Name: Wild Venison Casserole.
Total time: 2 h
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: English

Ingredients

1/4 bottle full flavoured red wine (or enough to really soak your quantity of venison, which should sit in the wine, not above it or it won't marinate well).
100mls olive oil.
1/2 tsp. salt (preferably sea salt)
Freshly ground black pepper.
1 tsp. Allspice berries, cracked, or 1/2 tsp. ground allspice.
1 tbsp. pickled garlic cloves, quartered. (these aren't as strong as fresh garlic).
1 tsp. marjoram.

STEP 1
The day before, mix together the marinade ingredients and add the cubed venison to the mixture. Leave this, covered, in the fridge overnight.
STEP 2
The next day, fry the onions in a little olive oil, add the marinated venison chunks bit by bit and fry until they have changed colour. Transfer these to a casserole dish and add the marinade. Lower the heat to allow the meat to cook very slowly. Meanwhile . . .
STEP 3
Wash the Beluga lentils in cold water then put them in a saucepan and add water just to cover them. Cook them until they are almost soft. Drain them, reserving the liquid they have cooked in as you may need to add some to the casserole if it looks a little dry at any time during its hour of slow cooking.
STEP 4
Add the carrot chunks to the casserole.
STEP 5
Put the lid on the casserole and transfer to a cool oven - Electricity: 140 deg.C, Fan oven: 120 deg.C, Gas 1 - for about one hour, or until the carrots and meat are tender. Check on the casserole at half time and if the liquid seems low, add some of the water the lentils were cooked in.
STEP 6
The casserole should be quite rich when cooked, so serve with a plainly cooked green vegetable and rice or potatoes.

Wild Venison Casserole.