Venison steaks and celeriac mash

My lovely husband needed a little bit of cheering up last night and this perfectly hit the spot. I’m sharing it with you for three reasons:

1. It was delicious

2. It was quick

3. It was pure, low carb comfort food,

I’m sharing the whole meal plan because it worked so well. The most time consuming bit was peeling the celeriac, but it was worth it. Yes, organic venison can be pricey but keeping the portion size down is good for your digestion as well as your budget.

Ingredients

• Organic farmed venison haunch steaks (100 – 150g per person)
• 1 small celeriac
• 2 heads of spring greens
• Some cream
• Some horseradish
• Black pepper
• Butter
• Olive oil
• 4 juniper berries, crushed
• A few blueberries
• A slosh of gin

Method

• Cut the celeriac into small wedges and steam for 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile wash the greens, tear them up and put them into another steam basket.
• Put a generous slug of cream and half to one teaspoon of horseradish (to taste) and a few twists of black pepper into your blender, or large nutribullet beaker.
• Add a knob of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil to a heavy bottomed frying pan and place it over a medium heat to come to temperature.
• When the celeriac yields to the gentle poke of a knife, remove them from the heat and place the chunks into the blender – no need to add any liquid. Keep the steamer water boiling and top up if necessary.
• Test the frying pan – if you dip one corner of one of the steaks into it, you should see a slight bubbling to tell you it’s hot enough – then put the steaks flat into the pan and set your timer for 3 minutes.
• Place the greens over the steamer.
• When the pinger goes, turn your venison steaks over, reset the timer for 2 to 3 minutes (to taste) then add your juniper berries, a generous handful of blueberries (mine were frozen) and a slosh of gin.
• Briefly whizz the celeriac in the blender until you get a smooth puree.
• When the timer goes off again your steaks and greens will be ready to serve with a delicious horseradish celeriac and a juniper and blueberry sauce.

Twenty five minutes from start to finish. Quick, easy and delicious.

Venison, celeriac and greens courtesy of Riverford Organic.