Venison chops with sloe gin and horn of plenty mushrooms

There is a bit of a myth that all venison is tough and requires marinading or long, slow cooking.  However, I've never found this to be the case.  Venison from a young animal is no tougher than beef.  You can tell the age of the animal from the (sparse) fat - the more yellow the fat, the older the beast.  A chop from a young animal might weigh about 6-8 ounces - a good size for a portion, and not too expensive if you're lucky.  Mine were both around 6oz and cost about £1.70 each.

I've been thinking alot about cooking with my sloe gin for a while now and I've thought the pairing with game would be perfect.  As it happened, it was a pretty good combination - the sloe gin giving a lovely depth of flavour and sweetness to the meat.  I did marinate the meat, but this was more about flavour than tenderness.  The vinegar nicely offsets the sweetness of the gin.  The juniper berries - a classic with venison - emphasises the gin flavour.

As for the mushrooms, I've been inspired by a great book that's coming up for review soon.  And my local greengrocer had these lovely horn of plenty (or trompets du mort to give them their rather scary French name...) so I just had to.  I actually made a rather stodgy creamed puree of field mushroom and served the wild ones on top - I had a vision of a light mushroom veloute, but it didn't quite work that way.

Venison chops with sloe gin and horn of plenty mushrooms
2 venison chops, about 6-8oz each
6 juniper berries
3 tsp red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sloe gin
1/4 pint stock - chicken, beef, game...

A handfull of horn of plenty mushrooms, brushed clean and torn into strips
Butter for frying

Begin by crushing the juniper berries between your fingers, adding the wine and sloe gin and marinading the chops for around 2 hours, turning half way through.

Drain the chops - retaining all of the marinade.  Dry on kitchen paper.  Heat an ounce or so of butter in a hot pan, season the chops and fry for about 4-5 minutes per side.  The outside of the venison should char nicely, but the meat should remain pink.  (If you don't like the idea of pink venison, I suggest you put the chops into a moderate oven for 5-10 minutes after frying.)

Remove the chops from the pan and allow to rest for five minutes or so.  Add the marinade and the stock and allow to bubble and reduce to about 4 tablespoons in total. 

Melt another 1/2 ounce or so of butter in a smaller pan until foaming.  Add the mushrooms, season and stir fry for a couple of minutes until cooked through. 

Serve with creamy mashed potato and something green - spinach or purble sprouting would be good.

tags: venison  game  mushroom  

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