Roast venison with fondant potatoes, red cabbage, beetroot jam and hazelnuts

Fiona Andersen

Ingredients

600 g	Venison, denver leg, cut into 4x 150g pieces (Main)
1	Olive oil
½ cup	Hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed and lightly crushed
4 Tbsp	Jam, (beetroot)

Fondant potatoes

80 g	Unsalted butter, softened
4	Agria potatoes, large, washed and cut into 2cm thick rounds (Main)
500 ml	Chicken stock

Red cabbage

50 ml	Olive oil
25 g	Unsalted butter
½	Red cabbages, small, finely sliced (Main)
2 sticks	Cinnamon
1	Bay leaf
½ bottle	Red wine
2	Oranges, cut in half
3 Tbsp	Berry jelly, (blackberry)
¼ cup	Parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200degC. Season venison with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and sear in a very hot heavy based frying pan until nicely coloured on each side.
2. Allow to rest for 5 minutes in a warm place.
3. Heat fondant potatoes (see below) on a baking paper lined oven tray in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Warm the red cabbage (see below) in a small pot. Divide fondant potatoes between 4 plates, top with a large spoonful of red cabbage and scatter with hazelnuts. Carve venison and arrange on top of red cabbage. Serve with a generous spoonful of beetroot jam to finish.

Fondant potatoes

1. Spread butter in an unheated heavy based saucepan. Place potato rounds into the butter and cover with chicken stock. Place a cartouche (a round piece of baking paper) on top and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue to cook until all the stock has reduced and the potatoes start to colour around the edges. The butter will start to colour in the bottom of the pot and will glaze the potatoes.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, use a steel scraper to remove potatoes from the bottom of the pan.

Red cabbage

1. Place olive oil, butter, red cabbage, cinnamon sticks and bay leaf into a heavy based saucepan over a medium to high heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add red wine and oranges and continue to cook for a further 30 minutes until cabbage is soft and juices are reduced. Stir in blackberry jelly and parsley and keep warm until ready to serve.