RED SHALLOTS RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Peel the shallots and garlic. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker (or heavy-based casserole). Add the beef and turn it every couple of minutes, or until it's golden on all sides. Remove and set aside.
  2. Add the whole shallots and garlic to the pan and cook for around 10 minutes, or until they start to soften and take on colour. Finely grate in around a quarter if the nutmeg, then add all remaining ingredients, except the beef brisket.
  3. Half fill the tomato tin with water and tip this in too. Season well with sea salt and black pepper. Gently stir until hot and starting to thicken.
  4. Return the beef to the pan and put the lid on, making sure the valve is shut. Cook on a low heat for 1 hour 15 minutes (or 2 hours if not using a pressure cooker).
  5. Release the valve and, once the steam has stopped hissing, remove the lid. Leave the beef to rest for 10 minutes before removing. It should flake apart easily with 2 forks, though if it doesn't, it's fine to continue cooking it for a few more minutes.
  6. Stir the remaining sauce and season to taste. Break apart or carve the beef and serve with the lovely rich sauce spooned over the top.

Steps:

• 1. Bash up the thyme and juniper berries in a pestle and mortar with a really good pinch of salt and pepper. If you haven’t got a pestle and mortar, use the end of a rolling pin and a metal bowl. Loosen with 2 good lugs of olive oil. Pat the venison dry with some kitchen paper, and rub the oil mixture all over it. Sear the meat in a hot pan on all sides – roughly 6 minutes for medium rare, 7-8 minutes for medium, and you’d have to be a nutter if you wanted to cook it for any longer than that! Depending on the thickness of the meat and the heat of the pan, it may need a little less or more time to cook – so don’t look at the clock, look at the meat. This is the time when you want to try to be instinctive with your meat. Remove it from the pan when it’s cooked to your liking and allow it to rest on a plate for 4 minutes, covered with tinfoil.
  2. Reduce the heat under the pan and add a good lug of oil. Add the shallots and the garlic and fry gently for around 3 minutes until translucent and tender. Turn up the heat again, add the wine, and let it reduce by half. Add the blueberries and simmer slowly for 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat, add the butter, and jiggle and shake the pan around so the sauce goes slightly opaque and shiny. Season to taste.
  3. Slice the venison into 2cm/¾ inch slices and serve with steamed purple sprouting broccoli or some other good greens. Add the meat’s resting juices to the sauce and spoon over the venison. Absolutely fantastic.