Game Pie for the Whole Family

My friend Andy posted this on Facebook the other day and I pestered him for the recipe.  I think you'll agree that his daughter is one very lucky girl!  So this is Andy's first ever blog post.  I think it's a winner!

Game Pie – serves 2 adults and 1 toddler

Ingredients

- 675g/1½lb mixed game meat such as pheasant, partridge, hare and rabbit, boned

- 225g/8oz venison steak cut into 2.5cm/1in cubes

- 2 tbsp sunflower oil

- 2 red onions, peeled and sliced

- 1 stick celery fine diced

- 2 x carrots peeled and cut into chunks

- 120g/4oz smoked streaky bacon, derinded and chopped

- 120g/4oz chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

- 30g/1oz plain flour

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 orange, zest and juice

- 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly

- 300ml/½ pint chicken stock

- 300ml/½ pint red wine

- 340g/12oz puff pastry

- Salt and pepper

- beaten egg, for glazing

Method

1. Heat a tablespoon of the oil and brown the game and venison in batches until well browned. Keep on one side.

2. Heat the rest of the oil and cook the onions for five minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic, bacon and mushrooms and celery and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes. Season well and stir in the bay leaf, orange zest and juice, redcurrant jelly, stock and wine.

4. Bring to the boil, add the meat and carrots and simmer gently for 50 minutes until the meat is tender. Cool.

5. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

6. Put the meat mixture in a pie dish. Roll out the pastry to make a lid and attach to the dish. Decorate with the pastry trimmings and cut a steam hole in the centre. Glaze with beaten egg.

7. Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and risen and the filling is piping hot.

Andy says “I struggled to get 'game' at our supermarket or even garden store so ended up buying a whole pheasant at asda (only £5 and tastier than the venison steak!) and cutting the raw meat off it. The beauty of this was though that I was able to make stock with the carcas (and freeze two other 300ml portions for another day).  We all ate it and loved it served with mash an peas!  Ps. I'm still not sure about the rights and wrongs of wine in cooking for kids but I'm fairly sure it's all good!”

I'm definitely going to be giving this a go when I get hold of some game myself.  A great place I've found for game is local markets, I have often got whole rabbits that way.  I only wish I had more chance to go to my local cattle market, they have a weekly auction which often includes rabbits, pheasant, even squirrels!  Those of you who are a bit squeemish about it, there is no reason to be.  Game is one of the best and most humane meats to eat.  If it's truly wild game, it's had a fantastic life, it couldn't get more "free range", it's lean, tasty and a great source of iron.  

I've linked this up to naptime creations this week and one ingredient for January (orange).