This recipe really is the ultimate in richness of taste and texture. The prunes are a little surprising but really work, along with the huge quantity of red wine !! We suggest you pour a glass for yourself whilst cooking - and the rest goes in the pot!

Game Casserole

Game Casserole

Using our diced mixed game, this makes a delicious rich casserole suitable for a dinner party or special weekend meal. (Serves 4)

Ingredients

500g Diced Mixed Game
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled
3/4 pint of red wine (!)
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 bay leaf
2 tspns Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g stoned prunes (either fresh or soaked overnight)
Cornflour to thicken
100g button mushrooms, trimmed and halved

To Garnish:

Maynards Traditional Dry Cured Bacon, made into rolls as detailed below
Sprigs of parsley (if available)


Method

Heat oil in a flame proof casserole dish and fry the mixed game until sealed. Add the onions and garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the wine and bring to the boil. Stir in tomato purée and the bay leaf, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and prunes. Cover tightly and cook in a preheated oven (160 degrees C or Gas Mark 3) for about 2 hours.
Blend the cornflour with a little water and stir into the casserole sparingly, with a little extra stock if necessary and the mushrooms.

Discard the bay leaf, return the casserole to the oven for 15 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. Serve hot, with the garnish and might we suggest either rice or creamed potatoes with nutmeg?

To Make Garnish of Bacon Rolls

Take some Maynards Traditional Dry Cured Bacon and cut off any rind with kitchen scissors. Stretch out evenly on a board using the back of a knife. This will make the bacon more even and easier to roll - you can always thread them on to skewers prior to cooking to stop them unrolling, (or use a wooden cocktail stick).

Game Terrine

This is an ideal dish for a picnic in the country or a lovely lunch after a long country walk. Is is taken from Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall's Tales from River Cottage. All the game listed is available to puchase from us and the recipe can be adapted to use whatever game you prefer.

We sell a bag of mixed diced game or you can choose the game individually.

Ingredients

Selection of lean game meat, about 1kg/2¼lb in all, which could include:
Breasts of Pheasant (hung about 5 days)
Breasts of Pigeon
Breasts of Duck or other wild fowl
Saddle and Hindquarters of 1 Rabbit, boned
Saddle and Hindquarters of Hare, boned
Lean strips of Venison (from the leg or fillet)
oil or fat, for frying

For the forcemeat:
500g/1lb2oz Sausage meat
Livers from all the game, finely chopped
2 Handfuls fresh white Breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 tbsp Parsley, finely chopped
Few sprigs of Thyme, leaves removed and chopped
5-6 Juniper Berries, crushed
2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
Splash of Brandy
Splash of Red Wine
Salt and Pepper

To line the dish:
300g/10½oz streaky Bacon, Flattened with the back of a knife

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl combine the sausage meat and the chopped livers from the game.
2. Next add the breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, thyme, juniper berries and garlic. Then the wine and brandy, season with the salt and pepper and mix everything together thoroughly, preferably with your hands.
3. Cut the game meat into roughly same-size strips, about 2 fingers thick.
4. In a heavy-based frying pan heat the fat or oil and fry the game pieces for 2 minutes until nicely browned.
5. Line a loaf tin or ceramic terrine dish with the stretched rashers of streaky bacon. Add a layer of forcemeat followed by a layer of game meat, then a layer of forcemeat followed by another layer of game meat. (If you like, you can put the same kind of meat in each layer, ie a layer of rabbit, a layer of pigeon and then a layer of pheasant). However many layers you make (I usually go for three) be sure to finish with a layer of the forcemeat.
6. Fold the exposed strips of bacon over the top of the terrine and cover well with kitchen foil. If your terrine dish has a lid on it so much the better.
7. Place the terrine dish in a roasting tin half-filled with hot water. Cook in the oven at 160C/325F/Gas 3 for approximately 1½-2 hours. Test with a skewer to see if it is cooked, if the skewer does not come out of the terrine piping hot then it is not ready.