Venison with Jennied Carrots, roasted beetroot and pickled cherries

Vension with Jennied Carrots, roasted beetroot and pickled cherries

NB: Because I keep all basting butter that I use, I aged this lean cut in that butter for a week.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Venison loin

4 carrots - 1 for roasting, the rest for puree.

2 beetroots

Cherries

Peas

Sugar

Vinegar (I've got elderflower because I'm in way over my head- balsamic will be fine).

6 garlic cloves

Butter

Thyme

Cumin

Brown sugar

Hazlenuts

Method

Take the meat out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking.

Boil the beetroot for 30 mins and finish in a hot oven. Place into a bowl of cold water and peel, saving all the liquid and strain to get any gritty bits out. Place the beetroot on a tray into a hot oven for 20mins. Meanwhile, make the pickling liquor by heating the beetroot water and adding vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Slice the cherries and leave to steep in the liquor.

The Jennied Carrots. Toast your hazlenuts and cumin in a saucepan. Once fragrant, remove nuts and fill half-way with water and add your carrots, a third of your butter block, garlic, thyme. Bring this up to the boil then simmer until reduced to the liquid turns to a thin caramel. Leaving one carrot whole in the pan to reduce further on a low heat, take the other 3 out and whizz into a puree, adding the caramel and more butter if needed, until a silky smooth consistency is obtained. Keep warm.

Lightly oil the venison and place into a hot pan to sear on all sides- 1 mins on the borad side and 30 seconds on the ends. Add another third of your butter with a dash more oil- this will bring down the temperature enough for you to start the best bit- basting.

Adding in your remining two garlic cloves and some thyme until fragrant, turn down the heat, tilt the pan toward you to pool all this and spoon it over. Do this for 1 min a side, remove the venison and let it rest for 10 mins. Drain and save the basting butter for another time. Degalze the pan simply with water, a drop of balsamic and a spoonful of the basting butter. Whisk together to emulsify and set aside- this is your sauce.

Blanche the peas then retrieve your last carrot and slice lengthways-it should be dark with caramelisation.

Plate up and enjoy.

Further faff: I reduced the pickling liquid into a glaze then tossed the cherries and beetroot through it before serving.