Ingredients
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 large onion
1 leek
1 venison hock
250ml red wine
500ml water
1 tbs tomato purée
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6-8 whole peppercorns
1/2 bulb garlic, smashed but no need to peel
1 star anise
Some salt, go easy you can correct the seasoning later
Shallots
Button Mushrooms
Method
Finely dice the carrots, celery, onion leek.
Sweat down in some rapeseed oil for 5 minutes or so.
I use a pressure cooker to keep the cooking time down.
Add the hock
Brown the meat to sear it.
Add everything else except shallots and mushrooms.
Cook 30 minutes once up to pressure
Allow to cool
Remove the meat which should be falling off the bone by now.
Remove from the bone in large chunks, discarding any excess fat (there isn’t much!) any sinews and connective tissue leaving just meat.
Pass the liquid through a conical sieve pushing the solids down to extract the flavour and juice.
Reduce the liquid in a pan by 1/2.
Fry some shallots and button mushrooms cut in to 1/4s in oil until nicely browned and remember to season them.
Add the onions and mushrooms to the liquid and cook further until you have the desired volume of sauce. Add the meat and warm through for a few minutes on a low heat. Correct the salt and pepper as required.
Serve with mash and a green veg of your choice. I like Brussel sprouts roasted in the oven but purple sprouting or cabbage also works well.
Sadly I forgot a photo but I will add one next time
