Venison with Red Wine, Herbs & Juniper Berries

This was a quick fire recipe put together with store cupboard ingredients and turned out to be something of a winner.  We have had this a few times now, it is quick and easy to prepare and the venison, luscious and tender with an incredible sauce with the aromatic flavours of juniper berries and the sweetness of the cranberries.   

This dish goes well with mustard grain mash or new potatoes and whatever vegetables you desire.   

It is worth having spare packs of venison in the freezer to cook this dish as a great standby!

Sometimes, simple dish with few ingredients can be very special as this one is

as well as a warming Winter dish.

Utensils

• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Colander and dishes to store prepared ingredients
• Large sauté pan with lid
• Wooden spoon
• Pestle and mortar (to crush juniper berries)



Ingredients

• Two packs of diced venison (or you could use venison escalopes)
  
• 2 red onions, peeled and diced/ or you could add a pack of banana shallots or pickling onions
  
• 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and finely sliced
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
  
• Large wedge of butter (optional) - but makes a huge difference to the end product!!
  
• 2 generous glasses of red wine
  
• 2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed in a pestle and mortar
• Half a cup of dried cranberries
  
• One heaped desertspoon of Italian dried mixed herbs
• 2 tablespoons of thickening granules or a little cornflour stirred in a tablespoon of water (optional)
  
• Seasoning

Method

1. Melt the butter and olive oil in a pan and then add the diced red onion, diced peppers - cook until softened.
   
   
2. Add the venison, together with the juniper berries, dried cranberries, garlic and dried herbs, cover and cook for about five minutes.
   
   
3. Now add the wine, you can either top up with more wine or a little water, depending on how much gravy/sauce you want.
   
   
4. Cook for about ten minutes and add a little seasoning.   At this stage, if you prefer your gravy to be slightly thickened, you can stir in some thickening granules or a little cornflour pre-mixed with a tablespoon of water.
   
   
5. Meantime, either boil new potatoes or prepare some mashed potato which would be good with extra grain mustard added to the final stages of mashing.    Potatoes are almost essential with this dish to compliment the wonderful sauce, which is almost black in colour when done.
   
   
6. I served this with creamy mashed potato, sweetheart cabbage, lightly steamed and boiled baby carrots - for me, the perfect way to serve this simple dish.   The preparation of these vegetables took about 15 minutes and cooking time about the same.