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Braised Venison Shanks

The venison shank in this show-stopping dish is beautifully tender, with intense flavour. It is paired with a lovely creamy horseradish mash and pan-fried bacon cabbage; a medium-bodied red wine such as Pinot Noir would wash it down very nicely!

Braised Venison Shank

Preparation

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 3 hours
  • Serves: 2 people

Ingredients

  • 2 venison shanks
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 190 ml red wine
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 1.6 L beef stock

For the mash, cabbage and gravy

  • 350 g potatoes
  • 1 pointed cabbage
  • 50 ml cream
  • 1 knob butter
  • 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • 150 g smoked streaky bacon
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Instructions (Venison shank)

  1. Begin by taking the venison out of the packaging and allowing it to come to room temperature.
  2. Peel and finely dice the onion, celery and carrot then peel and crush the garlic cloves. Put to one side.
  3. Season the wild venison shank well and heat a splash of oil in a large, deep heavy-based, ovenproof pan on a medium-high heat. Sear the shank, turning each side until it is browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest.
  4. In the same pan, on a medium-high heat, begin to fry the diced onion, carrot, celery and garlic until they have gained some colour and have slightly softened.
  5. Return the shanks to the pan, turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Now cook out the wine until it has reduced fully.
  6. When the wine has reduced, add the sprigs of thyme and the stock. Put a lid on the pan and place in the oven to braise for around 2 ½ to 3 hours, until the meat falls off the bone.

Instructions (Mash, cabbage and gravy)

  1. Start making the mashed potato by peeling and quartering the potatoes before placing them in salted cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes until tender.
  2. While the potatoes cook, prepare the cabbage by halving the head and cutting out the hard, central root then slicing diagonally to produce long, reasonably thin strands. Then dice the streaky bacon.
  3. When the potatoes are soft and tender, drain and mash them (or put through a potato ricer if possible) then whisk with cream, butter and the horseradish sauce. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm ready to serve alongside the venison.
  4. Remove the venison shank from the pan and make a gravy from the braising stock by reducing this on a high heat to create a rich, glossy sauce.
  5. Finally, brown the diced bacon in a splash of vegetable oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat. At the same time, blanch the cabbage for around 30 seconds in rapidly boiling salted water.
  6. When the bacon is brown, add the drained blanched cabbage, the wholegrain mustard and some seasoning. Mix and heat through.
  7. Serve the venison shanks upon the mash with the crispy bacon cabbage and finish with the gravy.

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