JARACAL

On Saturday I found a pack of mountain reedbuck meat at the bottom of the freezer. It was mostly shoulder chops and some ribs. I decided to make a venison pie which turned out really light and delicious.

THE MEAT

Boil the meat together with the following ingredients for 5-7 hours until the meat falls from the bone:
- Celery stalk
- Sprig of fresh thyme
- Sprig of fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 carrot
- peppercorns
-clove of garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 2 tablespoons of vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of worchestershire sauce
- 1 clove

Chop up the meat finely and spoon a bit of the liquid over so that it does not dry out.

THE FILLING

1 chopped onion
1 chopped clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of paprika
Salt & pepper to taste
sunflower oil
1.5 cups of cream
2 large potatoes peeled, diced and boiled
1 large carrot peeled, diced and boiled
1 cup of frozen peas and mealies

Fry the onion, garlic, coriander and paprika until the onion is soft
Add the meat and brown
Add the salt & pepper, potatoes, carrots, peas and mealies
Add the cream, stir everything together, simmer for 2 minutes then allow the filling to cool. Do not stir too much as the veggies will become mushy.

THE PIE

puff pastry
milk or eggwash for glazing
pie dish smeared well on the inside with butter/margarine

Line the bottom and side of your dish with puff pastry
Spoon in the pie filling and then place a sheet of puff pastry on top
Brush with eggwash
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Bake the pie for an hour

Thanks Dimitri!

Sounds great. Reminds me of the kudu neck pie that my mom used to make. Will try it sometime.

A question if you don't mind - doesn't the puff pastry at the bottom get soggy?

Cheers

Dimitri, ek dink net jy het die varkspek uitgelaat?

Hi Methos

No, the pastry at the bottom was moist but not soggy. The pastry at the top was light and flaky.

I seem to recall seeing the following on some or other cooking channel so I tried it but I'm not sure if this made the difference to the pastry. After lining the pie dish with the puff pastry I covered it with clingwrap and then put it in the fridge to stay cold. I also made sure that the filing was cool when I put it into the pie and most of the liquid had been absorbed into the meat. I think if you have too much liquid it will most likely make your pastry soggy at the bottom.

This was the best venison pie I have ever made and one of the best I have ever tasted. The taste was light and there was nothing overbearing. I love "meaty" but the veggies gave it a bit of balance, I think. Perhaps it made a difference that I used mountain reedbuck meat which is one of the finest in my opinion. I think it would have turned out just as good if I had used eland, springbok, gemsbok or kudu. I suspect that it might have had a "heavier" / "stronger" flavour and aroma if I had used meat from other species but I still think it would have been good.

PWV wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:47 pm Dimitri, ek dink net jy het die varkspek uitgelaat?

Ek het gedink om biejtie spek in te sit maar die room is ook most "vetterig" toe was ek bang dat dit saam met die spek te vetterig sou wees. Maar dis persoonlike smaak - ek dink hy sal net so mooi werk met die spek ook by.

Die groot toets is altyd die vroumense en kinders. As daar niks oor in hulle borde is dan was hulle of vreeslik honger of hulle het dit baie geniet.

I'm sure if you left out the rosemary and the clove, it would still have been a great pie. I just don't get those 2 spices. LOL

Dit klink nou deksels lekker. Thanks Dimitri

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Dimitri wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:58 pm

PWV wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:47 pm Dimitri, ek dink net jy het die varkspek uitgelaat?

Ek het gedink om biejtie spek in te sit maar die room is ook most "vetterig" toe was ek bang dat dit saam met die spek te vetterig sou wees. Maar dis persoonlike smaak - ek dink hy sal net so mooi werk met die spek ook by.

Die groot toets is altyd die vroumense en kinders. As daar niks oor in hulle borde is dan was hulle of vreeslik honger of hulle het dit baie geniet.

Julle is albei reg maar ook verkeerd!! Gooi 'n lekker vet stukkie skaaprib in!

Of n paar skaapstertjies.