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| Despite appearances this is not a photography blog |
- Venison
- Lardons
- Juniper berries and bay leaves
- Red wine
- Onions and carrots
All three of this week's eaters had run the Bupa 10k earlier the same day so were looking for a hearty meal to reward their efforts and repair sore muscles.
Hugh's venison stew looked just the thing - warm, comforting and a little bit luxurious.
The slowcooker was loaded up with fried lardons, the browned venison, softened onions, carrots and herbs, then covered with stock and red wine and cooked for just over 2 hours. The quantities seemed a bit off (not for the first time) - a huge amount of meat and just 12 juniper berries for example. I can't help thinking that Hugh F-W doesn't actually measure things in his own kitchen and the numbers in the book aren't particularly accurate - next time I'll trust my gut and chuck some more in.
The finished result smelled pretty good and went well with creamy mash and cabbage. But just like an earlier recipe I couldn't help thinking that this was less than the sum of its parts: it would have been almost as good - and a lot cheaper than £3.54 a head - with beef instead of venison, and the juniper and bay didn't make much of an impression.
I'm sure there are ways to buy venison more cheaply (especially if you live somewhere other than East London) but another hit of flavour seemed to be needed to make this more memorable.
Best for... Welcoming hungry athletes home
Taken from... Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - River Cottage Every Day
Chris says... So, is this stag or bambi's mum? To be honest, if you swapped it for cow, I'd be none the wiser...
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