Venison and pear burgers
Minced venison shoulder, combined with some pork to keep it succulent, makes a mean burger. If you have a mincer, choose the meat yourself and put it through the medium (4-5mm) plate. If you don't have one, you can ask your butcher to do the mincing for you.
Prep time: 10 - 15 minutes; cook time: Until heated through
Serves 8:
• ½ tsp juniper berries
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 sage leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp white peppercorns
• 5g/1 tsp sea salt
• 750g venison, coarsely minced
• 250g fatty pork, such as pork belly, minced
• 1 tbsp white wine
• A little rapeseed or olive oil
To serve
• A knob of butter
• 2-3 pears, cored and thickly sliced
• 8 slices of good white bread or rolls, such as sourdough or ciabatta
Directions:
Put the juniper berries, bay leaves, sage, peppercorns and salt into a coffee or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder (or chop the bay leaves very finely, then pound to a powder with the other ingredients using a pestle and mortar). Place the seasoning mixture in a bowl with the meat, add the wine and mix with your hands until well combined. Leave for an hour for the flavours to develop.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan, break off a small piece of the mixture and fry it until cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Don't be tempted to add too much more in the way of spices, as the flavour will develop as the burgers cook - what you're really checking for is saltiness.
Shape the meat into 8 patties about 2cm thick and fry in a lightly oiled, heavy-based frying pan, or barbecue them for 4-5 minutes on each side, until well browned and cooked through. Remove the burgers to a warm plate and rest while you fry the pears.
In the same pan, melt the knob of butter over a medium heat. Once it is foaming, add the pears and cook, turning occasionally, until they start to take on a little colour but still hold their shape.
Serve the burgers on top of thickly sliced bread or inside rolls, topped with the sautéed pears. I like to rub the cut sides of the bread in the pan juices before adding the burger.
Roasted slashed fish with aromatic paste
Chicken, French bean and salad
