HEAD BLOG

It most certainly is the weather for stews at the moment. Grey skies and a cold chill mean large pans bubbling with rich, dark meats and thick cut root vegetables. With that in mind it was perfect timing for there to be a market day at Hoghton Tower where I could stock up with lots of amusingly shaped vegetables which were covered in mud.

For the meal on Monday I decided to buy in some venison. Yes, you know this is going to be good.

So, on to the shopping list. You will need:

• Venison – cut into chunks
• Shallots – about 8
• Turnip
• Carrots
• Potato – I bought some called apple fir
• Chicken or beef stock
• Red wine
• Balsamic vinegar

Add the venison to a mix of flour, thyme and black pepper. Stir it around.

Peel the shallots, cut the vegetables into one inch chunks and heat up some oil.

Brown the meat quickly and then reserve. Add the veg and shallots and cook for about ten minutes. Put the meat back in and then add the liquids. Balsamic, red wine (half a bottle) and stock. Scrape the bottom of you pan when you stir it all in. That gets all the lovely browned meat into the stew. Use around a pint of stock.

To this I then added some red hot, firecracker sausages. Made in Lancashire they are our answer to chorizo. I’m counting on the strong venison flavour to be able to withstand the heat.

And that’s it. In true stew style you just throw it all in and leave for about two and a half hours.

Warning: I am cooking and writing on a Sunday evening. The meal won’t be eaten until Monday. This post will be updated with photos and a postscript which will reveal whether or not it tasted good. Fingers and forks crossed.

And I’ll be serving the stew with some locally brewed raspberry wine from www.wilsonswinery.co.uk.

POSTSCRIPT

OK, so opinion was divided on this one. My wife loved it and I hated it. We both enjoyed the vegetables but I felt the meat was too strong, it needed another flavour to tone it down somehow. The veg was nice. The chorizo didn’t add anything at all to the dish but I’m going to have to read around if I’m to ever make a similar dish again. Next week I may stick to a simpler Lancashire Hotpot. Or I may fish around and find something just as belly-warming.