Whole roast fallow venison topside with potato purée, onions two ways and game sauce

Recipe for pink-roasted fallow venison topside served with potato purée, baked and pickled onions and a red wine game sauce.

Course Main course

Cuisine Danish

Nøgleord Fallow deer, Fallow venison, Mashed potatoes, New Year's Eve menu

Total Time 1 30

Servings people

Calories 696kcal

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.