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venison
1
venison & juniper stew
© David Loftus

venison & juniper stew

servings
6–8
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method


The Navajo love their lamb and mutton, but back in the day – at the right times of the year – they’d also get out there and hunt things like elk, which they’d stew with wild juniper berries. What’s amazing for me is that thousands of miles away in Britain we were hunting deer for venison and stewing that with juniper too. I guess some combos are just brilliant, no matter where you live. Don’t worry if you can’t get venison, because stewing beef will also be delicious. Really nice served with some rice, beans, a jacket potato or bread-recipes/navajo-flatbreads">flatbreads, or, if you’re a bit more traditional, some nice steamed greens. A humble but delicious stew.

Dust a chopping board with 2 tablespoons of flour and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and toss your chunks of meat through this mixture until well coated. Heat a large pan on a high heat, add a few lugs of olive oil and fry your meat for 3 minutes to brown it. Add your chopped onions, carrots, celery, crushed juniper berries, rosemary and the knob of butter. Add a few tablespoons of water, give everything a good stir, then pop the lid on the pan and let everything steam for 4 to 5 minutes so the flavors really mingle together.

Take the lid off so your meat and veg start to fry, and stir every so often for 5 to 10 minutes. Chop your parsley stalks finely, and once the onions start to caramelize, add them to the pan with your remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and your crumbled stock cubes. Stir, and pour in enough water to cover the mixture by a couple of inches. Put the parsley leaves aside for later.

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to medium low so that the stew is just simmering. Add your potatoes and slow cook for at least 2 hours with the lid slightly askew, or until the meat falls apart easily. Keep an eye on it as it cooks, and add splashes of water if you think it looks too dry.

Put your chopped garlic in the middle of a chopping board. Add most of your parsley leaves with a teaspoon of sea salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper. Chop everything together so you get a kinda chunky paste. Add this to the stew and stir through. Chop the last of your parsley leaves and sprinkle over before serving.

Wine suggestion:
Californian red – a Merlot from the Napa Valley or Sonoma County


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ingredients


• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 800g stewing venison or beef, cut into 2cm chunks
• olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
• a knob of butter
• 6 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 beef stock cubes, preferably organic
• 600g small new potatoes, scrubbed clean, larger ones halved
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
1. by Jamie on Sun 13 May 2012 @ 04:20

Great recipe after reading comments and reducing the amount of water added. I would have thought common sense would prevail as you only need enough water to just cover the meat and veg which is my standard for any stew, then add water later if to thick. Recipe should be adjusted to reflect the actual amount of water to be used. Unfortunately no juniper berries as very few people sell them in NZ.

2. by Kathy on Mon 14 Nov 2011 @ 23:25

Loved it! Saw you cook venison tenderloin on tv. I lost the recipe so found this one that included the juniper berries. Turned out exactly as it should have, a thick stew. Great flavor.<br />

3. by Donna on Tue 08 Nov 2011 @ 20:19

I agree with above comment from David. I also am not a newbie cook and found recipe quite bland. I had to thicken it half way thru cooking. After eating it, played with more spices but still not very good, so out it goes.

4. by Arnol on Wed 25 May 2011 @ 12:08

very good buenazooo..<br /> !

5. by Delicious on Wed 22 Dec 2010 @ 14:31

Not sure what the problem is with this recipe. It was amazing. We substituted the venison for bison, due to lack of access. It was thick and very flavourful. Definitely another triumph.

6. by David Winter on Wed 31 Mar 2010 @ 22:17

Not sure if you're going to moderate this comment - but if you do please just include the last paragraph.

This recipe sucks. I am really disappointed that it appears on this website. As a fan of Jamie's cooking - it is obvious that he has has either never prepared this dish or not read the instructions that the author has written down. Someone needs to check this stuff if Jamie wants to maintain his brand image!

It is not possible to caramalize onions in this fashion. The flour from the meat create quite a thick sauce after the steaming process, and especially with the recommended addtion of water. Much better results would be obtained by removing the meat after browning it, and then adding the veg to a dash more oil. This is casserole technique 101. Worse, by pouring " in enough water to cover the mixture by a couple of inches" jamie is making a thin soup, not a casserole. The instructions ".... add splashes of water if you think it looks too dry" are completely in consistent with the realty once so much liquid has been added.There is no way this much liquid is gonna dry out - and the final dish is a thin soup and the rich casserole that is suggested.

Disappointed non-newbie cook.


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