Charcuterie of cured and marinated venison

A Simple array of cured, smoked or brine pickled venison cuts can be transformed into a luxurious plat de charcuterie or anti pasti, served with pickled vegetable for crunch and some baby leaves with the honey heather dressing, transforms a poor man’s dish into something far more superior, and the simplest of dishes to do, served with fresh baked sourdough... sheer elegance

Pickled Vegetables

1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
1 tbsp Root Ginger, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
1 Small Cauliflower, divided into small florets
2 cloves Garlic, peeled
450ml White Wine Vinegar
100g Granulated Cane Sugar
1 tspn Maldon Salt
2 Bay Leaves
1 Red Peppers, deseeded and cut into thin strips
200g Carrot Batons, peeled and cut into batons
200g flageolet, popped and halved

Method

1 Place the vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic in a saucepan along with 400ml water. Heat stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.
2 Place the prepared vegetables and ginger in a non-metallic bowl. Pour over the hot liquid to cover the vegetables, placing a plate on top to keep the vegetables submerged and leave to cool. Ladle into jars and store in the fridge. Drain thoroughly to serve.

Heather Honey Dressing

125ml olive oil
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1½ tbsp heather honey or clear honey
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp white wine or raspberry vinegar

Method

Put olive oil, mustard, honey, mayonnaise and vinegar with some salt and pepper into a blender and whizz until well combined, then set aside.

Celeriac Remoulade

½ celeriac, peeled and grated
1 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Lochnagar whisky to taste

1 For the Remoulade, place the celeriac, lemon juice, mustard, seasoning and parsley into a large bowl.
2 Mix together well and stir in the mayonnaise and whisky. Season to taste.

To Serve

Arrange your smoked venison and salads on a large platter and allow your guests to help themselves.