Venison Saddle

An impressive centrepiece for stylish entertaining, venison* saddle comprises of both loins expertly boned by our butchery team and rolled neatly together. With all the characteristically wild flavours that have seen venison gain huge popularity in recent years both in professional and domestic kitchens, this will produce a wonderful roast with relative ease.

Chef Valentine Warner's cooking and serving tips:
"The rolled saddle is the strip loins that sit on top, and run the length of each side, of the removed spine; then doubled up, rolled in their skin and fat then trussed with string. A fabulous cut for roasting and it is a delicious joint perfect for Sunday lunch as an alternative to the likely line up.

Take care to brown the outside before roasting that you achieve its fullness of flavour. The searing should be done relatively fast that the internal meat does not start to cook before entering the oven. This cut of venison should be cooked until the meat is about 53-54°C meaning that it will give you a succulent medium rare result. The leanness of the meat means that higher temperatures are prone to dry it out. Roast slow and low not fast and furious. 170°C would be my go to!

Onions sautéed with butter, a little rosemary and juniper berries until very softened and sweet is the base of a wonderful sauce. Then add a little white wine and a good hit of white wine vinegar. Evaporate before sweetening all with a little sugar. Reduce some chicken stock until all is approaching syrupy and then finish with cream.

Roasted on a barbecue under a lid (that the barbecue acts like an oven) and the flavour of wood smoke is a delicious addition. Eaten with sautéed ceps and crispy potatoes, perhaps fried in duck fat and then tossed with finely chopped raw garlic and fresh parsley is a wonderful accompaniment.

Roasted and sliced with a good salsa verde is a classic and unquestionably satisfying. If using a defrosted venison saddle in spring and I like to make a hedgerow equivalent that would perhaps include, wild garlic, wild chervil, cuckooflowers, wild alexander tops, cleavers, and nettles.

Mushroom sauces with or without cream and perhaps a watercress sauce would be a delicious go to.

Sliced cold and served with dill, pickled fennel, crispy onions, and red currents and dressed with a little oil and sea salt was a memorable salad I once ate in Sweden.

As a very alternative way of cooking I sometimes like to lightly steam it in a pot once the searing has been done. I cook it with a little white wine, a few dots of vinegar and stock, butter, small whole and peeled shallots, seasoned chanterelle mushrooms and quarters of seasoned gem lettuce (added near the end that they don’t overcook). This is very delicate and pleasing."

*Swaledale wild venison live a natural life on the Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire. These slow grown fallow deer are free to roam and forage amongst the bounty of the forest and pastures for a nutrient-rich diet of various grasses, herbs, fruit, nuts, acorns and wildflowers. Swaledale wild venison is lean and tender meat, naturally marbled and with a rich and dense umami flavour. All of our venison is dry-aged for 10-days on the carcass to intensify its gamy character. Venison saddle is Always Fresh Never Frozen®, butchered to order, vacuum packed, and shipped in recyclable packaging to arrive safely insulated and ready to enjoy.  Please note Swaledale Butchers® work in harmony with the life cycle of wild deer, therefore this is a seasonal product only available from early autumn to late winter.