Whole roast fallow venison topside served with potato purée, onions two ways and a full-bodied game sauce – a dish that shows off the best of game cooking.
Fallow venison is prized for its delicate flavour and tender texture, and in this recipe the topside is browned gently and then finished in the oven to keep the meat juicy and full of flavour.
The creamy potato purée and the combination of baked and pickled onions create a lovely interplay of textures and flavours that complements the venison.
The game sauce, reduced with red wine and stock, adds depth and rounds off the dish beautifully.
This recipe is ideal for bigger occasions such as New Year’s Eve or festive dinners, when you want to serve an elegant, flavourful game dish.
Preparation is key
Before you start cooking this lovely dish, it is a very good idea to prepare the different elements so that everything runs smoothly once you get going.
Start by making the pickled onions and the pickled mustard seeds so they can sit in the fridge and develop flavour while you sort out the rest.
Then peel the potatoes and put them in cold water so they are ready to be boiled for the purée.
Halve the onions for the baked onions and put them in an ovenproof dish as described in the recipe, so they are ready to go in the oven too.
Trim the venison topside as well, so it is ready to be browned and put in the oven.
Once all these elements are prepared, the actual cooking will feel far more manageable, and you can focus on bringing everything together.
Whole roast fallow venison topside with potato purée, onions two ways and game sauce
Ingredients
Whole roast fallow venison topside
- 1 fallow venison topside, approx. 1.2 kg
- 50 g butter
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- Oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Baked onions
- 6 onions
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Oil
- A little thyme (optional)
Pickled onions
- 3 shallots – or small red onions
- 100 ml clear (distilled white) vinegar
- 50 ml water
- 50 g sugar
- 5 peppercorns
Pickled mustard seeds
- 30 g yellow mustard seeds
- 75 ml clear (distilled white) vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Game sauce
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 50 g butter
- 300 ml red wine
- 300 ml game stock
- Freshly ground pepper
- Cornflour + water
Potato purée
- 1 kg floury (baking) potatoes
- 140 g butter
- Milk – preferably whole milk
- Salt
Method
Pickled onions
- Halve or quarter the onions, remove the skin and separate the onions into layers, then put them in a small jar.
- Put the vinegar, water, sugar and peppercorns in a saucepan and bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved.
- Pour the brine over the onions, screw on the lid and refrigerate.
Pickled mustard seeds
- Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
- Then turn down to medium heat and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a jar, screw on the lid and refrigerate.
Whole roast fallow venison topside and baked onions
- Trim the joint and season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan with a splash of oil, the garlic and the thyme, and brown the joint well on both sides.
- Place the joint in an ovenproof dish and pour the contents of the pan over it. Insert a meat thermometer into the joint from the side so the tip sits in the centre, and put it in a preheated conventional oven (top and bottom heat) at 160°C.Cook the joint until it reaches a core temperature of 53°C (about 30 minutes), then let it rest for at least 20 minutes. At this temperature you will have a beautifully red piece of meat.If you prefer it more done, simply cook it until it hits 55-56°C – but take care not to overcook it; it should be red/pink.
- Meanwhile, prepare the onions. Halve them crosswise through the middle, between the top and the root, but leave the skin on.
- Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of an ovenproof dish, season with salt and freshly ground pepper – and place the onions cut side down.Feel free to add a little fresh thyme or similar too.
- Bake the onions in the oven alongside the joint until they are completely tender.
Game sauce
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the shallot in it until soft and translucent – season with plenty of freshly ground pepper.
- Pour in the red wine and let it reduce by half over fairly high heat.
- Add the stock and let it reduce by half again, then strain it through a fine-mesh sieve.If there are any juices from the venison in the dish it was cooked in, it is well worth adding them.
- Return the sauce to the hob over medium heat and thicken it with a little cornflour mixed with a little cold water. Add only a little at a time – the sauce should be glossy and glaze-like, not thick.Then leave it over low heat until ready to serve, and adjust the seasoning with more pepper, or a little sugar if you feel it lacks sweetness. Salt should not be necessary.
Potato purée
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Rinse them in plenty of cold water to remove some of the starch, then boil them in unsalted water until tender.
- Press the potatoes through a potato ricer and whisk in the butter with a balloon whisk.
- Adjust the consistency with milk – it should be soft and creamy but not runny – and season with salt.
Plating
- Take the onions and mustard seeds out of the fridge.
- If you like, scorch the cut surface of the baked onions with a kitchen blowtorch, then slip the rings out of the skins.
- Cut the meat into suitable slices.
- Spread a good spoonful of potato purée on each plate and place 2-3 slices of meat alongside.
- Arrange the baked onion rings on the potato purée, top with pickled onions and put a few pickled mustard seeds inside them.
- Pour a couple of spoonfuls of game sauce over, and garnish with a little fresh thyme if you like.
- Serve immediately – ideally with extra freshly ground pepper on top.
Nutrition
Premium
Tusind tak for altid lækre opskrifter 🙂
Bliver SÅ inspireret af at følge dig. Hvor er den smukke tallerken fra, som du bruger på dette billede? Kh Sarah
Hej Sarah
Tusind tak for de søde ord, det gør mig så glad 🙂
Tallerkenen er fra Gurli Elbækgaard – hun laver de fineste ting altså 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna