I had this in the week and it was great. I always seem to have Munty haunch left in the freezer. Roasting it whole never seems to get the best from it, due to lack of fat, although the piece we had on Christmas day was delicious after a quick blast barded with bacon.
I got given a few bottles of cheap port at Christmas, so was looking for a way to use up what I had and came across this recipe. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/...n-guinness-and-port-with-pickled-walnuts.html
I decided to take rump steaks from the haunch. They came out at about 80 gms each, a bit short of the weight specified. So, I just broke down the leg muscles into as large chunks as I could, ending up with 12-15 pieces. I took a bit of care trimming all the connective membrane from the joint. It didn’t take long.
I was really pleased with the results; the meat was very tender. We served it with mash, to soak up the sauce, and Kale, which went well with the vinegary edge.
Method
The night before, you need to place the meat in a large bowl along with the bay leaf and thyme, then pour the porter and port all over it. Put a plate on top to keep the meat pushed down and leave in a cool place overnight.
Next day, when you are ready to cook the meat, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C). Then melt half the butter and oil in the casserole and heat gently. Drain the meat (reserving the liquid and herbs) and pat the steaks dry with kitchen paper. Now turn the heat to high and brown the steaks (in two batches) to a rich brown on both sides. Now add the rest of the butter and oil to the casserole. As soon as it begins to foam, add the onion and brown this for about 8 minutes before adding the garlic and frying for another 2 minutes.
Now return all the meat into the casserole to join the onions. Stir in the flour to soak up the juices, then pour in the marinade (including the bay leaf and thyme), add the walnuts and season well. As soon as it reaches a gentle simmer, put a lid on, then transfer the casserole to the middle shelf of the oven and forget all about it for 3 hours, by which time the meat will be tender and the sauce marvellously dark and rich.
I got given a few bottles of cheap port at Christmas, so was looking for a way to use up what I had and came across this recipe. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/...n-guinness-and-port-with-pickled-walnuts.html
I decided to take rump steaks from the haunch. They came out at about 80 gms each, a bit short of the weight specified. So, I just broke down the leg muscles into as large chunks as I could, ending up with 12-15 pieces. I took a bit of care trimming all the connective membrane from the joint. It didn’t take long.
I was really pleased with the results; the meat was very tender. We served it with mash, to soak up the sauce, and Kale, which went well with the vinegary edge.
Here's the full details, in case the link changes. Ingredients |
| 4 venison steaks, each weighing about 6-7 oz (175-200 g) |
| 10 fl oz (275 ml) Guinness (or other stout) |
| 2½ fl oz (65 ml) ruby port |
| 9 oz (250 g) pickled walnuts, drained and halved |
| 1 bay leaf |
| 2 sprigs fresh thyme |
| ½ oz (10 g) butter |
| 1 tablespoon olive oil |
| 1 large onion, sliced |
| 1 clove garlic, crushed |
| 1 level dessertspoon plain flour |
| salt and freshly milled black pepper |
The night before, you need to place the meat in a large bowl along with the bay leaf and thyme, then pour the porter and port all over it. Put a plate on top to keep the meat pushed down and leave in a cool place overnight.
Next day, when you are ready to cook the meat, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C). Then melt half the butter and oil in the casserole and heat gently. Drain the meat (reserving the liquid and herbs) and pat the steaks dry with kitchen paper. Now turn the heat to high and brown the steaks (in two batches) to a rich brown on both sides. Now add the rest of the butter and oil to the casserole. As soon as it begins to foam, add the onion and brown this for about 8 minutes before adding the garlic and frying for another 2 minutes.
Now return all the meat into the casserole to join the onions. Stir in the flour to soak up the juices, then pour in the marinade (including the bay leaf and thyme), add the walnuts and season well. As soon as it reaches a gentle simmer, put a lid on, then transfer the casserole to the middle shelf of the oven and forget all about it for 3 hours, by which time the meat will be tender and the sauce marvellously dark and rich.
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to pick the walnut you need to harvest them before the husk has formed or they will be all woody, interestingly the husk forms on the side of the Walnut that is not attached to the tree by its stem. Just stick one with a stainless needle and check for resistance, if it will pass through then they are still good, if its really hard then you have left it too long. If you pm me to remind me I'll find you a super recipe, it took me ages to find one that works without it all tasting of vinegar, salty and sour. You need to use a sweet pickle with lots of dark brown sugar in it. As for the tree, well no, I don't have my own sadly but there seems to be no shortage of the about around here, I have them on my stalking ground and in gardens near to my own. They are also around quite a few churches, normally in the vicarage gardens, so you could ask about and see idf they will let you take some if you give them a jar or two. I believe the romans planted allot of walnut trees in the uk and the big ones still about are their off springs. I gave a walnut tree to my farther about 10 years ago, it was only about 5ft tall and he's now got at least 50 to a hundred walnuts on it each year, maybe you could plant one. 
