Gamekeeper’s Pie

Name: Gamekeeper’s Pie
Yield: Serves 4—6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: splash of milk (optional); 1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves; a few good knobs of butter; 200 g parsnips, peeled, cored and roughly chopped; 200 ml cider; 4 juniper berries, crushed; 1 litre good beef stock; 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 3 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 2-3 large potatoes (recommended for mash), peeled and quartered; 1 tablespoon tomato purée; 1 kg coarsely minced venison, or a mixture of game; 1 tablespoon plain flour

Preparation info

Serves
4—6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

British Seasonal Food

By Mark Hix

Published 2008

About

This is a gamey version of a Shepherd’s pie, with parsnip added to the mash topping to give it that savoury and sweet flavour. You can just use the meat from the shoulder or tougher haunch cuts of venison, or a mixture of, say, hare and venison with some rabbit thrown in.

Ingredients

1 kg coarsely minced venison, or a mixture of game
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tablespoons<

Europe
United Kingdom
Winter
Pie
February

Method

Season the minced venison or other game with salt and pepper. Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a heavy-based frying pan until it is almost smoking, then brown the meat in small batches for a few minutes, turning it with a wooden spoon. Drain in a colander to remove all the fat.

Heat 2 tablespoons