Pot Roast Venison in Red Wine Sauce

I am always surprised by how many people I meet who say they don’t like turkey.  Personally I love it and thankfully all my family Christmas guests do too.  But if you are fed up with turkey, why not try venison this Christmas.  It certainly is a festive looking meal and a good healthy meat.

Ingredients:Serves 4

1.2kg boneless venison joint	1 bayleaf
1 tablespoon olive oil	½ bottle Beaujolais
30g butter (15g of which, softened)	2 tablespoon redcurrant jelly
1 small carrot, chopped	1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, chopped	15g plain flour
Freshly ground black pepper	½ teaspoon mustard powder
Sprig of thyme	A  little grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Method:

1. Wipe the venison joint over with kitchen towel.
2. Heat the oil and 15g of the butter in a large casserole, add the onion and carrot and brown the meat on all sides.
3. Lightly season the meat, add the thyme, bayleaf and wine then bring to a gentle simmer. 
4. Cover and cook for one hour, turning the meat halfway through the cooking time.
5. Remove the meat from the liquid, cover with foil and allow to rest.
6. Strain the liquid and discard the vegetables.  Return the liquid to the casserole, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid to approx 450ml.
7. Using a whisk, add the redcurrant jelly and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix the 15g of softened butter with the flour, mustard powder and nutmeg to form a paste.  Whisk this in gradually to thicken the sauce. 
8. Add the lemon juice and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
9. Slice the meat and serve drizzled with the sauce. 

Serve with all the festive trimmings.

I should once again like to thank all those people who have contacted me over the past year. Both my Official Taster and I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.