Vension Wellington

The idea of doing a venison wellington for Christmas lunch just kind of came to me (fortunately a long time before Christmas).  I was looking to do something different to the ubiquitous turkey - something local, rich and exciting. 

The constituent ingredients are the same as the traditional beef wellington: puff pastry, thin crepes (more on that later), duxelles and meat. 

In the case of beef wellington, you would use a fillet - so I assumed I would do the same with the venison.  However, I had a long discussion with my butcher (Crown Roast in Lingfield, since you ask), and we went in the end for a rolled double loin.  Let me explain...  to get a fillet that would be big enough for the roast would involve a very large deer indeed - and ordering such a thing is not an easy task.  My butcher 'takes what he can get' in the way of venison - usually in the form of a whole beast which he then has to deal with.  So in looking for a cut of the right size (around 4-5lbs), we went for this boned out and rolled double loin.
Impressive it looked too.

When dealing with venison, it is usually best to marinade the meat to ensure tenderness - and it's another opportunity to get some extra flavour in there too.  My butcher suggested a traditional marinade of half port half sherry - and I would have gone for this but I thought, given all the trimmings, that it might be a touch too rich. Instead I went with red wine.

This is a reasonably daunting recipe - but much of it can be done in advance - I have marked 'holding points' (or things you can do ahead of time) with a red *. 

Ingredients

Boned, rolled double loin of venison - 4 - 5 lbs
Stock - about a pint, made either from the bones of the venison or just good beef stock (not a cube!)

Marinade:
Full bodied red wine - a bottle
Bay leaves - 2, torn
Peppercorns - a tablespoon or so
Juniper berries - about 10, bruised with a pestle and mortar
All spice berries - about 4, bashed with a pestle and mortar

Marinade the meat for at least 24 hours in the fridge - baste all over frequently*

Duxelles:
Shallot - 1, finely diced
Mushrooms - mixed, field or wild - whatever you can get - about 1/2 lb
Butter - about an ounce
Dried Mushrooms - about 1/2 an ounce, reconsituted in 1/2 pint hot water (reserve water once drained)
Salt and black pepper
Parsley - a good sized bunch, finely chopped

Gently sweat the shallot in the butter.  Chop the mushrooms and blitz in a blender as fine as you can get them (but we're not looking for a slurry here!), add to the shallot and cook.  Finely chop the dried mushrooms and add to the mushroom mix.  Season. If things look like they're drying out before the mushrooms are cooked, add some of the soaking water.
Once all is cooked and nicely soft, stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.*

Pastry - one packet of ready made puff pastry (all butter for preference)
1 beaten egg

There's too much work here to start making puff pastry!

Crepes:
Batter made with one egg

We only need a few crepes here - make them as thin as you can, but without holes.  The shape doesn't matter, as you'll see.

Pre-cooking the venison:

If you were using a fillet of beef, all you would need to do is sear the meat on all sides - however, this will be a bigger piece of meat and needs further cooking, so:
Remove the meat from the marinade (reserving the marinade for the sauce) - and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan large enough to take the joint whole and sear the meat on all sides (including the ends).

When nicely brown, roast in a pre-heated oven (about 180-200 degrees C) for half an hour. 

Allow to cool*

Assembly: 

1. Roll the pastry out to a rectangle big enough to wrap the venison completely with enough of a seam to stick properly - about 3-4mm thick
2. Cut the crepes to size and lay on the pastry without overlapping - we need the crepes to hold everything and to stop the juices from the venison and the mushrooms from soaking the pastry too much.  Don't cover the seam of the pastry with the crepes
3. Spread the crepes with a layer of the duxelles around 5mm thick all over - any leftovers make a great topping for toast!
   
4. Place the meat in the centre of the duxelles.
5. Breathe deeply
6. Cut small triangles out of the pastry in each corner to aid wrapping
7. Paint egg wash down the seam of the pastry and wrap all aroudn as if it were a parcel - you may need another pair of hands here (Spud does all the wrapping in our house and was invaluable!)
8. Place on a roasting tray and paint all over with egg wash*

Cooking & sauce:

Sauce - strain the marinade into a pan, add any leftover mushroom soaking liquid and the stock - bring to the boil and reduce by about a half.  The stock should be glossy, but not sticky*

Cook the wellington in a preheated oven (180 degrees C) for 35-45 minutes (as long as you can without burning the pastry really!).

To serve, carve thick slices (about 1.5 - 2cm thick), discarding the end slices.
What you should have is a beautiful slice of tender, pink venison surrounded by the mushrooms, surrounded by the pastry.

Serve with something green, a roasted shallot and the sauce - there's no real need for potaoes here (except ours was Christmas day, so we had roast potatoes, carrott, roasted parsnips...)

It's not the greates picture, I'm afraid, as by the time I got it on the plate, I was just a little drunk...   

tags: game  venison  

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