Jenny Flynn, the head chef at Faithlegg House Hotel, joined Maria McCann on The Saturday Café for Food At Faithlegg. For the final recipe of 2024, Jenny chats with Maria about a Loin of venison with chilli & chocolate jus and celeriac puree.
Loin of venison with chilli & chocolate jus and celeriac puree
Venison
We use the loin of venison for this dish. A portion is approx. 200g. per person. This recipe is for 4 people. It is an extremely lean piece of meat so doesn’t need much cooking time. In a hot pan seal the entire cut of meat on all sides for 2 minutes. Add Rosemary, garlic and thyme to the pan and a splash pf red wine. Place it in the oven at 160 degrees for 15-20 minutes for this size of meat to bring a medium rare. Allow to rest while you prepare the jus.
Chilli & Chocolate Jus
This is the perfect sauce for the gamey flavour of venison. The sharpness of the chilli combined with the rich smoothness of dark chocolate gives a rounded flavour to the dish
- Cooking liquid from venison
- 1/2 Fresh chilli
- 750ml stock
- 50g 70% dark choc
- 50g Butter
Method
- Reserve the cooking liquid from the venison and simmer your chilli with seeds and all in it. Add the stock and reduce (to about half the volume).
- Add the chocolate and whisk in knob of butter to thicken the reduced jus.
- Strain before serving to remove the chilli.
- Serve immediately.
Celeriac puree
- 1 head of celeriac peeled and diced
- 1l milk
- Nutmeg grated
- Pinch cinnamon
Method
- Boil the celeriac in the milk until soft. Strain away the milk keeping it to the side to loosen the puree later if required.
- Blend the celeriac until smooth and mix in the nutmeg and cinnamon, Season with salt & pepper.
I like to pair this with tenderstem broccoli simply blanched, some toasted hazelnuts and maybe a nice fondant or garlic potatoes.
Enjoy!
Jenny Flynn
