Photo of
November 9, 2015
Nichola Fletcher's venison with vegetable ribbons.
Nichola Fletcher’s venison with vegetable ribbons.

Following in the footsteps of The Macsween Haggis Bible and The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible, Edinburgh-based publishers Birlinn  have just launched The Venison Bible.

It has been written by the award-winning food writer Nichola Fletcher. Along with her husband, Dr John Fletcher, Nichola became one of the world’s leading lights in venison farming when she started Britain’s first deer farm in Auchtermuchty in 1973.

Christmas stockings

The Venison Bible contains useful cookery tips and 43 recipes ranging from warm venison salad with pickled blackberries to loin of venison with claret sauce. It has a RRP of £4.99 and would easily fit in even the most dinky of Christmas stockings.

It is actually Nichola’s third cookery book on venison. Put another way, there is little that she doesn’t know about the meat.

Nichola Fletcher said, ‘After forty years or so working with venison, it’s clear to me that people are more aware of this delicious and healthy meat with more people than ever before buying it. I’ve written a number of books on venison but this is a little gem that aims to be informative but accessible. It’s a distillation of some my favourite venison recipes for people who’d like to know how best to cook this wonderful meat and have a few easy and successful recipes to hand.’

Here’s a recipe from the book to whet your appetite:

Sliced venison steak  with vegetable ribbons

Serves 4

You need a large frying pan for the vegetables, and cooking tongs are ideal to gently lift and turn them as they cook. Use the leftover cores of the carrot and courgettes for soup, stews or stock.

_

Ingredients_

600–800g venison steak, thick cut

85g smoked streaky bacon, snipped into pieces

2 large, thick carrots, peeled

2 slim leeks

2 courgettes

1 clove of garlic, chopped and crushed

1 tablesp finely chopped or sliced fresh ginger

Zest of ½ a lemon or lime

Juice of 1 lemon or lime

Handful of chopped parsley or coriander

Method

Gently fry the bacon until golden brown. Reserve and keep warm.

Cut the leeks into 15cm (6in) lengths. Discard any coarse outer and top leaves from the leeks, cut off the root, and slice the rest in four lengthways to produce fine strips rather than rings. Wash thoroughly to remove any grit, and pat dry.

Using a potato peeler, slice off thin ribbons of carrot lengthways. Turn the carrot round as you slice, and continue for as long as you can make strips. Repeat this procedure with the courgette.

Sweat the leeks, garlic and ginger in oil over a low flame, turning them gently with tongs until they start to soften.

Add the carrot and continue the cooking gently, again turning them carefully with tongs until the carrot becomes floppy, then add the courgette and lime zest.

Cook and turn for a further minute or so, until the courgette starts to become translucent. Be careful not to overcook, or the ribbons will break up. Stir in the lemon or lime juice and keep it warm.

Brown the steaks in a hot frying pan for 1½ minutes per side; fry slowly for 1½ minutes per cm (½ inch) thickness; then rest for 1 minute per cm.

To serve, place the warm vegetables with their juices in a large warm dish or onto individual plates. Slice the steak thinly and pile the slices on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle the bacon pieces on top along with the parsley/coriander.

Nichola’s tip

If you think the meat is too bloody when it is sliced up, return the slices to the frying pan and stir them about in the warm pan juices. Don’t actually cook them; just warm them through very gently until well coated, and by the time you are eating them, they will be less rare. Don’t overcook them though.

© Nichola Fletcher 2015