Seasonal recipes for you to try at home

Autumn

Venison recipes

Former BBC MasterChef winner Roger Finnamore cooked up these local venison recipes in August 2005 at the Monmouthshire show. They are all simple to prepare, and are absolutely delicious. Local suppliers for many of the ingredients can be found in the web links next to the appropriate ingredient, or search the directory yourself for a full list of all suppliers.

Venison for all the recipes can be obtained from: Lydney Park Estate in the Forest of Dean and all good local butchers should be able to source it for you.

Roger Finnamore with local venison dish

Pan fried medallions of Venison with a shallot, white wine and cream sauce

Serves 3

Venison medallions loin or fillet roughly one inch thick
3 shallots finely chopped Munday & Jones
200mls white wine Parva Farm Vineyard
100 mls double cream Bower Farm Dairy
Salt and pepper

Pan-fry the meat in a hot pan for no more than two minutes on each side. Remove and set aside to rest in a warm place. In the same pan gently, fry the shallots until soft but not coloured; increase the heat, add the wine and reduce by half. Add the cream - bring back to the boil - serve at once.

Roasted loin of Venison with blackberry, mint and red wine sauce

Venison loin 200g (7oz) per person
Wild blackberries: pick them wild from the hedgerows
Handful fresh mint
200ml red wine Compton Green

Seal the meat in a hot pan. Transfer to a baking sheet season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a hot oven gas mark 7-8 for 10 – 12 mins. Remove; set aside to rest, venison should be served no more than medium rare.

For the sauce
Puree the berries in a blender; pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the pips. Add the wine to the finely chopped mint, heat gently in a saucepan and serve.

Summer

Thanks to local chef and food campaigner Robert Rees for these summer recipes. Use our producer directory to find the ingredients.

Chilli Lamb

Ingredients

8 Wye Valley Lamb Cutlets
¼ Tspn Chilli Powder
½ Tspn Turmeric
1 Tspn Garam Massala
1oz Grated Fresh Ginger
1 Chopped Garlic Clove
8 oz Thick Plain Yoghurt from the Wye Valley
1 Juice Lime
1 Juice Lemon

Mix all of the ingredients well together in a bowl and coat the lamb chops in the mixture and cover with a lid. Marinate for 24 hours in the fridge. Place at the bottom of the fridge so that the raw meat does not contaminate other foods.

To cook, drain off any excess marinade and sear on a very hot BBQ. Cook so the lamb is slightly pink and tender. The yoghurt crust will have a spicy tang to it.

Serve with local potatoes and salad leaves.

Organic Salmon or trout Tandoor

A word of caution on Wye Valley Salmon Many people think the ideal local dish is salmon, caught from the River Wye. Sadly, this is no longer the case as salmon stocks are half what they need to be to ensure that the river has a healthy stock of salmon, able to meet the Environment Agency’s conservation targets. A “catch and release” scheme therefore operates so theoretically, at this time, Wye Valley Salmon should not be on any local menus.

To find out more about this topic visit:
http://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/conservation.htm
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/fish/

Ingredients:

6 organic salmon or trout (Try Usk Farmers Market, or a local trout farm)
500ml Plain Yoghurt from the Wye Valley
2 Tspns Cumin Seeds
2 Tspns Turmeric
6oz Freshly Chopped Coriander
Zest of 1 Lime
Zest of 1 Lemon

Simply mix all the marinade ingredients together well and pour over the organic salmon or trout. Leave to marinade in the fridge for around 6 hours in a lidded container. Place at the bottom of a fridge so that the raw food does not contaminate other items. Drain off the excess and sear skin side down first on a hot BBQ. Turn once and repeat on the other side. Brush lightly with Olive Oil to avoid sticking. You are after a Tandoori Oven effect so it needs to be really crisp on both sides but still moist on the inside when serving.

Ideally serve with warm homemade chutney of roughly chopped Red Onions, Beef Tomatoes and Garlic.

All recipes are copyright of Rob Rees and The Country Elephant Ltd