Recipes: Game on for healthy option from ‘wild food’

Valentine is passionate about wild, locally sourced British food and game meat makes a regular appearance on his TV shows and in his recipe books.

He says: “This is healthy, wild meat – the fields, woods and rivers coming to the plate in a wonderful way through the delicious taste of game. There really is something to suit everyone”.

The modern recipes, with a worldwide twist, include a selection of delicious dishes using pheasant, partridge, venison and new for this year – rabbit. Game-to-Eat, now in its 11th year, was set up to encourage more people to cook and enjoy game.

Visit www.gametoeat.co.uk for more recipes and information on when and how to cook with game.

Tandoori Partridge with Naan Bread and Salad

Serves 4

4 oven-ready partridges, lemon wedges, chopped iceberg lettuce, red onion and naan bread to serve

Marinade: 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp turmeric, 1½ tsp ground coriander, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, a good grating of nutmeg, 6 cloves, seeds from 10 cardamom pods, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, 2 tsp flaked sea salt, 1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled, ½ small onion, roughly chopped, 250g full-fat plain yogurt, juice of ½ medium lemon

Put the spices, salt, ginger, garlic and onion in a blender and blitz until as smooth as possible. Turn the paste out into a large bowl then stir in the yoghurt and lemon juice.

Remove the skin from the partridge and cut each bird in half, first along and through the breastbone and then the spine. Score the thighs and breasts lightly several times with a sharp knife.

Drop the halved partridges into the tandoori marinade and turn them over until they are well coated.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least three hours.

About 45 minutes before serving, light a small charcoal barbecue and let the flames die down to hot coals.

Take the tandoori pieces out of the marinade and tap off the excess. Put the birds on the barbecue and cook for five minutes on each side or until the meat is nicely charred but tender (or cook on a griddle).

Serve with lemon wedges, chopped iceberg lettuce, raw sliced red onion and naan bread.

Grilled Venison Chops with Creamed Spinach and Straw Potatoes

Serves 2

4 venison chops or rack, ½ tsp flaked sea salt, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 bag of baby spinach, 1 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for later, 2 heaped tbsp full fat crème fraîche, a good scratch of nutmeg, 1 small clove of garlic (must not be sprouted), salt and pepper, 400g peeled large potatoes, sunflower oil for frying, salt

Wash the spinach thoroughly and drain it in a colander.

Get a pan large enough to take all the spinach and put it on a high heat.

Add 1 tbsp oil and when it is hot, not smoking, chuck in all the spinach. Spit, crackle, sizzle it will go. Stir away, turning the leaves until all are totally collapsed. Remove from the heat.

Press the spinach against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon and tip away all the excess water. Stir the spinach and repeat the process, getting rid of as much water as you can. Put the spinach in a blender.

On top of the spinach flop in one heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche, nutmeg, the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper.

Blitz everything up together until the purée is totally smooth. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Heat up the creamed spinach just before you need it, as if kept on a long slow heat, ticking over, it will lose its fabulous colour.

Peel and very thinly slice the potatoes. Stack the slices and slice them lengthways into matchstick thickness.

Preheat the grill to high, and heat 2 inches of oil in a medium pan to 180ºC.

Season the venison chops with salt and the fennel seeds and rub them all over with the oil.

Place them close under the grill, turning them once until cooked to your preference. I would say ideally they should be pinky rare within after about 4 min on each side. Or seal the rack in a pan and then cook in a hot oven for about 12 min.

Drop the potato slithers in the oil and fry until golden. Stir them occasionally to help them colour evenly.

Remove to kitchen roll to drain and salt generously.

Serve the venison chops with the warmed spinach and tangled chips.

Wild Rabbit Ragu with Penne

Serves 4

1 wild rabbit, all meat cut from bones, 3 tbsp olive oil, 75g cubed smoked pancetta, 1 medium carrot, scrubbed and finely grated, 1 large stick of celery, washed then finely grated, 1 medium onion, finely grated, 3 cloves garlic, finely grated, ¼ tsp dried chilli, 1 tsp dried rosemary, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 4 tbsp tomato purée, one-third tin chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 200ml white wine, 100ml water, 1 thumb-size piece of Parmesan rind, 175g penne pasta, ½ tsp salt, Parmesan cheese

In a medium sized sauté pan heat the olive oil before adding the pancetta, it should sizzle gently when entering the pan. Cook it for five minutes before adding the grated vegetables, stir all together well.

Add the spices and the bay leaf, then cook for a further five min before adding the rabbit with the tomato purée. Stir altogether for a few minutes before adding the remaining ingredients.

Put a lid on the pan and simmer very gently for an hour.

Note: Adding Parmesan rind will give the ragu extra depth of flavour, but remove the rind before serving.

Drop the penne pasta into boiling salted water and cook to your preference.

Drain and mix the penne through the ragu, divide over four plates, adding a good grating of fresh Parmesan should you require it.