1
Begin by making the sauce as it takes 2-3 hours to reduce. Break down the venison trimmings and/or bones you're using into small pieces, around 4cm. Place a large stockpot over a high heat and add the oil. Add the bones and trimmings and caramelise for 5 minutes. Then add the vegetables, garlic, thyme, peppercorns and juniper berries and continue to caramelise for a further 10 minutes
- 800g of venison bones, and/or trimmings (if you buy venison saddles you can break them down into loins for above and use the trim and bones for the sauce)
- 30ml of vegetable oil
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 celery, sliced
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 1/2 garlic bulb, cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- 400g of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 20 juniper berries
- 20 black peppercorns
- 10g of thyme
2
When everything is well coloured, deglaze with the red wine and leave to simmer and reduce by half. Add the chicken and veal stocks and simmer for 2–3 hours over a low heat. When you're happy with the consistency and flavour, pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Cover and set aside to reheat before serving
- 200ml of red wine
- 400ml of brown chicken stock
- 400ml of veal stock
3
To make the cabbage roll, slice the red cabbage finely and place in a pan with 80ml of the port, the apple juice, salt, pepper and bag of spices. Cover and cook over a low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes
- 1/4 red cabbage
- 80ml of port
- 200ml of apple juice
- 3g of table salt
- 3g of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise and 2 cardamom pods, in a spice bag
4
After this time, remove the lid and add the butter. Allow the liquid to reduce and become glossy, then chill
- 40g of butter
5
Take the apple and use a turning mandoline to make apple sheets. Cut these sheets into neat 10cm long strips, then place in a vacuum bag with the remaining 20ml of port and compress. Set aside
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- 20ml of port
6
To make the gnocchi, mix all the ingredients together to form a dough, then roll out the mixture between 2 sheets of baking paper until 2cm thick. Place this sheet of dough in a steamer tray and steam for 9 minutes. Use a 5cm round cutter to stamp out 8 discs. Use a smaller 3cm round cutter to stamp out smaller discs in the centre of each circle, then reserve both the rings and the circles
- 300g of floury potatoes, Ruth uses Red Rooster, baked until soft and the flesh scooped out and passed through a fine sieve
- 1 egg
- 100g of 00 flour
- 2g of salt
- 3g of truffle paste
- 20g of nutritional yeast
7
To make the celeriac puree, peel and dice the celeriac and steam or boil until just soft. Transfer to a blender with the salt and butter, blitz until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve into a small saucepan ready to reheat later
- 1/4 small celeriac
- 50g of butter
- 2g of table salt
8
To make the black garlic purée, place the garlic in a pan with the chicken stock. Cover and simmer until the cloves have completely softened, then transfer the cloves to a blender and blitz, adding the chicken stock in as needed to create a smooth purée. Taste and season then transfer to a piping bag or squeezy bottle
- 40g of black garlic cloves, peeled
- 125ml of chicken stock, warm
9
Peel the salsify and place in a bowl of water acidulated with a little lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown. Once all the salsify is peeled, drain and immediately transfer to a vacuum bag with the butter, salt and thyme. Seal then steam for around 12 minutes until just soft, then chill. Cut the salsify on the angle into 4cm batons, then set aside
- 200g of salsify root
- 1/4 lemon
- 30g of butter
- 1g of salt
- 1 thyme
10
Once all the elements have been prepared, cook the venison loin. Preheat an oven to 100ºC/gas mark ¼. Heat a frying pan with the oil and season the venison loin. Once the pan is smoking hot, add the venison and brown on all sides. Add the butter, thyme and garlic and baste for a minute or 2, then place in the oven for 3–4 minutes. The temperature should read 40ºC in the centre for a rare finish. Leave in a warm place to rest for 10 minutes before carving
- 960g of venison loin, in a single piece (or 2 smaller fillets)
- 1 dash of vegetable oil
- table salt to season
- 50g of salted butter
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 3 garlic cloves, bashed in skins
11
Whilst the venison cooks and rests, finish the cabbage. Remove the apple sheets from the vacuum bags and spread out 30g of the red cabbage mixture on each sheet. Carefully roll up tightly and place on an oven tray. Reheat in the oven with the venison for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, gently reheat the celeriac purée and the sauce, whisking the cold butter into the sauce to make it thick and glossy
- 80g of salted butter, chilled and cubed
12
Place 2 large frying pans over a medium heat and add a large knob of butter to each. Fry the salsify in one pan and the gnocchi in the other, turning to ensure you get a nice golden colour all over. Remove the larger rings of gnocchi when they turn golden brown, but continue to cook the smaller circles of gnocchi until they turn darker
13
To plate, carve the venison into slices and add 3 slices to each plate. Add a spoon of reheated celeriac puree, a piece of salsify and a cabbage roll. Top the roll with piped dots of black garlic purée and crème fraiche, small matchsticks of fresh apple and chervil leaves. Place a gnocchi ring alongside, nestling the darker gnocchi circle into the centre. Finish with some red vein sorrel and the venison sauce
- 1/2 Granny Smith apple, cut into 1cm matchsticks
- red vein sorrel leaves
- chervil leaves
