REFERENCE SECTION 
                                              RECIPES & COOKING GAME

VENISON: In my opinion, the tastiest venison comes from Sika. Sika venison is a little different to Red, Roe and Fallow and has more fat within the muscle tissue, resulting in a more moist meat when cooking. The next best eating is from an August shot , young or middle aged Red stag off the hill. It's all a matter of taste of course, and many folk prefer the more delicate and finer grained Roe deer venison. It never ceases to surprise me how little most of the general public in the UK know about venison and most restaurants and Hotels are usually in the same category. I have yet to eat a decent meal of venison in a Hotel or restaurant - they usually overcook the meat , roast it off the bone (and therefore dry it out) or drown the flavours with fancy sauces.
I usually roast the saddle and the haunches (for all species). The front shoulders and neck are boned out for stew or burgers. Venison meat makes the most superb curry - something which many folk may not have tried!
Deer should always be hung in the skin in a cool dry airy shed. In summer time, I seldom hang a beast longer than 3 or 4 days and in winter 5 or 6 days. A lot depends on how dry the weather is outside because humidity is a real enemy and enables bacteria to quickly make the meat go 'off' .

As ever, the best recipe for roast venison is the simplest. Preheating the oven is crucial. I prefer slow roasting at gas Mark 3 (325 deg. F.) 170 deg.C. Take the haunch or saddle and stab a short knife about a dozen times into the meat - make the incisions fairly deep and press some lard (beef dripping) into these holes. For good measure, I then take some warm lard and rub it all over the meat, at the same time adding 5 or 6 crushed cloves of garlic. Place the joint onto a grill which keeps the meat clear of the base of the roasting tin and add a cup or two of water. Then place a generous sheet of foil over the meat and tuck the foil into the inner sides of the roasting tin so that fluids cannot evaporate . (Don't fully wrap the meat - the juices can run into the base of the pan and therefore keep the meat bathed in moisture).  Allow 45 minutes per pound plus 40 minutes for joints up to 6 lb . For joints over 7 lb , make that 35 minutes per pound plus 40 minutes. Check the meat about half way through the cooking time and more frequently thereafter. A skewer pressed through to the bone should have clear juices running out of the meat on withdrawal. About 20 minutes before the end, I like to take the foil off, run off the gravy and roast the meat just to crisp up the outside.
That gravy usually tastes utterly superb and a teaspoonful of redcurrent jelly with some fresh ground pepper is all the seasoning that is needed with a little thickening.
The big mistake most folk is when carving the meat. I wait until people are sitting and ready and then start carving. As soon as I carve enough for one serving on a heated dinner plate , I pour the hot thin gravy over the meat and tell folk not to wait but to get stuck in! If you leave the meat sitting, it will dry before your very eyes and will be spoiled. A little red currant  jelly is nice with the meat.
Cold roast venison tastes quite different. Leave the joint to cool right down and then carve when cold. Use some of that gravy at room temperature to accompany the meat and you have a meal fit for a King 
IF YOU HAVE ANY RECIPES RELATED TO UK QUARRY, THEN CONTACT ME! ALL DUE ACKNOWLEDGMENT WILL BE GIVEN. 

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