Gill Meller Recipes for Hearty Meat Dinners | Food

Pie with venison (photo above)

Preparation 20 min
cook 4 hours
serves 4

2 dripping soup or olive oil
600-700g shoulder of venison, cut into big cubes
Salt and black pepper
1 large onionpeeled and sliced
200g chestnut mushrooms, halved
4 cloves of garlicpeeled and sliced
4 bay leaves
4 juniper berries
2 strands Rosemary
4 strands thyme
2 flour
Beef, chicken or vegetable broth of 750 ml
1 eggbeaten

For puff pastry
175g unsalted butterchilled and cut into small cubes
350g of plain flour
Pinch of salt
Frozen water
1 eggbeaten, for washing eggs

To make the dough, combine the butter, flour and salt, then add just enough water to make a dough. Form a rectangular shape with your hands and on a well floured surface, unroll in one direction, away from you, to obtain a rectangle of about one centimeter. Fold the two short ends in the middle so that they overlap. Make a quarter turn in the dough and repeat the operation five more times. Wrap the dough in cling film, then leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat oven to 190 ° C (170 ° C fan) / 375F / gas 5. Put a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. Add half of the drops. When it is hot, add the venison (you may have to do it in batches). Season well. Avoid over shaking the pan at this point: you want the meat to caramelize on the outside, so leave it to sizzle for several minutes before turning it over. When it is golden, transfer the meat to a plate.

Add the remaining drops in the pan, then onion, mushrooms, garlic, bay leaf, juniper, rosemary and thyme, as well as seasoning. Cook by stirring regularly for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the onions are softened and the mushrooms have lost their juice. Put venison in the pan, lower the heat and stir in the flour. Cook for two to three minutes, pour the broth and let simmer. Put in the oven with the half-open lid for two and a half to three hours, until the meat is tender and the sauce is thickened. Let it cool down.

Cut the dough into two-thirds and a third. Lower the larger piece and line a slightly greased pie dish (about 1.2 liters). Do not worry if you have a surplus, this is reduced. Pour into the venison juice and the cooking juices, but remove the bay leaves and the stems. Lower the small piece of dough to form a lid. Brush the edges of the base of the dough with a little egg, lay on the lid and crimp the edges. Cut the excess dough. Brush with more eggs and cut a vent at the center of the pie. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes, then serve with mashed potatoes, greenery and English mustard.

Broth of lamb, barley and kale

Preparation 1 hour
cook 3 h 30 min
serves 4

2 hocks of lamb or mutton or mutton
1 onionpeeled and halved
2 big carrotspeeled but left whole
2 stalks of celery, halved
3 cloves of garlicbare
2 bay leaves
6-8 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
75g pearl barleysoaked for one hour and rinsed
1 small bunch of kale, stripped of its stem and coarsely chopped
½ small bunch of parsley, chopped
Salt and black pepper

Put everything except barley, kale and parsley in a large saucepan. Cover with one and a half liters of water and heat. When the boil is soft, lower the heat and leave a lid on the pan, leaving it slightly ajar. Cook for two to three hours, or until meat falls from the bone. Lift all the meat and vegetables from the cooking liquor in a large plate so that it cools.

Pbad the broth through a sieve in a clean pan and remove the excess fat. Put the pan on the heat and add the soaked barley. Simmer and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Add kale and cook a few more minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, cut carrots, celery and onion cooked in small pieces. Grate the mutton meat from the bone. Put the meat and vegetables back in the broth, add the parsley and season to taste. Pour into hot bowls and serve immediately.

Chicken with white beans, rosemary, garlic and sage

Preparation 10 minutes
cook 1 hour 10 min
serves 3

2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlicpeeled and sliced
Zest of ½ lemon
2 strands Rosemary
Salt and black pepper
2 boxes of beans butter or beans, drained and rinsed
300 ml chicken broth or vegetable broth
6 chicken thighs
½ bouquet parsley, chopped
3-4 strands sage, leaves picked and chopped

Heat the oven to 200 ° C (180 ° C fan) / 390 F / gas 6. Put a large pan or roasting pan over medium heat. Add the oil, then the onions and cook stirring regularly until they begin to soften, about eight to ten minutes.

Add garlic, lemon zest and rosemary and season well. Cook for two to three minutes, then add the drained beans and broth.

Season the chicken legs and place in a layer, skin up, in the pan. Simmer gently and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. If the beans are getting a little dry, add a pinch of fresh water.

Take out of the oven and lift the chicken on a plate. With a potato masher, crush the beans a bit so that they begin to contain the broth and juice. Stir in parsley and sage and check for seasoning.

Put the chicken back in the cbaderole and bring it to the table. Serve with a green salad dressed.

Beef stew and stilton dumplings

Preparation 20 min
cook 4 hours
serves 68

For the stew
2 tbsp beef drip or extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 carrotspeeled, halved and thickly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
200g pancetta or bacon, cut into pieces of 3cm or bacon pre-cut
800g Shin of beef, cut and cut into pieces of 4cm
100g of plain flour
Salt and black pepper
1 glbad Red wine
500 ml of beef broth, chicken broth or water

For dumplings
250g of self-raising flour
Salt and black pepper
125g of cold butter
1 small bouquet chive, finely chopped
100g mature stiltonroughly crumbled

Heat oven to 180 ° C (160 ° C fan) / 350F / gas 4. Heat half the drops of oil or oil in a cbaderole over medium heat, then add the onions, celery , carrots, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Sweat the vegetables while stirring for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are tender.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining drops or oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pancetta or bacon until the fat is well rendered. Transfer to the cbaderole leaving the pan on the heat. Mix the beef in the seasoned flour, then add them in batches in batches, then transfer them to the cbaderole as soon as it is well colored. Mix the contents of the pan, then pour the wine and add enough broth or water to cover the pan by two to three centimeters. Season with salt and pepper, simmer, then bake and cook for two and a half to three hours until meat is very tender.

Shortly before the beef is ready, prepare the meatballs. Put the flour in a bowl, season, then grate in the butter. Rub together to form a crumb texture. Add the chives and stilton, and just enough cold water to mix the dough well. Using your hands, form the mixture into 10 round balls. Take the stew out of the oven and remove the lid. Arrange the ravioli evenly over the stew, replace the lid completely and return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and cook another 10-15 minutes, until the meatballs have turned a little color. Serve.