Lochay venison casserole with herb dumplings
David Dougan, Head Chef at The Bridge of Lochay Hotel, Killin – serves 4
Method
Casserole
In a hot frying pan sear the venison to until all browned, then add to large casserole dish with new potatoes, onion ¾ Red Wine, 1 ½ pints of Beef Stock and bring to the boil. Whilst this is boiling deglaze the frying pan with the remaining red wine and add to the pot. Once brought to the boil turn down heat to a gentle simmer and cover for 30 minutes.
Then add carrot, celery, turnip, chopped tomatoes, parsley, tomato puree and season to taste. Stir all ingredients in well, if need be add a bit more stock to cover all ingredients and again cover and simmer at very low heat for a further 1 ½ hours. Stir occasionally and if required add a bit of extra stock if required.
Herb Dumplings
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together with your hands. Add cold water in small amounts to bring mixture together then divide into 4 equal parts and roll into balls. Put into deep baking dish and half cover with beef stock and cover with tin foil. Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 35 minutes then remove foil and cook for further 10-15 minutes until crisp and top of dumplings have browned.
To Serve
Check venison is tender, add peas to the casserole mix and warm through, adjust seasoning if necessary and serve in large bowl with a dumpling on the top. This dish is particularly nice served with some homemade crusty bread.