slicing a steak; if you use chunks, then serve them at once – no need for resting or they will overcook.
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- 200 g venison steak
- 4 portions watercress
- Seeds from 2 pomegranates or chunks of watercress
- A dash of Balsamic syrup
- Remove seeds from the pomegranate. Wash and dry the watercress. Fry the venison steak for 2 mins per side then a further1 minute per cm (1/2 inch) thickness. Withdraw from heat to rest for 1-2 minutes. Arrange the watercress in dishes, scatter most of the pomegranate over and drizzle with Balsamic. Slice the venison thinly and arrange it on top. Garnish with the remaining pomegranate and serve at once.