Ingredients
For the Bourguignon:
- Fallow Deer
- Carrots
- Onions
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Smoked Bacon
- Bouquet Garni – Thyme and Rosemary
- Plain flour
- Beef and Venison stock
- Pinot Noir
- Brandy
- Sea salt
- Parsley
For the Focaccia Bread:
- Strong white flour
- Rosemary
- White sugar
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Baker’s yeast
- Sea salt
- 1 x large bowl of warm water (2 parts cold – 1 part very hot)
Method
Whole Fallow Deer:
Remove the Shin at the flat joint
Remove the shoulder by cutting underneath the armpit and cutting down.
Debone the Shin and the Shoulder using a Boning knife and cut the meat into large chunks.
Mise en place:
Cut the carrots into chunks and finely chop the onions.
Peel the Shallots.
Take the smoked bacon and cut into big chunks.
The Dredge:
In a bowl, add the Venison. Then cover with sea salt, then a sprinkling of flour and combine.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the Shallots, then add a knob of butter. Once they have some colour, add some white sugar to the pan. After a couple of minutes, transfer the Shallots to the oven at 180C / 356F.
While the Shallots are caramelising, sauté the meat.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the meat, cook until golden brown.
In another pan, add the chopped smoked bacon. Cook until golden and that fat has started to render, then add the Carrots, onion and garlic.
Tip: Chefs toss, angle the pan downwards, then push it forward and back.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add a splash of Brandy and allow the alcohol to evaporate.
Once the meat is starting to brown, add a couple of knobs of butter to help emulsify the meat. Once the butter has melted mix well and then combine the meat with the vegetables. Add a large spoonful of tomato paste and stir through.
Put in the 1/2 Pint of the beef / venison stock and stir through.
In the pan which cooked the meat, add a good amount of red wine, this will deglaze the pan. Then combine this with the Bourguignon mixture – this should be 2/3 wine to 1/3 stock.
Add a Bouquet Garni.
Next, cover the pan with a Cartouche and then cover with two layers of tinfoil.
Add to the oven at 150C / 300F for two and a half hours – 1 hour before the Bourguignon is ready, remove the tinfoil and leave the cartouche in place.
After two and a half hours, remove the pan from the oven and take out the Bouquet Garni. Next, take a small pan and add the cooked Shallots. Add a splash of Brandy and flambé the alcohol off. Leave the shallots to cook for a while longer.
Next, take a ladle’s worth of juice from the middle of the Bourguignon pan and add to the Shallots.
Add some chopped parsley and serve.
Focaccia Bread:
Firstly, sprinkle around an ounce and a half / 40g of the Baker’s Yeast into the warm water. Add in a tablespoon of white sugar and whisk together until cloudy.
Next, in a bowl add 2lbs / 1kilo of strong white flour and a couple of handfuls of sea salt then stir well before adding any of the yeast water.
You must keep the yeast protected from direct contact with the salt otherwise you will not get the correct rise.
Add around half of the yeast and water to the flour and combine, keep adding the yeast water until you have a porridge-like consistency.
Next, flour your work surface and tip out the dough. Sprinkle more flour on top and gently pat it in.
Then using spatulas, gently fold in the dough back into itself, to incorporate the flour.
Cover the mixing bowl with extra virgin olive oil, drop your dough into the bowl upside down then immerse the dough with more extra virgin olive oil.
Keep the bowl covered with a Cartouche, in a warm environment and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.
After an hour, pour some extra virgin olive oil on to a work surface and tip out the risen dough into the oil.
Knock the dough back, by folding the mix onto itself from all four sides.
Oil and oven friendly pan and portion out enough dough and place it into the pan.
Tip: Stippling – press into the dough with your fingertips, down to the base, leaving dimples in the dough. Next pour over more extra virgin olive oil and add some sprigs of Rosemary. Season with sea salt.
Place into the oven at 200C / 392F for around 25 / 30 minutes or until it is golden brown all over.
Once baked, remove from the oven and add a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top of the bread. Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before you cut it.