Best In Season with Nicholas Balfe - February
Venison & Potato Pie with Glazed Carrots
February calls for something hearty and steadying. Whilst daylight hours are beginning to increase, the cold is barely letting up and I’m still leaning towards dishes that give warmth and comfort, but without excess. This is a moment for confident restraint and dependable cooking, rooted in good produce and sound technique rather than novelty.
Venison fits naturally here. Still at its best as the rest of the game season draws to a close, it rewards slower cooking and thoughtful handling. It’s flavourful without being heavy, and particularly well suited to dishes that benefit from time and patience.
The venison in this case is actually fallow deer, from Sherborne Castle Estate, just across the border in Dorset, managed by our friend David Ogilvie - a landowner and gamekeeper rather than the advertising stalwart who happens to share the same name. The deer are part of a carefully managed estate programme, where culling is an essential part of land stewardship and ecological balance. This isn’t novelty meat or a seasonal flourish, it’s responsible sourcing that makes practical sense and about as sustainable as red meat can reasonably get.
High Time It’s Pie Time
This dish deliberately uses shoulders, shanks and necks - the cuts that don’t find their way onto the more finessed ‘a la carte’ dishes we might serve at the restaurant, but offer at least as much reward when treated properly. They’re economical, full of flavour and a fantastic way to maximise the yield of these noble beasts.
Pie is a perfect format, both for the cut, and for the time of year. The meat is gently braised on the bone until yielding, then left to cool in its liquor so the flavour deepens and every last drop of moisture is retained.
Potatoes play an important role, binding the filling together in place of a flour-based roux. The starches melt into the reduced braising liquor and mingle with the mirepoix and unctuous picked-down meat to give body and minerally depth. Plus a double carb is always welcome at this time of year.
The crust is crucial, of course. Properly crimped and glazed, it’s decorative but functional - sealing, protecting, and delivering that essential contrast between crisp exterior and soft, savoury interior. This is soul food with just the right amount of finesse.
More Than Just a Garnish
The carrots are not an afterthought. They’re treated as a hero in their own right. We’re lucky that one of our local farms, Meadow Lea - where we also source our beef and pink fir potatoes - produces carrots almost year round, storing late crops in the ground until spring.
These carrots are left whole where possible, trimmed, peeled and slowly poached in orange juice with anise, garlic and bay. They soften gently while taking on aromatic sweetness without losing their structure.
Finished by glazing them in a reduction of their own cooking liquor, they become glossy in appearance, and deeply flavoured with sweetness and acidity. We’re not looking for al dente here, we’re aiming for something unashamedly giving, in keeping with the pie filling. This is winter comfort food afterall; embrace it.
Bringing It All Together
The venison is rich and deeply savoury. The filling is cohesive and glossy, bound by the potatoes and reduced braising liquor. The pastry gives structure and crunch, those layers of puff folding beneath, melding into the softer interior.
The carrots bring brightness and balance. A dot of our pickled walnut ketchup adds savoury depth and umami tang, while a lick of jus pulls everything together without overwhelming the dish.
This is a plate built for the long tail of winter. Sturdy and steadying as the cold holds on, but still measured and composed. It reheats well, improves with time, and works naturally for service at scale. This kind of meal isn’t about reinvention; it’s about confident, seasonal cooking with stripped back restraint.
Venison & Potato Pie with Glazed Carrots
Makes 12 servings
Venison Braise
Ingredients
2.5–3kg venison on the bone (shoulder, shank, neck or a combination)
80ml vegetable oil
600g brown onions, medium dice
400g carrots, medium dice
250g celery, medium dice
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
375ml dry red wine
1L brown chicken stock
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the venison generously. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based casserole and brown the meat thoroughly on all sides, working in batches if necessary. Remove and set aside.
Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook gently until softened and lightly coloured. Add the garlic and tomato purée and cook for 2–3 minutes until brick red.
Return the venison to the pan. Add the juniper, bay and thyme, then pour over the red wine and reduce by half. Add enough stock to plus water if necessary to just cover the meat.
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly and cook at 150°C for 3½–4 hours, or until the meat is yielding and pulls easily from the bone.
Assembly
Ingredients
Cooked venison and braising liquor (from above)
1kg floury potatoes, peeled (Maris Piper or similar)
200g unsalted butter or rendered venison fat if available
1.2kg all-butter puff pastry, well chilled
2 egg yolks
Salt
Method
Once cooled, remove the venison from the liquor and pick all meat from the bones, discarding hard sinew and gristle but retaining any soft connective tissue.
Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve and reduce steadily until rich, glossy and deeply savoury, skimming carefully. Fold the reduced liquor back through the picked venison and season to taste. The mixture should be moist and cohesive rather than loose.
Peel the potatoes and cook in well-salted water until completely tender. Drain thoroughly and allow excess steam to escape. Mash while hot with the butter and salt until fairly smooth - some rustic texture is fine.
While still warm, fold the mashed potato through the venison mixture until evenly combined. Chill the filling completely.
Lightly grease a 13-inch loose-bottom pie tin. Roll two-thirds of the puff pastry to 3–4mm thickness and line the tin, leaving a slight overhang.
Fill with the chilled venison and potato mixture and level the surface cleanly.
Roll the remaining pastry for the lid. Lay over the pie, crimp firmly to seal and trim neatly. Chill the assembled pie for at least 30 minutes.
Whisk together the egg yolks and brush evenly over the pastry and lightly score if desired.
Bake at 190°C (fan) for 45–55 minutes, until deeply golden, well risen and hot through.
Rest for 30–40 minutes before removing from the tin.
The pie can be portioned and served warm, or fully chilled, cut and reheated to order.
Glazed Carrots
Ingredients
36 medium carrots (approx. 3 per portion)
1.5L fresh orange juice
6 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
2 star anise
50g unsalted butter
Salt
Method
Trim and peel the carrots, leaving them whole where possible.
Place in a wide pan with the orange juice, garlic, bay and star anise. Season lightly and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook until completely tender but intact. Remove the carrots and set aside.
Reduce the cooking liquor until syrupy. Whisk in the butter and adjust seasoning.
Return the carrots to the glaze and warm gently until evenly coated and glossy.
Service & Finishing
Portion the pie into 12 neat slices once rested or fully chilled.
For service, reheat portions in a moderate oven (160–170°C) until piping hot through, allowing the pastry to crisp without over-colouring. Reheating from chilled gives the cleanest portions and most consistent results.
Warm the glazed carrots gently in their reduction, adding a small knob of butter if needed.
Heat venison jus (or meat gravy) separately and keep hot, but not boiling.
Plating
Place a portion of venison pie slightly off centre on a warm plate.
Arrange the glazed carrots alongside, allowing a little of the glaze to settle naturally.
Spoon venison jus around and lightly over the pie, keeping the pastry largely exposed.
Finish with a small spoon of pickled walnut ketchup — or a pickle or chutney of your choice — placed to the side as a counterpoint.
Serve immediately.
#eatwell #havefun #promisesdelivered