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Roast Rack of Venison with Cherry and Clementine Crumb

This venison roast has a zesty clementine and cherry crumb, and tastes delicious with red cabbage and mashed potatoes. Use wild game to make your dinner even more sustainable!

20 minutes prep, 45 minutes, plus resting time cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

25g unsalted butter

3 tbsps rapeseed oil

100g fresh breadcrumbs

3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

50g dried cherries (or dried apricots)

2 x 25g packs fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 clementines, zested

20g pack fresh sage

1-1.5kg Frenched rack of venison, cut in half

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Put a pan on a medium heat, and melt the butter with 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the crumbs and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes, until golden and crisp, stirring the mixture continuously.

Finely chop the cherries (or the apricots) with the flat-leaf parsley, clementine zest and sage. Stir into the crisp crumbs, season and set aside to keep warm.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan over a very high heat. Rub the venison rack with 1 tbsp of the oil and season generously. When the pan is hot, put the remaining oil into the pan, add the meat and brown on all sides until caramelised all over.

Place the venison on a baking tray and place in the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes for medium, or longer if you prefer your deer meat well done. You can test this with a meat thermometer (it should read 60ºC for medium). Remove and place on a warm plate, cover lightly with foil and leave the venison meat to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Once rested, carve the meat between the bones into cutlets and serve with a scattering of the crispy crumbs. Delicious served with red cabbage or roasted carrots.