Mulled Venison Stew and Pink Onion Pickle
Spreading a little cosy, spicy, tummy-warming festive cheer
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Hullo my dears, I hope you’re in great spirits and good health. I have been better.
It was all going so well: I’d baked and shared our favourite mince pies; decorated our tree; bought a naked pine wreath to decorate; enjoyed a daytime ‘work Christmas do’ to The Pig in Canterbury (I ate beef stew and dumplings and wore a paper crown) and generally started to get into festive mode, fresh off the back of our immersive Christmas trip to France. Tonight I was supposed to be in London for Federica Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernada Alba at The National starring Harriet Walter, with supper first at Lasdun. But no. Struck down, YET AGAIN, my friends, with the most heinous ear, nose and throat thing, followed swiftly by a bought of eye-glueing conjunctivitis caught from my toddler which has taken me out all week. That’ll teach me for feeling a bit smug. Tis the season guys!
And so all Christmas prep, card and newsletter writing, recipe development and other work ground to a halt as I was faced with no option but to rest. The wreath is looking very sad slumped on our doorstep, unadorned. I’ll get to it. But sometimes, however freaking inconvenient it might be, you really have to admit defeat, don’t you? At one point even looking at my phone to check the time/Whatsapp was impossible. Gah. Maybe you missed me, maybe you’ve been frankly too busy to read your newsletters right now, but either way, I’m pleased to have turned a corner and to be finally propped up by the fire writing to you, because it’s been a whole week and I’ve missed you.
Feeling the full brunt of ‘Christmas overwhelm’ myself, and now being incredibly late with everything (except your Christmas Day recipes, which are safely here for you when you need them) - I thought it might be helpful to land in your inbox with a hearty, failsafe batch cook recipe that I love to cook at this time of year, that might come in handy for any Christmas or NYE parties, gatherings or other ‘betwixtmas’ entertaining you might be hosting. It’s an oldie but a goodie from the archives: a warming, comforting, delightful venison stew spiced with gorgeous mulled wine spices and perfect for making ahead, then warming through and serving up with mounds of butter mash, rice or jacket potatoes - I also think it would work rather nicely in a pie…
The wonder of this stew is that it actually improves if you make it ahead of time and then stick it in the fridge for all those flavours to infuse for a couple of days, and you can do the same with the pink pickled onions, too, meaning that it’s a really stress-free one to lay on for mates. My advice would be to make a big pot of it, keep it gently warm on the cooker and let people help themselves, along with the carbs of your/their choice. Hilariously, I once made this for a very rambunctious Christmas party we had where I somehow managed to get stuck in the downstairs loo, and by the time I emerged (someone finally needed to go and heard my distress cries over the music) the pan was practically scraped clean, so make sure you oil your toilet locks, or make extra helpings you keep aside for yourself if you’re making this for a party and going down the self service route.
It’s a cracker of a recipe, and in the spirit of Christmas, I’m keeping this one above the paywall for a couple of weeks as a little gift from me to you. It’s taken from my second cookbook The Joyful Home Cook, which, incidentally, would also make a rather lovely Christmas gift, as would a subscription to this very tasty corner of the internet, if you’re still thinking about some delicious gift ideas for people you love, or just like a lot. If you know someone who might like the flavours that are going on here: smoky chipotle chilli, star anise, aromatic red wine, then please do share this with them, using the button below.
Possible substitutions
If you don’t like, or can’t get hold of venison, it would work very well with braising beef - I’d suggest shin - though I do think that the richer, more complex flavour of venison stands up rather nicely to the robust spices at play here. I love to serve it with the pink pickled onions scattered over the top for a pop of colour, crunch and acidity, but it would also be really nice with a red cabbage slaw or winter vegetable ferment - basically anything with crunch, acidity and colour to give it a little lift and contrast.
The Recipe
So there it is. I hope you enjoy it, and as ever, leave me a comment below letting me know if you made it, intend to make it, or just with any hilarious Christmas party mishaps you might want to share with us all. Speak soon, Rosie x
Hi Rosie, thank you for this delicious recipe - I made it tonight. It was a big hit with the family. The onion pickle is a lovely touch - I can see it going well with cheese 🙂
Thanks Rosie! Very unfair - two hits of resp virus so close together! Best wishes for being hale and hearty again asap.
Do you think this soup would work ith osso bucco? Venison isn’t really a “thing” in our local butcher. He’s got camel, kangaroo, emu, duck, goose, and crocodile but I don’t think I have ever noticed venison 😂.