Venison & Pearl Barley Stew
Written by: Amanda McCabe
Instructions
Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms and cover - set aside to rehydrate
Dust venison with flour and seal in a hot pan with butter and a splash of oil until it’s browned all over - put aside
Deglaze pan with red wine before adding sliced onions and grated apple and cooking on a low heat until caramelised - about 20 mins - keep adding small splashes of wine if it is catching
Drain wild mushrooms but keep the liquid aside
Turn heat to medium and add rehydrated mushrooms to pan and cook through for about 7 to 10 minutes before adding pearl barley and stirring to coat
Pour over some of the mushroom liquid, as well as the beef stock, and a tablespoon of soy sauce and bring to a boil before lowering to a simmer
Add venison back to pan and continue to simmer for around 18 minutes before stirring through chopped lemon thyme and seasoning, turning off the heat and covering the pan, setting it aside for five minutes
While it is resting, melt butter in a pan with a clove of crushed garlic before adding fresh mushroom of choice - King Oyster in long slices for example, or chanterelles, or a well-foraged cep. Pan fry until golden
Stir, season if necessary and serve pearl barley, top with garlic mushrooms, and more fresh lemon thyme
Ingredients
Available in store
- 600g venison loin, chopped into approx 4cm chunks
- 2 tbsp of flour
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 banana shallot, sliced
- 1 peeled Kentish apple, grated
- 300ml red wine
- 50g dried wild mushrooms
- 1 tin of beef stock (330ml)
- 200g pearl barley
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Fresh lemon thyme
- Crushed garlic clove
- 3 King Oyster mushrooms sliced lengthways, or approx. 250g other mushrooms