H&C

17
May
2009

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Smoked loin of venison with Spanish Picota cherries and red onion chutney

Smoked loin of venison with Spanish Picota cherries and red onion chutney

"Here's a great recipe for you to try at home.

I've used Picota cherries from Spain as they are now in season. Picotas are a large cherry, that have a deep red colour but no storks. They have a really juicy flavour, which works well with the venison.

Venison loin can be expensive but, if you can't find it, use the solid topside muscle or silverside muscle from the haunch. These cuts are stronger in flavour, but once they've been cleaned down, they will look the same except for the meat grain being slightly courser.

This recipe serves four portions as a starter.

500g Venison loin (cleaned cannon of venison)
100 sugar
200g Salt
1 lt water

300g Spanish Picota cherries
1 large red onion
1 eating apple (russet apple, if you can get them)
30ml aged Balsamic vinegar
Teaspoon full sugar (optional)
Olive oil

Step one: take the sugar, salt and water and mix them together, so that the sugar and salt dissolve. Drop the venison into the solution and leave it for 30-minutes to soak.

Step two: cut the cherries into four and remove the stones. Slice the onion finely. Peel, core and chop the apple into very small dice sized pieces.

Step three: heat the oil and add the onion. Don't fry it - just sweat the onion down for five-minutes on a low heat. Add the vinegar to onions and allow it to reduce down by half. Add sugar if the balsamic is not an aged one.

Step four: add the cherries to the onions and cook for two minutes, then add the apple and cook for another minute before removing from the heat. The chutney should be syrupy and the cherries and apple should still be visible. Leave the chutney to cool; the heatin the mix will break down the fruit to give a full flavour. Once the chutney is cool, place it in the fridge. This chutney is best served cold.

Step five: remove the venison from its water solution and dry it with a cloth. Place the meat in a hot smoker for 25-minutes, turning it twice. If you do not have a hot smoker, place some wood chips into a deep tray, then place a cooling rack or the shelf from an oven into the tray and place the venison on this. Light the chips using a blow torch and, once they are smouldering, place the tray into a low-heat source. Place the venison on its rack onto the smouldering tray and top with foil, leaving one corner open. When smoke begins to escape, seal this corner and allow it to sit on the heat for 10-minutes before removing the venison and allowing it to stand until cold.

Step six: once the venison has cooled, wrap it tightly in cling film and place in the fridge to get really cold. The venison should be cooked on the outside, but still fairly pink in the middle.

Step seven: serve the sliced venison with a small leaf salad, the picota cherry chutney and a split balsamic dressing.

Enjoy!"