Garry Watson, chef proprietor of Gordon’s Restaurant in Inverkeilor, rustles up a warming venison sausage casserole.
Bangers are bangers, but there are some bangers that are extremely special – and venison sausages are positively five star, especially when you serve them braised slowly flavoured with herbs, shallots, chestnuts, root vegetables, juniper and red wine.
As it’s now getting cold and chilly we crave warm comforting food.
However, it doesn’t have to be fatty and high in calories. If you haven’t tried venison sausages then you must – they are very flavourful and juicy and it’s an absolute myth that venison products are dry with a strong game flavour. They are also lower in fat than beef or pork sausages.
You can attempt to make your own sausages at home but it requires a little specialist knowledge and equipment, so I’d recommend a visit to your local craft butcher.
Braised venison sausage casserole is a wonderful winter midweek supper dish. It goes down well with the family and, if anyone is a bit late coming in, it’s happy cooking a little bit longer. You can also prepare ahead when you have a bit of spare time and freeze a batch, ready for a rainy day.
Heat a casserole dish with a splash of oil and fry eight venison sausages until they are well browned then remove and set aside. Add 50g of smoked bacon chopped into lardons and cook until well coloured. Peel and roughly chop 200g celeriac, two banana shallots, 100g leek, two carrots and two sticks of celery then add to bacon along with one tablespoon of tomato puree and cook for two minutes.
Sprinkle 30g of plain flour and stir for one minute to cook out. Add 250ml of full bodied red wine with five crushed juniper berries, two bay leafs and a few sprigs of fresh thyme then reduce by half. Add 250 ml of game or beef stock then return the sausages along with any accumulated juices.
Cover and simmer over a medium head for around 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Adjust seasoning, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
Served with either a whipped creamy mash potato flavoured with a few spoonfuls of fresh basil pesto or perhaps some course grain Arran mustard.
Alternatively serve with fresh tagliatelle, buttered and flavoured with freshly cracked black pepper.