Venison & red wine ragu

There are so many reasons to cook more wild venison.

First, it’s hugely nutritious, boasting higher protein levels than other red meat sources and more of the hard-to-find minerals zinc and selenium.
It is also very lean, meaning we don’t need to worry about saturated fats. (FYI - I don’t worry about saturated fats.)

Second, it is actually sustainable.
Yes, sustainable red meat exists. Venison is perhaps on top of that list.
The thing with deer in the UK is they don’t have a natural predator. Thanks to this, coupled with an abundant supply of food and the introduction of non-native deer species, we have somehow ended up with a few too many of them on our shores.
Sadly, they love to munch on trees which is damaging woodlands and all the lovely woodland-dwelling species that live in those environments.
In a nutshell, too many deer means fewer trees, which is bad news, so we cull deer each year.
Cue a supply of sustainable, highly nutritious protein.

Last but not least, venison is delicious.
I may be biased but this recipe is super tasty.
Think a rich ragu with chunks of meat that cooks in 30 minutes flat.
In fact, you don’t need to cook venison all that long full stop, thanks to its low fat content.

Top tip: check the recipe notes after the methods section if you aren’t familiar with “chefy” terms.

Ingredients to feed 2

300g of diced wild venison (it’s in many supermarkets now)
1 onion, finely diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
5-6 chestnut mushrooms, roughly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely diced
1 large carrot, blended into a puree (blending the carrot makes a sweeter, thicker sauce)
1 bay leaf
300ml passata
1 glass of good quality red wine. I used an organic Italian Primitivo.
Sea salt and black pepper for seasoning
Any good quality oil for cooking, I used cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Pasta & greens to serve.
I used pappardelle pasta and kale.

Method

1. Add a couple of tablespoon of oil to a large saucepan on a medium-low heat.
2. Pop in your onions & celery immediately and allow them to saute until they are soft. Approximately 10 minutes.
3. Turn the heat up to high.
4. Add the venison and cook for a couple of minutes until it is beginning to colour. You’ll need to give the pan a good stir to stop anything from catching.
5. Pour in the wine and let it cook until almost all of it is gone. It’ll bubble away quickly.
6. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic.
7. Turn the heat down to low, add the carrot puree, bay leaf and passata and season it well with sea salt and black pepper.
8. Let everything bubble away slowly on a low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced and the meat is tender. If the sauce is looking too dry then add a splash of water.
9. Taste the sauce and add more salt & pepper if needed.
10. Serve with pasta and a side of greens.

Recipe Notes

Finely diced onion & celery = the smallest squares you can humanly chop onions & celery into.

Passata is a “sieved” version of chopped tomatoes. Think smoother chopped tomatoes. Available from most supermarkets and usually lives next to chopped tomatoes.

If you need to feed more than 2 people, simply multiply the quantity of ingredients.

Pureeing a raw carrot adds natural sweetness to your ragu. If you can’t be bothered to wash a blender (or don’t have one) then dice the carrot and add it to your pan at the same time as the onions/ celery.

Waldorf(ish) trout, potato and walnut salad

Back in May, I was lucky enough to spend a day trout fishing.
Let’s just say trout fishing isn’t my forte (yet) but it was a beautiful day and in an ode to making the most of it, I took myself on a foraging walk around the lakes.
This Waldorf (ish) salad is a combination of ingredients that could be found in the vicinity of the fishing lake. (Plus some potatoes because carbs are a requirement.)
It’s a beautiful play on flavoursome ingredients that is reminiscent of Waldorf salad, except this version is clearly much better.

On a nutritional note, the salad is fantastic for Omega 3s since both trout and walnuts are great sources of this essential fat. Plus there are tonnes of vitamins, minerals and fibre to boot.
The science links Omega 3s to everything from skin health, cognition to cardiovascular health and much more.
Moral: we aren’t really getting enough Omega 3s and this recipe is a tasty way to capitalise on this much-needed nutrient.

Serves 2 as a lunch or 4 as a starter

Ingredients
2 trout fillets, steamed, poached or roasted
1 crispy lettuce such as little gem or cos, washed and separated into leaves
10 new potatoes/ small potatoes, boiled in salted water until soft then halved
1-2 sticks of celery depending on how much you like them, sliced
1 eating apple, cored and sliced
1 large handful of California Walnuts, 60g approximately
A large handful of a sharp fruit such as gooseberry, blackberry or 1 stick of rhubarb - halve the gooseberry or blackberry or if you opted for rhubarb then finely slice it
2 handfuls of watercress
Sea salt and black pepper to season

For the herby dressing
2 heaped tablespoons of creme fraiche
2 heaped tablespoons of natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon of wholegrain or dijon mustard
Juice of 1/4 of a lemon (optional)
Leaves from 2 sprigs of mint, finely chopped
Leaves from 5 sprigs each of tarragon and dill, roughly chopped
A pinch of sea salt

Method
Get your ingredients ready as per the cooking/ chopping requirements above.
To make the herby dressing, combine all of the ingredients aside from the lemon juice in a small bowl.
Season generously with sea salt.
Taste the dressing. If it needs more acidity then add the lemon juice, if you are happy with it then leave it as is.
To assemble the salad, pop all of your ingredients on a platter and flake the fish over it.
Season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Dot teaspoons of the herby dressing all of the salad.
Enjoy!

Warm Hummus Bowl

Yes, warm hummus as a base for meals is a thing and yes it is super tasty.
Here is why I utterly adore this recipe:
- The warm hummus base provides a good dose of plant-based protein
- You can use up any veggies that are past their best for the topping. Just roast them up.
- It’s a bowl of goodness that’s utterly brimming with nutrients. A friend once described it as ‘you can feel the goodness filling up your body with every mouthful’.
- The price per portion is definitely on the very affordable end of the scale. Aka it is very cheap to make.

Feel free to use shop-bought hummus if you are short on time but I do think it’s worth making the fresh version featured here. The spices used give the homemade version a little something extra.

Ingredients for 2 portions:

For the hummus
1 tin of chickpeas, drained but the water reserved
2 teaspoons of tahini
2 tablespoons of oil (i.e. olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 a teaspoon of cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt & pepper

For the topping
This part is entirely your choice, here is what I went with:
Any vegetables for roasting: I used a mix of red onion, butternut squash and cauliflower
Potatoes - simply cube and boil these then pan fry them using some garlic, paprika, smoked paprika, sea salt and black pepper
Salad veggies: I went with lettuce, parsley & cucumber dressed with olive oil and lemon juice but anything goes
Pickles if they are your thing: I went with some pickled rose petals but only because I was testing this recipe for a retreat and it needed to have something fancy. Pickled beetroot or pickled gherkins will do the trick just as well.
The toppings aim to bring elements of sweetness (roasted veggies & potatoes) and elements of sour (the lemon juice on the salad and the pickles) as well as working with different textures (think crunchy salad and soft potatoes). Aiming for this variety makes everything taste good.

Method:
Roast your veggies & boil some potatoes.
Chop up the salad vegetables.
To make the hummus, put a small saucepan on a medium heat.
Add the oil and sliced garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
Add the cumin seeds and coriander and cook for a further minute. The oil should be very fragrant.
Set the oil aside to cool slightly.
Put the chickpeas, 1/3 of the chickpea water, tahini and lemon juice in a blender.
Season with two very good pinches of sea salt and a generous amount of black pepper.
Pour in the warm oil and spices.
Blend the hummus until it is smooth, adding a bit more of the chickpea water if needed.
Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if required.
Transfer the hummus to a saucepan and gently warm through. You don’t want it to boil, merely to take on some of the heat.
Divide the hummus between two bowls and top it with the roasted veggies, salad and potatoes.
Enjoy!

Berry cheesecake semifreddo(ish)

I have an amazing treat for you.
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of desserts and I’m especially fond of them if they are full of goodness.
This berry cheesecake semifreddo(ish) dessert is just that.
A higher protein treat full of nourishing berries and a base made of oats and seeds. It’s technically healthy enough for breakfast because if we think about it, it’s actually just berries, yogurt and granola. 🤫
In case you aren’t familiar with semifreddo, it’s basically melting ice cream. Semifreddo = half frozen.
Here is how to make it:

Ingredients for 4 generous portions

For the oat base:
25g pumpkin seeds
50g oats
70g Medjool dates, pitted (4-5 dates approximately)
50g of butter or 2 tbsp coconut oil

For the berry yoghurt layer:
250g of full-fat Greek yoghurt or equivalent plant-based yoghurt
150g of berries - I used a mix of frozen strawberries & raspberries
3 tbsp of agave, maple syrup or honey
1 tbsp of lemon juice
I also added a tablespoon of rose syrup but this is entirely optional

Method:
Line a small loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
To make the base, blitz the oats, dates and seeds in a food processor or blender until they resemble crumbs. Transfer to a bowl.
Melt the butter or coconut oil.
Stir the butter or coconut oil into the oaty mix.
Transfer to the lined loaf tin and press it all down to form a base.
To make the berry yoghurt layer, blend all of the ingredients until smooth.
Pour the yoghurt layer over the base and freeze for at least 4 hours.
When you are ready to eat it, remove it from the freezer and allow it to defrost slightly for around 20 minutes before serving.
Slice into generous portions and serve with a few extra fresh berries if desired.

If you like pina colada

Then you’ll enjoy these cooling ice lollies of goodness.
Reality: ice lollies are the easiest thing to make and can be useful in helping you get to that 10-a-day veg & fruit target.
These pina colada(ish) ice lollies were made on a particularly warm day at the Ibiza retreat. In lieu of being in Ibiza, they are a nice cooling treat for warm British days too.
As a bonus, they are full of nutrients.
Here is how to make them:

Ingredients to make approximately 8-10 ice lollies
1 ripe pineapple, the riper the better
4 kale leaves, stems included
1 lime, juice only
Option: 1/2 a tin of coconut milk

Method:
Peel the pineapple and chop it into chunks. No need to remove the core of it, it processes well and contains extra juice.
Wash the kale.
Squeeze or juice the lime.
Either run everything through a juicer or blend everything using a blender and strain through a fine mesh sieve, nut milk bag or muslin cloth.
If you want to add extra pina colada(ish) vibes then incorporate 1/2 a tin of coconut milk.
Divide the juice between ice lolly moulds.
Freeze & enjoy.