I wanted a warming casserole for a cold evening, but I didn’t want to use wine in the sauce, because our young daughters where eating with us.   The addition of chocolate and balsamic vinegar gave the casserole the depth of flavour I was after.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Mortimer  Dark Chocolate Powder

500g stewing venison, diced

6 small shallots cut in half

100g of mushrooms, sliced

250ml chicken stock

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 heaped teaspoon soft brown sugar.

1 dessertspoon of balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan and brown the shallots.

Place in a casserole dish.

In the pan brown the venison using the other tablespoon of oil.

Add the stock, vinegar, sugar, and chocolate powder to the venison and bring to the boil.

Pour into the casserole dish, add the mushrooms and season.

Cook in a moderate oven, 140⁰C (120⁰C for a fan oven) for 2 hours.

Serve with jacket potatoes and a green vegetable.

 

Cooks Tips

This is a great recipe if you want to go out for a couple of hours and come back to a perfectly cooked delicious meal. Simply add more vegetables such as carrots or swede to the casserole and cook jacket potatoes on the shelf above.  Nothing more needs to be done!