Roast Haunch of Venison

It is not often I get a roast haunch of venison. When a neighbour posted on Facebook that he had some cuts of venison if anybody was interested. I had a haunch of roe deer off Neil and had already made up in my mind how I would cook this fantastic cut of meat. An overnight marinade of garlic, rosemary, juniper, lemon zest and olive oil, salt and sea salt seasoning. The aromatics that used were smashed in the pestle and mortar and the olive oil added. The haunch had a few light slashes to it the marinade well rubbed over and wrapped in clingfilm and put in the fridge to take on the flavours.

Marinade

3 cloves garlic

3 good sprigs of rosemary

zest of one lemon

A dozen juniper berries

Good pinch of sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Good glug of olive oil ( you don’t need your best extra virgin )

Cooking

Pre-heat oven to 220C, 450F, Gas Mark 8. Place the joint in a heavy roasting pan on a trivet of carrots, onions and celery, leave the skin on the onions. Cook for 20 minutes if the joint is under 2kg and 30 minutes if over 2kg. Reduce heat after the allotted time to 150C, 300F, Gas Mark 2 and cook for 12 minutes per 500g for medium-rare. 15 minutes per 500g for medium. I always cook to temp not times and use a thermapen and for medium-rare which is the perfect cook, you want an internal temp of 56c, 130f.

After it reached the desired temperature the secret is to rest the meat. Generally for around the same length of time as you cooked it. This allows the joint to rest and all those meat juices to spread through the joint giving you tender meat.

Served with the roast haunch of venison were horseradish mashed potatoes, roast potatoes done in beef dripping, honey roast parsnips, cauliflower, peas and rich roast gravy. The heat of the horseradish goes really well with venison and the sweetness of the parsnips rounds it off.

I used the leftovers from the roast to make a shepherds pie and a madras curry.