New Zealand Venison

Tom Hishon's Braised Venison with Tamarillos

Serves: 4     Preparation: 30 mins     Time to cook: 2.5 hours    

Ingredients

1 rack of venison (approx 1kg and trimmed of silverskin)
1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind
1 garlic clove (crushed)
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
520g (6) tomatoes
maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
30mls (2 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
30mls (2 tbsp) balsamic vinegar
70g-140g (4-8 tbsp) sun dried tomato pesto
4-8 handfuls salad greens
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven and a roasting dish to 180 degrees Celsius.

Rub the freshly ground coffee, star anise and pepper thoroughly into the venison. Set aside at room temperature while you make the stock.

Place the shallots and carrots in the pre-heated dish and roast until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While these are roasting, in a pan, simmer and reduce the red wine by three-quarters.

Wrap the rubbed venison in a deep heavy-based pot or crockpot. Put the roasted shallots and carrots on top with the rosemary and bay leaves. Pour over the reduced wine and beef stock.

Place the pot on a medium heat and very slowly bring to a simmer at no point do you want the stock to boil as this will dry out the venison. Turn the heat to lowest setting and place the pot lid on top, slightly ajar.

Slow cook for 2 hours 30 minutes. 

While the meat is cooking, boil the whole, unpeeled kumara in a large pot of salted water until soft and tender – check by pressing it with a small knife. Set the kumara aside for 15 minutes to cool, then cut them in half. Scoop out all the soft, golden kumara from the peel and place in a bowl, season with salt and a drizzle of olive oil then mash vigorously using the back of a large wooden spoon. Set aside in a warm place for serving with the venison. 

For the sauce, place the tamarillos flat side down on a small oven tray. In a small pan, boil off the Pinot Gris until it reduces and goes golden brown. Pour this over the tamarillo halves, cover with aluminium foil and roast at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, setting aside to cool. Peel the skin from the tamarillos and discard. Place the flesh in a bowl then pour in the remaining liquid from the oven tray and roughly mash together.Blanch the rainbow chard or silverbeet in a pot of boiling salted water with an extra dash of olive oil.

To serve, have all the meal components separately in bowls on the table and let your dinner guests self-serve. Or for more of a visual feast serve, place a generous scoop of the kumara mash in the bottom of four bowls. Place the venison on top, place a few shallot halves on top then cover with the blanched rainbow chard. Spoon the tamarillo sauce over the top and finish with a grind of fresh black pepper (pictured).