Wessex Game

Recipe1 Venison & Chilli, Chocolate Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 x 180g (6 oz) Steaks
- 2 fresh or pickled chilli peppers
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- Oil or butter for frying
- 200g (7 oz) tomatoes, peeled & chopped
- 300 ml (half pint) Venison or Beef stock
- 150ml (half pint) wine
- 1-2 tablespoons tart jelly
- 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
To Cook
Chop the chilli peppers finely and gently fry them with the garlic in oil or butter till soft. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and simmer to thicken them a little, then add the stock, the wine and half the jelly, then boil it down to a sauce consistency. Stir in the cocoa powder and season with salt and pepper, and the rest of the jelly if desired. For a completely smooth sauce you may strain it through a sieve. Cook the steaks to your liking, and serve the chocolate and chilli sauce in tiny, individual bowls on the side.

Recipe2 Venison with Thai Yellow Curry Sauce
Ingredients
- 700g (1.5lb) Diced Venison
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 2-3 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste
- 1 tablespoon palm or soft brown sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 2 sticks of lemon grass, chopped
- Sweet potato chunks, optional
- 4 lime leaves
- 750ml (1.25 pints) coconut cream
- 400ml (3/4 pint) chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
- 50g (2 oz) jasmin rice, per person
- To serve – Mango Chutney
To Cook
Firstly, take the yellow curry sauce, heat the oil and add half the curry paste, sugar, garlic and ginger. Stir over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the lemon grass, lime leaves and coconut cream and bring to a gently simmer. Then add the chicken stock and taste. Add more curry powder, to suit your taste. Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, puree it and pass it through a sieve. Add the chopped herbs and put to one side. Cook the sweet potato (if using) and rice and keep warm.
Fry the venison cubes to carmalise all sides of the meat. It is important not to overlook the venison or it will toughen, so make the pan very hot and brown the meat quickly, leaving it rare as it completes cooking as the sauce warms through. Reduce the heat a little, then add the yellow curry sauce and sweet potato and heat through quickly without boiling it. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve with the jasmine rice and mango chutney. The meat should be rosy pink and moist inside.

Recipe3 Venison Liver Pate
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 Liver
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 6 rashers of bacon, chopped
- Pinch of mixed herbs
- 1 small glass of Sherry
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- Single cream – optional
To cook
Fry the bacon and onion in the butter until soft. Add the chopped liver and stir fry for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and place in a liquidiser together with the herbs, garlic, black pepper and sherry. Liquidise until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more sherry or some single cream.

Recipe4 Roast Pheasant with Gravy
Ingredients
- 8 slices of streaky bacon
- 2 x 1.1kg dressed pheasant
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 12 juniper berries
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Goose fat for roasting
To Cook
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C / 400 degrees C / Gas Marks 6. Arrange slices of bacon across pheasant. Place the juniper berries and thyme into the bird and season inside and out. Now Tie and Truss. Heat goose fat in a roasting tin on top of stove. Seal pheasant on all sides. Place the tin in oven and roast pheasant for 25-30 minutes – depending on size. Remove and allow to rest in warm place. Now grill or pan fry the bacon and keep warm.
Gravy
- 1 celery stick
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and halved
- 100ml or 3.5 fluid ounces of white wine
- Thyme sprigs
- 200 ml or 7 fluid ounces beef stock
- Salt and pepper
Place the cut celery , onion, carrot and garlic in the tin in which the pheasant were cooked, and roast them to a nice golden colour. Add the wine. Add a little salt and pepper. Bill until liquid has virtually evaporated. Add the stock. And any juices from the pheasant. Bring this to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Pass through a sieve into gravy boat
To Serve remove pheasant legs, trim the feet, make a cut between thigh and the drum stick, remove the breasts and slice into 3, place slices of breast on top of a thigh and a drumstick, serve bacon separately – and why not serve with bread sauce and game chips. Popular vegetables with dish include Sprouts, braised cabbage or roast parsnips.

Recipe5 Slow Cook Rabbit Stew
Serves 4 – From the BBC Good Food Guide
Ingredients
- 50ml brandy
- 50g soft brown sugar
- 140g prunes
- 2 rabbits, jointed
- plain flour – used for dusting
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon and slice into thin strips
- 2 carrots – chopped
- 1 onion – chopped
- 2 celery sticks – sliced
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 150ml of red wine – always cook with what you would drink
- 250ml of chicken stock
- chopped parsley as a garnish and wild rice, to serve
To cook
Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Put the prunes in a bowl with the brandy and brown sugar, stir, then set aside to soak. Dust the rabbit in the flour. Heat the oil in a large flameproof dish and brown the rabbit all over until golden – you may have to do this in batches. Set the rabbit aside. Add the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs to the dish and fry for 5 mins until it begins to colour.
Pour in the red wine and stir to make sure you get all the goodness from the bottom of the dish. Add the chicken stock and put the rabbit back in the dish with the boozy prunes, then cover and cook for 2 hrs, stirring occasionally, until the rabbit is totally tender. Serve with the parsley sprinkled on the top with wild rice on the side.

Recipe6 Cream of Venison Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 550ml (1 pint) Venison stock
- 100g (1/4lb) cooked Venison minced
- 2 courgettes, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of Watercress, thoroughly washed
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 150ml (1/4 pint) single cream
- Dash of oil
- Croutons or watercress as garnish
To cook
Fry the chopped vegetables in a little oil until tender. Add the Venison and stir well, then add the watercress and turn quickly in the resultant juices. Add the stock and liquidise everything together until smooth. To serve hit, stir in the cream at the last moment and add wholemeal croutons.

Recipe7 Rabbit Confit
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
- 1 whole rabbit, skinned and cut into 8 pieces
- 1 shallot, peeled
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 fresh bay leaves or 6 dried
- 8 cloves
- 15 to 20 whole black peppercorns
- 8 star anise pods
- 16 juniper berries
- 6 cardamom pods
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (yellow or brown)
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- About 3 to 6 cups or so oil
- Lemon wedges, for squeezing
To Cook
Preheat oven to 300°F (148° C). Rinse the rabbit under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Use a heavy lidded large pot, combine the rabbit with the shallot, garlic cloves, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, star anise pods, juniper berries, cardamom pods, thyme, rosemary, mustard seeds, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Add enough oil to cover the meat by about half an inch. Place a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the pot on the surface of the oil. Cover the pot with its lid and transfer to the oven. Check the contents of the pot occasionally—the oil should never come to a full simmer. Watch in case you need to reduce the heat. Cook until the meat is tender but not falling apart, which should take about 3 hours. Remove the pot from the oven.
(To make the confit in advance, you can cool the rabbit to room temperature and refrigerate overnight. You must slowly heat the pieces in confit oil in a warm oven before grilling or searing, otherwise the centre will be cold.)
Preheat a grill or ridged cast-iron grill pan until hot but not smoking. Lift the pieces out of the confit oil and season with pepper. Reserve the oil until serving time. Lightly sear the meat just long enough to warm it and infuse it with a smoky char flavour (remember, the rabbit is already cooked, you just need to warm it through). Then, drizzle the meat with a little of the confit oil and squeeze a wedge of lemon over it.

Recipe8 Pheasant Ballotine
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 skinless pheasant breasts
- 4 1cm-thick strips of brie
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- Black pepper
- 1 truffle
- 12 slices of prosciutto ham
Pomme purée:
- 800g of potatoes (white or maris piper)
- 200g butter (cut into small cubes)
- 200g single cream
- Salt and pepper
Trumpet chanterelles:
- 3 large handfuls of trumpet Chanterelles (rinsed and cleaned)
- 240ml of distilled vinegar
- 120ml of water
- 1.5tbsp sugar
- 2.5tsp of salt
- 2 garlic cloves (finely sliced)
- 3 strips of lemon zest
To Cook
Lay pheasant breast between a sheet of cling film on a chopping board and bash with a rolling pin to flatten it out. Place brie in centre of the breast in line with the grain of the meat and sprinkle with thyme and a few twists of black pepper. Take truffle and grate a generous amount of truffle over the brie. Pull out a length of cling film, lay it on flat surface and lay out three slices of prosciutto in the centre at one end, making sure they overlap slightly. Place pheasant breast over the top of the prosciutto, fold up the sides of the pheasant into a parcel and then fold over the prosciutto. Fold over the nearest end of the cling film and roll up the ballotine nice and tight, a bit like sushi rolls. When rolled, twist one end tight, expel trapped air at the other end and then twist that end until you have a firm-looking sausage. Repeat with the other three breasts. To cook, bring a pan of water to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Place the ballotines in the pan and cook for 10 minutes, remove and allow to rest for a couple of minutes before unwrapping them and slicing into three sections about 4cm thick.
Cook pomme puree
Peel the potatoes and simmer until soft. Remove from the pan and drain. Return potatoes to the pan on a very low heat. Using a spatula, work the potatoes around the pan, to break them up. Trying to get rid of as much moisture as possible before adding it back in the form of butter and cream — it takes a fair amount of working at a low heat — just make sure it doesn’t catch. Gradually add in the butter and cream, working it as you go — this can take up to 10 minutes, but you will have the smoothest, creamiest mash ever. Season to taste and, if there is any truffle left —you may add it.
To cook Quick-pickled trumpet chanterelles
This recipe works well with all sorts of mushrooms, best made the day before you intend to use them, and always worth making if you ever have a glut of finds. Fill two small jam jars with mushrooms, heat up the ingredients in a pan until all the sugar and salt has dissolved, then pour over the mushroom and seal the jars. They are ready to eat within a few hours but will get stronger after 24 hours. Will keep for two months in a fridge.

Recipe9 Pheasant Pot Roast with Charizo
Serves 4
We love this recipe brought to you by the River Cottage, and wanted to share it with you…
Ingredients
- A knob of butter
- 3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 oven-ready pheasants
- 300g cooking chorizo, skin removed and cut into 2cm chunks,
- 400ml white wine
- 500ml vegetable, chicken or light pheasant stock
- 400g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To cook (prep time 20 minutes)
Place a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat and heat the butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil until it foams. Add onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes until the onions are soft and slightly golden. Then heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Season pheasants well with salt and pepper, add to pan and brown on all sides over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Transfer to the casserole. Add chorizo to frying pan and fry for 3-4 minutes, until browned, then add to the casserole also.
Remove glaze from frying pan by pouring in some of the wine and stir to scrape up any bits from the base of the pan. Add to the pheasants with the rest of the wine, the stock and the butter beans. The liquid doesn’t need to cover the birds but it should come at least halfway up. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in an oven preheated to 140°C/Gas Mark 1.
Cook for 2 hours, until the birds are tender. Remove pheasants from casserole and leave to rest in a warm place for 15-20 minutes. If the chorizo has released a lot of fat, skim some off the juices in the pan. Cut the birds into halves or quarters and divide between 4 warm plates. Spoon over the chorizo, beans and sauce, and serve with mash or lots of bread.

Recipe10 Stick Venison Sausage Skewers
Serves 3
This is a real slimmers option
Ingredients
- Wooden Skewers
- Venison Sausages
- Rapeseed Oil
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Lime or Lemon Juice
- 2 Teaspoons of Wholegrain Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons of Tomatoe Chutney
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Red Pepper
- Courgette
- Chives as garnish
To Cook
Preheat grill and line the pan with foil. Soak 6 wooden skewers in water for 10 minutes to prevent burning. Spray 6 Wessex Game venison sausages lightly with rapeseed oil and grill for 5 minutes, turning twice. Meanwhile, mix 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice, 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard, 2 tablespoons tomato chutney together in a bowl. Remove sausages from the grill, cut into thick slices and toss in the glaze, to coat. Thread 1 red onion, cut into wedges, 1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into chunky squares, 1 thickly sliced courgette, a few cherry tomatoes onto the skewers, alternating with the sausage slices. Cook under the grill, for another 5 minutes turning frequently until vegetables are cooked and the sausage cooked through. Then brush with any remaining glaze and scatter 1 tablespoon chopped chives onto them. Serve with salad leaves on warmed pitta bread or rolled up in warm tortillas.

Recipe11 Venison Stroganoff
Serves 2 – Courtesy of Mr. Jamie Oliver
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion , peeled and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic , peeled and finely sliced
- 300g venison loin, fat and sinews removed, trim/slice into finger-sized pieces
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley , leaves picked and finely chopped
- 250 g mixed robust mushrooms, torn into bite-sized chunks
- 1 knob butter
- ½ lemon , zest
- 1 splash of brandy
- 150 ml crème fraîche or soured cream
- a few little gherkins, sliced
- 200 g white rice
To Cook
Cook the rice according to instructions until it’s slightly undercooked and drain in a colander. Put it back in the pan, cover with tinfoil and leave to steam – this will give you incredibly light and fluffy rice.
Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and pour in the extra virgin olive oil. Add onions and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until soft and golden. Remove from heat and spoon onions and garlic out of the pan on to a plate. Keep to one side.
Season meat well with salt, pepper and paprika. Rub and massage flavourings into meat. Place frying pan back on high heat and pour in some more olive oil. Add mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until they begin to brown. Add the meat and fry for a minute or two before adding the parsley stalks (you can do this in two pans or in batches if your pan is not quite big enough) and the cooked onion and garlic. Toss and add butter and brandy.
Flaming the brandy does give an interesting flavour – but is not essential. Once the flames die down, or after a couple of minutes of simmering, stir in the lemon zest and all but 1 tablespoon of the crème fraîche and season to taste. Continue simmering for a few minutes. Any longer than this and the meat will toughen – it does not need long as it’s been cut small.
Serve fluffy rice on one big plate and the stroganoff on another. Simply spoon the remaining crème fraîche over the stroganoff, and sprinkle the sliced gherkins and parsley
Jamie says eat at once – but then how can you resist!

Recipe12 Fillet with Mushrooms & Honey
Serves 4
Ingredients
- Whole Venison fillet
- Spicy Marinade
- 100g / 1 1/4lb Whole Button Mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon honey
To Cook
Marinade your Fillet overnight. Lay on a square of oiled foil. Spread with the honey. Scatter over the mushrooms. Put on a griddle or outdoor BBQ, on the hottest for about 10 minutes only each side

Recipe13 Venison Meatball Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 Heaped tablespoon fresh Oregano, chopped for when you serve
For the Mediterranean Meatball Sauce
- 150 ml (1/4 pint) Olive Oil
- 1 Aubergine, chopped
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1 small Red Bell Pepper, de-seeded
- 1 small Yellow Pepper, de-seeded
- 1 Courgette, sliced in chunks
- 2 large Tomatoes, chopped
- Salt & Pepper
To Cook
Make the sauce before you start to cook the meatballs. Heat the oil in a large sucepan and fry the aubergine and onion over a brisk heat. When they are beginning to brown, add the peppers, both chopped into chunks. Toss them into the oil until they are beginning to soften, then turn the heat down to a simmer, cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not stick. Then, add the courgette and tomatoes and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. By this time the vegetables should be nearly soft. season with salt and pepper. fry the meatballs until browned all over, then add them to the sauce and cook for a further 10-15 minutes till cooked all the way through.
Scatter the Oregano over the top when you serve.

Recipe14-Stalker's Venison Pie
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 900g (2lbs) Venison Mince
- 2 Onions, chopped
- Butter or Oil for Frying
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 2-3 tablespoons Flour
- 600 ml (1 pint) Stock or Water
- Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg
For the Cheese Topping
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 50 g (2 oz) Butter
- 900 ml (1 1/2 pints) Milk
- 80 g (3 oz) Grated Cheese
- 3 Eggs
To Cook
Fry the chopped onions gently in oil or butter till golden and softened, then remove from the pan. Heat up the pan again and add the venison mince. Brown it well, keeping the mince grains separated and evenly spread out. When it is browned evenly, add the onions and stir in the tomato puree. Scatter 2 tablespoons on the flour over the top and stir it in. If there looks to be surplus oil, stir in the remaining flour. Then add the stock or water, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent it sticking to the pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Put into an ovenproof dish with plenty of room for the topping.
While the mince cooks, make the topping. Stir flour into the melted butter, cook for a few minutes until it is beginning to brown, then whisk in the milk, beating hard to remove any lumps. Ensuring you end up with a smooth, but fairly thin sauce. Add the cheese and stir till melted, then remove from the heat. Whisk the eggs, and stir them in, then pour this over the mince in an ovenproof dish. Then bake in a moderate oven (Gas 5, 190degrees C, 375 degrees fahrenheit) for about 35-45 minutes, by which time the sauce should have thickened into a curd browned on top.

Recipe15: Pheasant Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 6 pheasant breasts, cut into cubes of approximately 1 inch
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
- 450ml water
- 6 tbsps cooking oil of your choice
- 10 cardamom pods
- 6 Cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsps ground cumin
- 3 tsps mild paprika
- 6 tbsps natural yoghurt
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsps freshly chopped coriander
To Cook
Begin by blending the ginger, garlic and 4 tbsps of the water in a liquidiser, or by hand if you do not have one. Then, heat the oil and lightly brown the pheasant breasts. Set to one side. Then, add the remaining oil and heat with the cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves. Add the chopped onions and cook until golden brown. Then, stir in the ginger and the garlic paste and all the remaining spices.
Now blend in the natural yoghurt, return the pheasant to the pane with the remaining water. Now you need to cover and allow to simmer gently for 30 minutes. (Or, until the pheasant is tender). Then, season and sprinkle the fresh coriander over the dish.
You can serve with a rice of your choice, or naan bread.