Serves 6
Prep 45 min
Cook 2½-3 hours
Ingredients
1.5kg venison shoulder, haunch, thick flank or shin
250g dry cured smoked streaky bacon
2 large onions
2 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large carrots
6 plum tomatoes
400ml dry red or white wine
2 bay leaves
Few sprigs of thyme
1 strip dried orange zest
Approx 200ml water
For tapenade/olives and anchovy:
70g pitted dry black olives with herbs
1 garlic clove
4 canned anchovy fillets
1tbsp capers in brine
1tsp smooth Dijon mustard
4 tbsp olive oil
For persillade/garnish:
50g flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
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Method
Heat the oven to 140C/gas mark 1. Cut the venison into 5cm cubes approx 2.5cm thick. Slice across the bacon to make batons. Halve, peel, trim and finely slice the onions. Crack the garlic with your fist and flake away the skin. Heat the oil in a spacious saut? pan and cook the bacon, tossing regularly until the fat runs and crisps. Spread most of the bacon across the base of a large, oven-proof casserole dish. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook until golden. Scoop them out of the pan and scatter over the bacon. Brown the venison in batches over a high heat and pile over the onions as you go. Add the orange zest and carrots, scraped and cut into big pieces.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes. Count to 30, drain, cut out the core in a pointed plug shape, remove the skin and chop. Scatter the tomatoes over the carrots followed by the last of the bacon.
Add the wine to the saut? pan with the bay leaves and thyme. Bring to the boil while stirring. Simmer for a couple of minutes and pour over the daube. Top up with about 200ml water so the contents are just submerged. Bring the daube up to the boil and remove from the heat. Drape greaseproof paper over the top, tucking it down to touch the food. Cover with lid. Cook for two hours. Stir in the tapenade and cook for a further 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the meat, cooking until tender. Serve, or leave overnight, reheat and serve with the persillade.
To make the tapenade, chop anchovies and peel the garlic. Place in the bowl of a food processor with other ingredients. Blitz for at least 1 minute until thick and smooth. To make the persillade, pick the parsley leaves from the stalks and finely chop to make at least 3 tbsp. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Chop the two together to mix thoroughly.