SLOW COOKED

Roast Shoulder of Venison with Miso Butter

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I’m lucky enough to have a friend who’s husband culls local deer.  She recently turned with a big of venison including a shoulder of venison (thank you Dermot and Bronagh). Apologies that the photos don’t do this justice, but we fell on this like a pack of animals and were too interested in feeding our faces with delicious roast meat to take decent photos.

This was a bit of an experiment (I’ve never cooked with this cut before, but as its from a really muscular part of the animal so I knew to cook it long and slow, at least 4 hours, plus resting time). Because venison is so lean I wanted to keep it from drying out.  I did this by slathering it in miso butter (which tasted yummy but didn’t overwhelm the taste of the meat).

I served this as part of an Easter dinner with roast potatoes and vegetables, but you’ll have plenty of meat left over and it’s great in sandwiches, wraps etc.

Ingredients

2.5 Kg Shoulder of venison (including the bone

125 Grams Butter (softened)

1.5 Tbsp Miso paste

Carrots/celery/parsnips

1 Glass White wine (optional)

Method

  • Remove the venison from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature
  • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
  • In a large roasting pan, cover the base with celery stalks, halved carrots or parsnips (this will act as a bed for meat to stop it sticking to bottom and will help flavour the meat juices.  I use old wonky vegetables that have hanging around the fridge, these won’t be eaten but are just to add flavour)
  • Mix the butter and miso paste together and rub all over the venison, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.
  • Set the venison on top of the bed of vegetables and add a class of white and a glass of water to the pan (or 2 glasses of water if you’re not using wine)
  • Cover the roasting dish tightly with aluminium foil and place in the oven
  • Cook at 200 degrees (Celsius) for 30 minutes before turning the heat down to 150 degrees for at 3.5 hours
  • After 2 hours remove the pan from the oven. Turn the meat over and baste with juices in the pan.  Cover again with foil and return to the oven
  • After 4 hours check on the meat, if it still feels a little tough, cook for another 20-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and keep covered while the meat rests for at least 30-45 minutes (it’s important not to rush this part as it will help the meat stay tender).  Drain of the meat juices and use to make really delicious gravy, or spoon over any left over meat to help keep it moist

Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken or Aubergine and Walnut Stew)

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This dish was would have traditionally been made with duck (which I think would be too rich), and is now usually made with chicken. I have also made a vegan version with aubergines and I have to say I think it was my favourite.

This is quite a rich dish and the use of pomegranate molasses (available from most big supermarkets or Asian grocers) gives the stew a tangy sweet and sour flavour.

I call this a weekend recipe, meaning its something that requires low and slow cooking and you aren’t going to try and do for a quick weeknight dinner.

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 Chicken thighs (bone in, but skin removed), or 2 large aubergines (cut into bite sized chunks)

1 Tbsp. Tomato Puree

250 Grams Walnut pieces

1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Black pepper

125 Mil Pomegranate molasses

1 Tsp Sugar (or more to taste)

Pomegranate seeds to decorate (optional)

Method

  • Add the walnuts to a food processor and whiz until they become fine crumbs and start to stick together in a paste
  • Move the walnuts to a large pot with a lid, and add 1 litre of cold water to the walnuts. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes, and then reduce the heat and cover with a lid simmer for 2 hours.
  • Stir in the pomegranate molasses, tomato purée, cinnamon, sugar, salt and pepper until well combined. Return the mixture to a simmer
  • Add the chicken thighs or aubergine chunks to the pot and cover with the lid again and simmer for a further hour. Remove the lid and simmer for another 10-15 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
  • Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds if using just before serving rice or flat breads

Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)

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Everyone loves Mexican food, and while I make no claims that someone from Mexico would say this is just like their Mum would make, I think it tastes amazing. If you like pulled pork but never thought of trying it at home, you should give this a go. It really is simplicity itself, all you need is time, so perfect for the weekend when you kick back or get on with other things while the oven does all the work for you.

When you go a little crazy on taco Tuesday

I love this in tacos but you can add it to burritos or sandwiches. While this does take some time, it’s a simple recipe and is ideal to feed a group of people cheaply. I used pork shoulder which is inexpensive and really benefits from being marinated and cooked long and slow.

Delicious in wraps too.

Ingredients

1 Kg Pork shoulder

100 ml Orange juice (I used the juice of 2 oranges)

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

1 Tsp Oregano

1 Tsp Chilli powder

2 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tsp Ground Cumin

1 Tsp Ground Coriander

1 Tsp Minced Garlic

Method

  1. Cut your pork into 4 chunks
  2. In a sealable freezer bag add all the other ingredients and squish together to make sure they are well mixed
  3. Add the pork to the bag and seal, rub the bag to make sure the marinade covers the pork and then put in the fridge. If you can marinade this for 24 hours this is ideal. If you don’t have that sort of time try to marinade for least an hour
  4. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees (Celsius). Put your pork and the marinade in an oven proof dish with a lid and place in the oven for 3.5 hours.
  5. Remove from the oven and shred the meat with two forks and mix in with the cooking juices for super tasty pulled pork

Slow Roast Cherry Tomatoes

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Do you ever get a bit over zealous when shopping and have stuff hanging about the fridge that you forget about. I do this more often than I should. I recently found a tub of cherry tomatoes that I had forgotten about and were starting to go a bit soft. I decided to cook these long and slow and they tasted fantastic.

I used these as a side dish, but they would be fantastic stirred into some freshly cooked pasta, or served cold in salads or on some crusty bread with some soft cheese. These are every bit as tasty as sun-dried tomatoes. I made quite a small batch of these (because it was a small tub of tomatoes), but I’m definitely going to make bigger batches next time. These can live in your fridge for 3- 4 days in an air tight jar.

All the ingredients combined together and ready for the oven

Ingredients

250 Grams Cherry tomatoes (halved)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 Tsp salt

2 Cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)

3-4 Sprigs of thyme or 1/2 Tsp dried thyme

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees
  2. Place all the ingredients on a baking sheet and mix well to ensure the tomatoes are coated in the oil. Bake for 20 minutes
  3. Reduce the heat to 140 degrees and cook for a further 30-40 minutes, until the tomatoes start to look wizened up and starting to char

Slow Cooked Ragu

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Rich and unctuous with pasta.

I’m not vegetarian, but I do think if you’re going to kill animal you should make use of all of it, (I still have trouble with some offal, but I try). I have used shin for this recipe. Usually I would use beef shin, but I was lucky enough to be given some venison shin by friends who hunt (just in case you think the shin the photo looks different from what you’re using). Beef shin is relatively inexpensive compared to other cuts of meat, and benefits from long slow cooking when it literally just falls of the bone.

The meat should be easy to shred with a fork

If you haven’t had it before, it reminds me of oxtail. Its unctuous and tasty and makes great stews and casseroles. This version is fantastic with pasta, but is equally great with mashed potatoes or as a pie filling.

Browned before cooking within the sauce

I’ve used red wine in this sauce because I had some left, but if you don’t have any or prefer not to use alcohol you can swap this for beef or vegetable stock.

Thick and packed full of flavour.

This is what I used to call a “weekend recipe” or slow food meaning its not a quick recipe, but it is fairly simple (since many of us are working from home at the minute, you can make recipes like this, cooking away while you work). I used an oven to cook this, but if you have a slow cooker this recipe is perfect.

Ingredients

1Kg Beef Shin

2 Large carrots (Cut into 1cm chunks)

2 Stalks of celery (Cut into 1cm chunks)

1 Large onion (Cut into 1cm chunks)

2 Bay leaves (Optional)

1/2 Bottle of red wine or 750 ml beef or vegetable stock

2 Tbsp Tomato puree

400ml Can of Passata or chopped tomatoes

1 Tbsp Oil

1 Large knob of butter

Salt and Pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oil and put in a large oven proof pan (with a lid), and brown the shin on all sides, before setting to one side
  2. In the same pan, add the chopped vegetables cook until soft, add the tomato puree and bay leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes before adding the wine
  3. Allow the wine to cook until the alcohol has burned off (basically so it doesn’t sting your nose when you breath it in is the best way I can describe it). Preheat your oven to 160 degrees (celsius)
  4. Add the passata, and place the meat back in the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 .5 hours
  5. After 2.5 hours remove the dish from the over and lift the shin meat out. On a separate plate you should be able to shred the meat from the bone with a fork
  6. Add the shredded meat back into the sauce and stir well. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste
  7. Serve with pasta, or mashed potatoes