Venison consommé: a warming treat

As I go through the stalking season breaking down the animals for home, I get left with a lot of venison bones, which I stockpile in the freezer. Once I have a good amount of bones I make venison stock, to use not only with my sauces but also to make a rich venison consommé that will warm your heart at any meal or even as a Shot on a cold winter’s day between pegs.

The venison consommé can be made and frozen and will keep for ages — just be careful when reheating not to boil it or it will lose its crystal clear appearance. (Read these tips on freezing game.)

Venison consommé with venison fillet dumplings

Ingredients

• 50g each of carrot, celery and onion
• 3 egg whites
• 1kg minced venison neck or shank with no fat
• 2.5 litres double strength stock (½ litre cold and 2 litres hot) – see recipe for venison stock below

For the dumplings

• 150g venison fillet, finely chopped
• 30g Parmesan, grated Chives, chopped Salt and pepper

Method

1. Roughly chop all the vegetables, apart from the onion, then pulse 4 or 5 times in a food processor. Chop the onion very finely by hand and add it to the vegetables.
2. Whisk the egg white until it’s just starting to froth, then add the minced venison and vegetables. Mix together well and season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the cold stock to the venison and vegetables, mix well and allow to stand in the fridge for 20 minutes. This is called a clarification. Put the hot stock into a large pan and add the clarification, mixing well. Stir occasionally until it comes to the boil, then do not stir any more but turn down the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
4. While the soup is cooking, take the finely chopped venison fillet and place it in a bowl with the finely grated parmesan and chopped chives. Mix together well, then roll into even, marble-sized balls.
5. Once the soup is cooked, carefully break the clarification, which has now formed a ‘raft’ on top of the soup in one corner. Without breaking the raft too much, start to remove the crystal-clear liquid carefully with a ladle, passing it through a fine strainer or muslin cloth into another saucepan. If the soup is a little greasy, gently lay a piece of kitchen paper on its surface for two seconds to absorb the grease.
6. Warm the serving bowls and gently warm the soup but do not boil. Drop in the venison dumplings, three into each bowl or cup, followed by the hot soup and serve.

To make venison stock

Ingredients

• 2kg venison bones
• 1kg venison trim (any offcuts)
• 4 large carrots
• 1 large onion
• 2 sticks celery
• sprig of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Water
• Oil

Method

1. Fry or roast the bones and offcuts so that they get a good brown colour.
2. Roughly chop all the veg and fry or roast them with a little oil so that they also get a good brown colour.
3. Place the bones and veg into a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Make sure the bones are covered by at least 5cm of water. Bring to boil, skimming all the time.
4. Once boiled, allow to simmer for 4 to 5 hours, still skimming from time to time.
5. Once cooked, strain and chill the stock. Remove any fat that has solidified on the top, then it is ready to use or freeze.

You might also like to read our countryman’s recipe for bullshot here.