“Can you recommend any good recipes for meals for up to seven people that are hungry after a day’s hunting? I don’t want to have to leave the meet early to cook for my house guests so something I can prepare ahead of time would be good.” Caroline

H&C blogger and top game chef Jose Souto replies: “Hi Caroline
I do one of these every year in Norfolk just after Christmas when we go shooting. I must say that I really look forward to not only to the day’s shooting, but also to the get together later that evening. Really you can do any thing you like as long as you have some advance preparation done. My last one the menu was:

Home made minestrone soup;
Roast loin of venison with rosemary and garlic with roasted new potatoes and a selection of green veg;
A selection of desserts including a chocolate torte, a bread and butter pudding, fruit salad and selection of cheese.

I did this for 18 covers and did not miss a minute shooting. Our day runs with us shooting all day and then everyone goes off to freshen up for an hour or so then come back for drinks and the meal.

The soup was made in advance so it only needed warming up. I did minestrone because it is a hearty soup and well-received after a cold day out. It’s one of those soups that improves if it’s made the day before.

I cut the venison into 180g portions the day before, and on the morning of the shoot made a seasoning using one pack of fresh rosemary, four cloves of garlic and a good handful of maldon salt. I placed this in a liquidiser and made it into a paste, adding a little light olive oil.

I then placed the venison in a large freezer bag and poured in the seasoning, making sure all the venison is well-coated, before sealing the bag and placing it in fridge.

When I came to cooking the venison, I scraped off the majority of the seasoning and sealed the loins quickly on all sides in a hot frying pan then put them to one side. They will take eight minutes in a high oven and then need eight minutes resting before you cut them to be cooked to perfection. Serve them with roast gravy or, if you look at my blogs, you will find a recipe for a jus.

I boiled the potatoes the day before until they were cooked, but still firm and then refreshed them in cold water. On the day, I tossed them in olive oil and seasoning and ran them through the oven to roast on a high setting just to finish and crisp up.

I blanched all the veg - fine beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus spears and broccoli – the day before and then plunged them into a large pot of boiling water on the day.

All the desserts were done beforehand, apart from the bread and butter pudding for which I prepared all the components the day before and then added the milk egg custard as soon as I begin preparing the meal on the day. I placed this in the oven as soon as the venison came out on 170˚C so that it cooks slowly.

Other options may be something that is totally made beforehand, such as a hot pot or pie. If you fancy doing that, here is a hot pot recipe using rabbit and gammon.

Wild rabbit and gammon hot pot

This recipe makes two portions.

300g of boneless wild rabbit
100g gammon diced small
100g closed cup mushroom
1 small onion
1 or 2 large baking potatoes (depending on size)
25g flour
100g butter
1 lt chicken stock

1) Take 20g of butter and melt it in a large saucepan.
2) Once the butter is hot, add half the rabbit and allow it to seal on the outside of the meat but do not to cook it. Remove it from the pan and do the same with another 20g of butter and the rest of the rabbit.
3) Now, in the same pan, take another 20g butter and sweat off the onions first for two minutes then add the mushrooms and cook for a further four minutes.
4) Meanwhile in some boiling water, blanch the gammon quickly for two to three minutes. Then drain it and keep to one side.
5) Add the rabbit, the onion and the mushrooms. Stir and cook for two minutes and then add the flour mixing in well.
6) Next, add enough of the boiling chicken stock, stirring as you go so that the flour dissolves and thickens the sauce.
7) Add the gammon to the rabbit and bring the mix to the boil then turn down and allow to it just to tick over.
8) Boil the potatoes in their skins for two minutes then peel.
9) Place the rabbit mix in an oven proof dish, slice the potatoes into 1cm thick slices and arrange on top of the rabbit.
10) Melt the rest of the better and brush the potatoes with this.
11) Place the dish into the oven and cook until the potatoes are golden then remove and allow to stand for two minutes before serving.

I hope this helps. Let me know how you get on and if I can help in any other way. As I said, I love these sorts of days and have done many on a business and family basis. What better then a day in the countryside with friends and family enjoying the outdoors?

Most recently I did a dinner for a host of international falconers to celebrate the grouse season in Scotland, which you will be able to read about in my next blog ‘Red Stags and Rain’ due on the site soon. I hope you have a good day, good hunting and good cooking.

Jose.”