Ingredients

• 50g/1¾oz caster sugar
• 50g/1¾oz distilled vinegar
• 150g/5½oz frozen blackcurrants
• 450g/1lb clear honey
• 450ml/16fl oz red wine vinegar
• 3 carrots
• 3 parsnips
• 1 small swede
• 1 small celeriac
• 1kg/2lb 4oz duck or goose fat
• 6 sprigs lemon thyme
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• fine sea salt
• to taste
• ground white pepper
• to taste
• fine sea salt
• to taste
• 3 thyme sprigs
• leaves picked
• white ground pepper
• to taste
• 50ml/2fl oz double cream
• 175g/6oz unsalted butter
• diced
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• squeeze of lemon
• 150g/5½oz butter
• softened
• 35g/1¼oz garlic
• crushed
• 35g/1¼oz flatleaf parsley
• finely chopped
• 1 savoy cabbage
• shredded
• 2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp juniper berries
• 800g/1lb 12oz Oisin venison loin
• trimmed

Directions

• For the blackcurrant gastrique
• put the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan and cook until it has reduced to a syrup and is golden in colour. Add the frozen blackcurrants and cook until the berries break down. Taste the gastrique
• add more sugar if it is too sour or a little more vinegar if it is too sweet.
• For the honey reduction
• put the honey
• red wine vinegar and 450ml/16fl oz water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer
• cook until it has reduced in volume by two-thirds. Set aside.
• Peel and wash all the root vegetables. Cut all the root vegetables into the same sized chunks. Blanch the carrots and swede briefly.
• Bring the duck fat to a gentle simmer. Wrap the lemon thyme
• garlic and rosemary in a muslin cloth and add to the duck fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Cook the parsnips in the duck fat for 10-15 minutes - they should be cooked through but still retain a bite. Drain the parsnips in a colander and sprinkle with a little seasoning. Once drained
• cool down on a tray so they stop cooking and don’t get mushy. Repeat the same process for all the remaining vegetables.
• When all your vegetables are done and still tepid mix them all gently. Fry the vegetables in a large non-stick pan (the pan should be big enough so that the vegetables do not overlap). When the vegetables start to turn a nice golden colour
• add the honey reduction to glaze.
• For the butter emulsion
• bring 150ml/5fl oz water to the boil. Add the salt
• thyme and pepper. Leave to infuse then add the cream. While the water is still hot
• add the butter and use a hand blender to create an emulsion
• then add the oil and use the hand blender again. Check the seasoning
• balance with a squeeze of lemon juice and pass through a fine sieve. Leave at room temperature.
• For the cabbage
• make a garlic butter. Mix the garlic and parsley with the softened butter. Blanch the cabbage for 1-2 minutes
• then drain. Melt the garlic butter and toss the drained cabbage in it.
• For the venison
• toast the peppercorns and juniper berries in a frying pan (as you would do with seeds) until they release an aroma
• then grind using a spice grinder or in a pestle and mortar. Lightly dust the venison with the ground spices. Sear the venison gently and cook until rare
• leave to rest in a warm place.
• Carve the venison and serve with the honey glazed vegetables and garlic butter cabbage. Drizzle over a little of the emulsion and spoon the blackcurrant gastrique over the venison.