This warming Game Casserole Recipe is an Autumn essential, a mixture of game meat cooked long and slow that tastes even better when warmed up a second day. You can easily turn this into a pie once cooked by filling a pie dish and adding a pastry crust. Yes I know this isn’t really a pie, just a casserole with a pastry lid, but I’m sure your friends will be too polite to quibble this detail when you dish it up with copious amounts of wine.
The Meat
There are differing opinions around what mixture of meat should be used, Norman Tebbit in his wonderful book The Game Cook states “I now use either a mixture of quicker cooking meats such as pheasant, pigeon and partridge or a slow cooking mixture of venison, hare and rabbit” But I’ve never had any problems mixing darker meats such as venison, duck and boar along with lighter ones such as rabbit or pheasant. I steer clear of pigeon as it’s hard to know how old the things are, in it’s prime pigeon is great but an old one takes the term ‘gamey’ to an extreme. I think that the problem Mr Tebbit is talking about lies in his 24 hour marinating process.
Some hold it that a casserole is a brilliant way to use up all of those left over bits of game in the larder or fridge. As I neither have a larder or ever have any leftovers in the fridge or freezer that can be positively identified as edible I find it easier to buy mixed game online from the Wild Meat Company, the precise contents of which “depends on what is in season and what is being shot in good quantities at any particular point in time. But normally the mix consists of around one third venison, one third pheasant and partridge, pigeon and wild boar.” and it is always first class.
Does Marinating the Meat Make a Difference?
Research a few game casserole recipes and you will find some astounding marinating ideas, Ther’s Mr Tebbits mentioned above and then Gary Rhodes uses a bottle of red wine as well as brandy and port plus a stack of aromatics to soak his mix of pheasant, partridge and pigeon.
There are two supposed benefits of a marinade; flavour and tenderising. But when game meat already has bold flavours why spend an age concocting a complicated marinade and soaking it in it for up to 24 hours? In my experience there’s no real difference in the flavour stakes whether you marinate for two hours or twenty, the overiding decider of flavour is what you cook it with and how long you cook it for. The same really goes for tenderising, cook it long at a low temperature and all’s good. And surely the point of a casserole is that it is easy and straightforward to prepare and cook?
Honestly, if it is cooked gently it all works, I suspect that some cooks predilection for long and elaborate marinating is more theatre than culinary performance. There’s also an element of the emperors new clothes around game, that somehow it’s a superior more refined flavour, whilst in actual fact an old pheasant can be like eating a car tyre regardless of what you soak it in (you could use petrol and just torch it).
The Vegetables
I go by the same principles I apply to a beef stew; onions, carrots and mushrooms are perfect. You can cram more in but it doesn’t really improve or massively alter the taste. Also veg cooked in the stew or casserole will soften, which can be lovely but I like my veg to have a bit of bite, so serve them as a side dish.
The smallest onions are best left whole, small pearl ones can be bought frozen. Keep the carrots chunky and the mushrooms should be chestnut ones, again whole or just halved.
The Gravy
Red wine and game stock yields the best results, good luck finding game stock cubes though. You can make your own stock if you’re so inclined, the Wild Meat Company again supply bones for stockmaking. But a rich ready made chicken stock or a stock pot will do just fine.
Does the type of wine make a difference? Yes, go for a full bodied one but it doesn’t have to be expensive
Aromatic Flavours
You don’t need much here, subtlety is key, personally I never use garlic or cloves as some recipes suggest. Juniper berries work well with game as does the ever dependable thyme, in fact the fruity counterpoint is nicely exploited by using some cranberry or redcurrant jelly.
Bacon is a really important element both for flavour and to bring some much needed fat to the party. Lardons work but a nicer touch is rolled up smoked streaky rashers, so they look like devils on horseback minus the sausage.
Ingredients
1kg mixed game cut into chunks
100g smoked bacon rashers
8 small onions or 6 shallots
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
6 juniper berries
75g redcurrant jelly
2 large carrots cut into big chunks
200g chestnut mushrooms
50g butter or ghee
500ml red wine
500ml stock
2 tbsp flour
Salt & pepper
Method
In a casserole fry and brown the bacon in some butter – I prefer ghee – then set aside and brown the onions and set them aside too. Coat the meat in the flour and season then brown it adding more butter if needed, set this aside also.
Add the wine to the casserole to deglaze and then add the stock, thyme, bayleaf and redcurrant jelly, bring it to a simmer. Put the onions and meat in, put the lid on and pop it in the oven at 150 degrees for about 50 minutes, then the carrots and mushrooms go in with the bacon and cook for another 45 – 55 minutes.
Check it a few times to see if the meat is tender, if the gravy needs thickening leave the lid of for the last 15 min or so. Serve with mash and root vegetables.
Make it into a pie
This dish is delicious warmed up the day after as the flavours only get richer, alternatively you can make it into a cheats pie just by putting it in a pie dish and slapping a puff pastry lid on it. Cook for 30-40 minutes at 200.
Cover pic: Adobe Stock
