Venison Ragoût with Chestnuts, Port and Orange

Name: Venison Ragoût with Chestnuts, Port and Orange
Yield: Serves 5–6
Ingredients: Half a 15-oz/420-g tin of whole chestnuts in brine, unsweetened, or the same weight of vacuum-packed chestnuts (but not dried chestnuts); Half a 15-oz/420-g tin of whole chestnuts in brine, unsweetened, or the same weight of vacuum-packed chestnuts (but not dried chestnuts); Half a 15-oz/420-g tin of whole chestnuts in brine, unsweetened, or the same weight of vacuum-packed chestnuts (but not dried chestnuts); Grated rind and juice of 1 small orange; Half a 15-oz/420-g tin of whole chestnuts in brine, unsweetened, or the same weight of vacuum-packed chestnuts (but not dried chestnuts); 1 pint/600 ml vegetable stock; A few drops of Balsamic vinegar; 2 medium onions, skinned and sliced finely, or ½ lb/225 g small whole onions, skinned; 2 medium onions, skinned and sliced finely, or ½ lb/225 g small whole onions, skinned; ¼ pint/140 ml port; 2 tsp redcurrant jelly; Oil in which to brown the meat (I use sunflower oil, about 1 tbsp to start with); Oil in which to brown the meat (I use sunflower oil, about 1 tbsp to start with); ¼ tsp salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper; ¼ tsp salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper; 1 heaped tbsp plain flour; 2 lb/900 g venison, trimmed and cut in chunks about 1 ½ inches/3.5 cm in size

Preparation info

Serves
5–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Claire Macdonald Cookbook

By Claire Macdonald

Published 1997

About

This is a perfect dish for chilly weather. It both tastes good and is convenient in that, like all casseroles, it benefits from being made a day or two in advance. On the other hand, you can make it several weeks ahead and freeze it (it freezes beautifully). If you can’t get venison, you could substitute beef, but venison is now very widely available, and can be found in the butchery departments of many good supermarkets.

Ingredients

Method