Felicity Cloake's venison casserole pairs slow-cooked game with prunes and red wine

Felicity Cloake's venison casserole
Overhead photograph of a pot of venison casserole with chunks of meat, leeks and gravy; the image accompanies Cloake's Guardian recipe.

Felicity Cloake's Guardian recipe treats venison as a slow-cooking meat, recommending boned shoulder where available and warning against using saddle, which is too tender for this method. The recipe serves four; the page lists 20 minutes of preparation and 2½ hours of cooking.

The ingredients are 100g streaky bacon; 800g venison, preferably boned shoulder; 2 tbsp neutral oil, or lard or dripping; 2 tbsp plain flour; salt and black pepper; 1 large onion, peeled and chopped; 1 leek, trimmed, washed and chunkily sliced; 1 carrot, coarsely diced; 2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme; 300ml red wine; 8 stoned soft prunes, halved; and 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly or another fruit jelly. Water is added only as needed to mostly cover the meat; Cloake does not specify a fixed amount because it depends on the size of the casserole dish.

Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan), 350°F or gas mark 4. Chop the bacon and cut the venison into large, two-bite pieces if it is not already diced. Heat the fat in a lidded ovenproof casserole over medium-high heat and fry the bacon until it releases its fat and begins to turn golden. Toss the venison with the flour and a good pinch of salt and pepper, then brown it in batches without overcrowding the pan.

Lower the heat to medium-low and soften the onion, leek and carrot with a pinch of salt, adding the thyme near the end. Move the vegetables to the meat bowl, deglaze the pan with a splash of wine, then stir in the prunes and jelly. Return the meat and vegetables, add the remaining wine and enough water to mostly cover, bring to a simmer, cover and bake. The method specifies about two hours if serving immediately, or 90 minutes if making ahead; when ready to serve later, return it to the oven at the same temperature for 30 minutes. Check the seasoning and add a little water if the sauce is too dry. Serve with mashed potatoes and greens.

Cloake says the casserole freezes well and can be made a day or two ahead, but she does not give a storage duration, thawing method or precise water quantity. Marinating is discussed as optional rather than a required step. The page's listed 2½-hour cook time and its method's two-hour immediate-serving instruction are both retained here rather than forced into a single figure.