Venison Wellington Recipe, a deer hunting season favourite

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Venison Wellington. Glam up your venison recipes.

Fall has arrived and deer season for bow hunters has been open for a little while. I was given a beautiful venison loin the other day and decided to try making Venison Wellington, something a bit different than my usual venison stroganoff or loin steak & wild mushrooms. Whether you are an avid hunter or the fortunate recipient of venison, you’ll love this twist on the traditional wellington made with beef. Harvested deer is one of the best organic meats you can find. What a better way to ensure hormone and antibiotic free meat.

Traditionally, you baste a beef tenderloin with English mustard then cover it with a mixture of mushrooms & shallots (Duxelles) & liver pate , wrapped in a very thin savoury pancake, and finally puff pastry. I’ve eliminated the pancake and liver pate and added Proscuitto. I love to add chestnuts into the Duxelles as it adds a nutty flavour and helps to create a smooth paste for spreading on the meat. Originally, I was inspired by Chef Ramsay to add the chestnuts to my venison wellington recipe but it made even more sense when I started cooking “in season” because not only is venison available but the chestnuts are in the grocery aisle again for the Christmas season.

If you want to GLAM up the deer you have just harvested then give this Venison Wellington recipe a try. If you don’t have a loin roast to use, try one of the other tender cuts and cook slowly so as to keep in all the great moisture and flavour.

When it comes to Duxelles in the venison wellington recipe, I love to use a combination of different mushrooms. There is no restriction to the combinations of mushrooms you can use but I like to use whatever is available. So, if you have wild mushrooms then you should add them in to elevate your flavours even further. Usually, I use a combination of cremini, shitake, and portabello mushrooms.

Don’t be intimidated by the recipe – if you want to check out an simple and amazing video then watch Chef Gordon Ramsay put together his beef wellington.

 

Enjoy!

Venison Wellington Recipe

Venison Wellington Recipe

Venison Wellington Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs (900g) trimmed loin of venison
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
  • 1½ tbsp English mustard or Dijon mustard
  • 12 slices prosciutto
  • plain flour, for dusting
  • 375g pack all-butter puff pastry
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten
    Venison Wellington Recipe

    Venison Wellington Recipe

  • Duxelles (mushroom paste) (recipe below)
  • Venison gravy (recipe below) to serve

Duxelles

  • 50g butter
  • 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 lb mushrooms, very finely chopped in a food processor
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp red wine

Method & Assembly

  1. Dry the venison with paper towel then season well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sear the meat all over for about 8 mins. Brush with mustard, leave to cool, then chill for 20 mins. Reserve any juices for the gravy.
  2. To make Druxelles: Melt the butter and soften the shallot and garlic. Add the mushrooms, herbs and seasoning, and cook for 10 mins until you have a paste-like mixture. Add the red wine and cook until it’s evaporated. Leave to cool.
  3. Overlap 2-3 sheets of cling film on a clean surface and lay the prosciutto in 2 rows, slightly overlapping each slice. Spread the cooled mushroom paste all over the prosciutto, creating a thin, even layer.
  4. Place the fillet in the centre of the mushroom mixture. Using the edge of the cling film, carefully draw the layer of prosciutto and mushroom around the meat.
  5. Roll into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of the cling film as you do, to form a tight log. Chill for a minimum of 30 mins to firm up.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to a rectangle a little larger than a magazine ensuring it’s large enough to wrap around the venison loin
  7. Carefully unwrap the prosciutto parcel and lay in the middle of the pastry.
  8. Fold over the bottom half of the pastry.
  9. Roll the whole thing around the meat to encase. Neatly fold under the shorter edges to create a parcel. When attaching ends to each other, brush with beaten egg
  10. Similar to above, wrap the entire venison loin with cellophane again and place in refrigerator for a minimum of one hour or up to 24 hours to firm up.
  11. After chilling, unwrap and lightly brush the pastry with beaten egg
  12. Lightly oil a non-stick baking tray and heat until just hot to the touch. Put the Wellington on the tray and bake for 20 minutes at 400F  (30 minutes for well done) Remove from oven, brush with extra egg and rest for 20 mins.

Serves approximately 4 people.

Making venison gravy

Melt a large knob of butter in a medium pan, add 1 finely chopped shallot, 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 thyme sprig, and cook until soft. Add 1 tbsp flour, brown for about 1 min, then pour in 250ml Port and reduce by two-thirds. Add 400ml beef stock and any reserved juices from the venison, then reduce again by two-thirds until syrupy. Season, add 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly, if you like, and strain before serving.

 

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