Slow Cooked Wild Venison Masala

So if you haven’t guessed already, I’m a super busy woman. I run the behind-the-scenes of my husband’s brick and block laying business, I’m a stay-at-home mum of a 2 year old boy (pregnant with another, due Christmas day, yeah yeah, laugh it up...), chase around after our two lively English Springer Spaniels allllllll day, have a part-time job, we own 22 acres which requires daily attention, all while trying to build my own empire with ‘Hunter &Wife Homeware’, ‘Hunter & Baby Babygear’ and ‘www.howtobeahunterswife.com’. And in between all of that, I keep the house in some kind of order!

So basically, rule number one when it comes to prepping and cooking dinner for the team is – Must be simple and versatile. That’s why the slow cooker is pretty much my best friend.

The following recipe is a goodie that’s super adaptable, use any red meat (works particularly well with goat), no biggie if you don’t have one of the spices, you can use cream or sour cream if you don’t have yogurt, use fresh tomatoes if you don’t have a can. Don’t be too fussy about quantities, except maybe the cayenne... unless you like it HOT!

Ingredients

 

500gm Cubed Venison

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Fenugreek

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Paprika

3 garlic cloves (or 3 tsp of minced garlic)

2 tsp minced ginger

1-2 cups plain yogurt

1 can diced tomatoes

1 diced white Onion

Oil

Method

Combine cubed meat with spices, garlic, ginger and 1 cup of yogurt and place covered in the fridge for as long as possible – anything from a couple of hours to overnight would do!

Preheat a good slug of oil in a large pan, add marinated meat and brown quickly. Transfer to warming slow cooker (or casserole dish with lid if going to cook in the oven).

Add diced onion to pan and sauté till softened. Add can of tomatoes, cook to combine. Use a wooden spoon to get all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.

Carefully pour over the browned meat and stir to combine. Meat should be just covered in liquid, if not, add a small amount of liquid beef stock.

Allow to cook on low for 6 hours +. If cooking in the oven, cook at 100 deg Celsius for 3 hours.

Add remaining yogurt before serving, on fluffy white rice.

Chinese Spiced Duck Breast with Greens in Noodle Broth

This is such a yummy, warming meal for a cold winters night post duck shooting! My hubby wasn’t too keen on the weird numbing sensation Szechuan pepper has on your mouth, so it’s optional. As for the greens, be super relaxed about these, whatever you have in the fridge/freezer will do. Frozen pack mixed vege would even do, but of course... fresh is best.

Ingredients

Duck breasts – trimmed (1 per person)

Chinese Five Spice
Szechuan Pepper (optional)
Fresh or Minced Ginger
Fresh or Minced Garlic
Fresh or Minced Chilli
Soy sauce
Beef (or chicken) stock
Honey
Hokkien or Udon Noodles (1 slab per person)
Bok Choi/Spinach/Silver beet/broccoli (Any leafy green)
Green Beans
Red Pepper
Spring Onions (sliced in rings)
Salt & Pepper
Oil (Peanut/Olive/any cooking oil)
Lemon or Lime juice
Fresh coriander and bean sprouts to garnish

Large bowls to serve

Method

Trim your duck breasts of any dodgy bits (pellet or dog bruise).

Put a medium pot of water on to boil with stock cube (or 1 t-spoon of powder), frying pan on med-high heat.

Pound your Szechuan pepper in the mortar & pestle (or in a zip lock bag with a rolling pin or other heavy round object – bottle of beer/wine/bourbon?).

Put a pinch of Szechuan pepper, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, garlic (1/2 t-spoon, more or less depending how your garlic tolerance is) ½ t-spoon of ginger, ¼ t-spoon of chilli (more or less), 1 t-spoon of honey and a handful of sliced spring onion in the bottom of each of your serving bowls.

Sprinkle the breasts with salt and pepper, Chinese five spice and the remaining Szechuan pepper. Drizzle the meat with olive oil and rub all the spices in.

Put duck breasts in frying pan to cook, if you’re lucky to have skin left on, skin side first, approx 3 mins each side for med/rare. Then wrap in tin foil and set aside.

Put noodles into boiling water, with your leafy greens, green beans, sliced red pepper. Allow to boil for a couple of minutes.

Divide noodles and greens into each serving bowl, use tongs to toss through the ingredients at the bottom of each bowl then pour over a good amount of the broth.

Slice duck breasts on the angle into 1cm strips, and divide over your noodle and greens in broth.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves and/or bean sprouts to garnish. Squeeze over lemon or lime juice.

Present with pride to your lucky dinner guest/s.