Veal-stuffed roasted venison sirloin – by Kalman Kalla

INGREDIENTS

(serves four)

150g strip of veal loin (about 27cm)
100ml sunflower oil
700g venison loin, trimmed of all gristle (about 25cm)
6-8 crushed juniper berries
60g sesame seeds
2tbs flour
1 beaten egg
Salt and pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Season the veal with salt and pepper. Sear in 30ml of oil, taking care to keep it straight. Don't cook through. Transfer to the oven for 12 minutes. Cool. Put into a freezer for 30 minutes.

With a thin-bladed knife, make a tunnel through the centre of the venison. Season with salt, pepper and juniper berries. Brush a little oil on to the veal fillet and thread it through the venison cavity.

Heat 30ml of oil in a pan and sear the venison on all sides. Preheat oven to 90ºC (very low).

Toast the sesame seeds in a pan until nutty. Roll the venison in flour, beaten egg and sesame seeds. Slow-roast to a core temperature of 57ºC (quite rare). The time will depend on the thickness of the joint, but is about 50 minutes.

A good accompaniment for this dish is potato gratin flavoured with thyme, venison and veal demi-glace reduced with Hungarian Merlot and a Tokay mushroom ragoût. To make the ragoût, sauté 60g of sliced onions in 60g of butter. Add 250g of mixed chopped mushrooms (wild and cultivated), sauté, season and stir in some chopped parsley. Season with salt and sweet paprika. Cook out for 10 minutes. In a separate pan, reduce 200ml of Merlot to a glaze and combine with mushrooms. Finish with 150ml of reduced brown veal stock.

Kalman Kalla