We have a very good friend who's Mum has an incredible gift for seeking out foreign, exotic tales connected to recipe ideas and is happy to share them with us all. Living in Cumbria in a charming cottage she recently fed us warming cups of her own blend of special teas and enchanted us with her wonderful ability to tell a good tale. Indeed, she writes her own culinary columns and has been recently asked to be a critic in the Good Food Magazine, so her name may be familiar to you. Below, courtesy of Georgina Protheroe-Beynon, are a few ideas you may like to try.




Tkemali Sauce (pronounced Tikemarly)
Ideal with rich game meats such as goose or pigeon - although Georgina used it with beetroot to great effect!

Ingredients

6 Dark Plums, stoned (do not use damsons, they are too strong)
The zest and juice of an orange
A Handful of sugar
Raspberry Vinegar

Method

Place the sugar, plums, zest and juice in a bowl and cover with cling film. Microwave on high for three minutes approximately, or until soft.
Sieve the fruit sauce and taste, adding little splashes of raspberry vinegar until the sweet and sour balance is to your liking.


To quote Georgina: "This recipe is an adaptation of the Roumanian recipe found in Lesley Blanche's book "From Wilder Shores" which is her compilation of recipes which complement the adventures of those intrepid ladies described in her book, "The Wilder Shores of Love" - People like Jane Digby, Aimee Dubuque de Rivery and Lady Burton - who gave their All to Passion. (Sorry about the capitals but they were the sort of women who deserved Capital Letters!!)



AND MORE ......

Picnic Chicken

This recipe was given to Georgina on her travels in The British Virgin Isles - Tortola to be precise.

Ingredients

Block Coconut Milk (with sufficient hot water to make it creamy)
Whole Grain Mustard
Chicken Legs
Fresh Breadcrumbs

Method

Flour as many Chicken Legs as you need, dunk them in the coconut mustard mix, and cover with fresh breadcrumbs, patted on well. Bake for about 40 minutes in a medium warm oven. (180 degrees C)

Fabulous!!!


A TIP FOR PIGEONS

If you click on the shop, you will find we sell pigeon breasts already filleted, and whole oven ready pigeon. Should you choose to buy the whole birds but only wish to use the breasts, the carcasses make a wonderful gamey stock when boiled. If you want to casserole a whole bird, please allow 1 and half hours at least - surprising for such a small bird. However, the breasts can be pan fried with Smoked Bacon (From Maynards of course) and should be served quite pink for tenderness.

A TIP ON GARLIC

Always add garlic to cold oil if it is included in a recipe - if the oil is hot it will burn quickly and become quite bitter to taste

CARBONADE OF VENISON from Mrs. Sue Adams, of Southend.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs of Casserole Venison (Our diced product is ideal)
3 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil or Dripping - depending on how healthy you want to be
1 Dessertspoon of brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of plain four
½ pint of beer
¼ pint of stock
Bouquet garni
Freshly ground black pepper
4 crushed juniper berries
1 teaspoon malt vinegar
2" thick slices of French Bread
Whole grain mustard

Method

Slice onions and crush garlic with a little salt. Take the diced meat, and add to smoking oil or dripping in a heavy based pan or casserole. Fry the meat in batches until browned. Remove and keep warm, lower the heat the gently fry the onion. When softened, stir in the brown sugar.

Return the meat to the casserole, and sprinkle with flour. Stir in and cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic, beer, stock, vinegar, bouquet garni and juniper berries. Blend well whilst bringing to the boil, and then cover and place in the oven for 2 - 2 ½ hours - if preferred, you could simmer slowly on top of the cooker, although you do need to transfer to a casserole dish for the next step.

Take the slices of french bread and spread wholegrain mustard on each slice, placing mustard side up on top of the casserole. They will float if you have a lot of gravy - don't worry! Then bake off in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. The whole dish will keep warm and not spoil for hours

This is Mrs. Karen Stone's (of Manchester) wonderfully attractive dish.

ANGOSTURA MINCE COBBLER


Ingredients: 500g Minced Venison
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peel and diced
Half a Pint of Beef Stock
1.5 tablespoons Angostura Bitters
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons of cornflour

Scone Topping :

175g (6 oz) Self Raising Flour
40g (1.5 oz) Butter or Margarine
Salt & Pepper
Half a teaspoon of Dried Mixed Herbs
1 Egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons of Milk
Few sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Fry the venison gently in pan, adding a couple of drops of oil if necessary. Add onion and carrots and continue cooking for a few minutes. Add the stock, Angostura Bitters, tomato puree, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Blend the cornflour with a little cold water, add to the pan and cook until thickened. Turn into a casserole, cover and cook in a preheated oven on 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F or Gas Mark 4, for 20 minutes.

For the scone topping, sift the flour into the bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add salt and pepper, and stir in the herbs. Bind together with egg and sufficient milk to give a softish dough. Pat out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2" thick and cut into 1 1/2" rounds. Remove the casserole from the oven, increase the temperature and arrange the scones in an overlapping circle around the top of the casserole. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you have them. Return the casserole to the oven and bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the scones are golden brown and risen well. Serve at once.

This recipe will also work with other types of mince.

One of the nicest meals you could serve up is featured below, and a recipe idea from Mrs. Maggie Rose of Hammersmith, West London

SPICY WINTER VENISON CASSEROLE (A real winter warmer, this one!)

Ingredients (Serves 6)

1000g Diced Venison (2 x 500g)
50g Plain Flour, Seasoned
Olive Oil
225g Baby Onions (8oz)
3 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
2 tbsp Sun Dried Tomato Puree
125ml Red Wine Vinegar (4fl oz)
1 Bottle of Red Wine
2 tbsp Redcurrant jelly
Few Sprigs of Fresh Marjoram
4 Bay Leaves
2 tbsp Tabasco Sauce
6 Juniper Berries
600 ml or 1 Pint of Beef Stock
450g or 1llb Celeriac, into chunks
450g or llb turnips, cut into chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (or Gas 4) and toss the meat in seasoned flour. Heat some oil in a large heavy casserole pan and brown (if necessary in small batches). Remove and set aside. Add some more oil and brown the baby onions. Remove, keep to one side, and add the garlic and onion, which need to be cooked for about 5 minutes.

Now stir in the tomato puree, cooking slowly, and add the vinegar and wine and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the jelly, marjoram and bay leaves. Return the meat to the casserole and add the stock, bringing to the boil and then simmering for about an hour.


At this point, remove the meat from the casserole, strain the liquid and return to the pan. Add the meat, with the baby onions, celeriac and turnips. Bring back to the boil, cover and cook in the oven another 45 minutes. Spicy, rich and warming - perfect served with a jacket potato split with fresh butter and parsley.



Finally, a really quick and tasty finger snack to give your guests as they stand around and chat prior to dinner .... the "cheat's way" ... Buy a tin of smoked oysters from any supermarket chain, and use some of Maynards delicious Home-Cured streaky bacon - squeeze a few drops of lemon onto each oyster and then wrap it a piece of bacon, using a cocktail stick or skewer to hold in place. Grill for three or four minutes each side to make crispy and hand around to guests watching the fire ..."Angels on Horseback".


Mrs. Speake of Wem, Shropshire, suggested that this casserole was very suitable for the slow cooker, but it can also be gently braised in a conventional oven.

Pigeon Breasts and Ostrich Casserole (Little and Large!!)

Ingredients (Serves 4)

8 Pigeon Breasts (found under Game and Poultry in the Shop)
2 Ostrich Steaks (170g) (Found under Ostrich)
4 Rashers Maynards Streaky Bacon (Found under Bacons and Hams)
1 Onion (diced)
1 Clove Garlic (crushed)
1 Dessert Apple (diced)
¼ pint Dry White Wine
½ pint Chicken Stock
Olive Oil

Method

Put 2 / 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan, and leaving the pigeon breasts whole, seal all the meat and put aside. In the same pan, soften the onion, garlic and apple and set aside.

Fry the diced bacon until golden brown (not crisp). Put all the ingredients into either a casserole dish with a lid or a slow cooker and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add wine and stock and cook on 180 degrees C or Gas Mark 4 for 1½ - 2 hours in the oven, or 5 - 6 hours in the slow cooker. Thicken sauce if required about 15 minutes prior to serving (using cornflour mixed with a little cold water).

Serve with vegetables of your choice ..... delicious!!

We received the following delicious description from Mr. Joe Ludlow of Bridgend, South Wales - this is how he served his Ostrich Steaks to his guests at Christmas:

"I griddle pan-fried the steaks (approximately three minutes each side) a few a time, using olive oil and ghee with a little freshly ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt. I served the steaks with a home made redcurrant, port and red wine cream sauce using the juices from the steaks after resting them for ten minutes with an accompaniment of stir fried Mange Tout and Broccoli.

All of my guests enjoyed the meal and would be pleased to have the meal again.