Venison Wellington (serves four)
• 600g Sika venison loin cleaned with sinew removed • Seasoning For the mushroom duxelle • 250g button mushrooms • 4 shallots (chopped) • 2 cloves garlic (chopped) • 100ml Madeira • 4 tbsp double cream For the pancakes • 150g plain ?our • 2 eggs • 140ml milk To wrap the venison • 6-8 leaves of large spinach • 400g puff pastry Egg glaze for pastry • 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan. Season the loin with salt and pepper and add to the pan, turning it every 1-2 minutes to colour it on all sides, until it is cooked to rare. Remove from the pan and refrigerate. Melt the butter in the same pan, chop the mushrooms ?nely and sauté until golden brown. Remove from the pan and put to one side. Then, add the shallots and chopped garlic to the pan. Cook until soft, add the mushrooms again and cook quickly until no liquid is left. Add the 100ml Madeira and boil until reduced by half. Add cream then cook until the mixture is thick and beginning to darken. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side.
Next, to make the pancakes, whisk together the ?our, whole eggs and milk to make a smooth batter. Heat a frying pan and add a drop of oil. When the oil is hot, pour in a small amount of batter to cover the base with a very thin layer and cook until set. Turn over and cook the other side. Repeat the process again until mixture is ?nished keeping cooked pancakes to one side. Quickly blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water and then cool in iced water. Dry the leaves well. Lay a sheet of cling ?lm on a chopping board and put three pancakes overlapping on it. Lay the spinach on top in a single layer. Spread the mushroom mix over the spinach and lay the venison on top. Roll the pancakes, spinach and mushroom mix around the venison. Wrap tightly in the cling ?lm and leave to cool in the fridge preferably over night.
Roll out the puff pastry thinly (if it is ready rolled it will need to be rolled thinner still). Remove the venison and pancake layers from the cling ?lm and lay on the pastry. Brush the edges with the egg glaze and roll up, sealing the edges well. Brush the rest of the egg yolk glaze over the outside. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Place a thin metal skewer in the centre of the venison, it should be slightly warm (which means the internal temp is about 49-52C). Remove from the oven, rest for at least 10 minutes in a warm place, then slice and serve.
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