Venison Hand Pies Recipes

VENISON MEAT PIES

Steps:

• Mix the flours and the salt together in a large bowl. Mix the yeast and the warm water in a cup and let hydrate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the lard into the flour with your hands until it looks like a coarse meal.
• Pour the hydrated yeast into the flour and mix well. Knead for 5 minutes, cover in plastic wrap and let rest 1 hour. Meanwhile, mix all the filling ingredients -- except for the lard -- together in a bowl. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• To make the pies, roll the dough into a rough log and slice off 1/3 of it. Now cut each chunk into thirds, so you have 3 small pieces and 3 large pieces. Take out one of the large pieces and keep the rest covered with a damp cloth.
• Roll out the dough into a 6-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Use a bowl or large glass to cut a perfect circle. Put some of the filling into the center of the circle, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Set that dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Do the same thing with the other 2 larger pieces of dough. When you have all three pies set out, press 1 tablespoon of lard or butter onto the center of the filling of each pie.
• To make the tops of the pies, roll out each smaller piece of dough to about the same thickness -- they should be smaller, about 5 inches in diameter. Lay the top on the venison filling.
• Now take up the bottom of the larger piece of dough and attach it to the top piece of dough by pinching and crimping it over. Do this all around the pie to seal it. With a very sharp knife slice vents in the top of the pie.
• Beat the egg with a little water and paint all the pies with it. Bake in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Let the pies rest on a rack for at least 10 minutes before eating. They are good hot, cold or at room temperature.

RICH VENISON PIE RECIPE BY VALENTINE WARNER

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C/Gas 4.
• Heat the dripping in a large, lidded casserole on the hob, add the onions, fry until soft and browned. Turn off the heat, sift the flour and mustard powder into the pot. Stir until you have a thickish onion mix.
• Add the meat and carrots to the onions. Add the ale, sugar, vinegar, nutmeg, thyme and pepper, and both ginger biscuits. Stir once more.
• Cover the contents of the pot with a circle of neatly cut greaseproof and put the lid on, then cook it in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. When the time is up, add a tablespoon of salt.
• Transfer the contents of the casserole to a pie dish . Use a deep dish, as a wide shallow one will have the pie crust drooping in the middle, thus becoming soggy. Turn the temperature of the oven up to 400 F / 200 C/ Gas 6.
• Roll your pastry out to a thickness of about 1/4 inches (7 millimeters) and lay it over the filling. Leave a slight overhang and crimp the edges with a fork. Paint the top of your pie evenly with the beaten egg and milk. This is the time to fashion any pastry motif appropriate to the occasion and place it on top. Prick a hole in the middle of the pastry.
• Cook for 40 to 45 minutes, until the pastry is a rich hazelnut brown. If in doubt, cook a little longer, as pale, soggy pastry is not as pleasing. Sourced from chef Valentine Warner in his excellent book, What to Eat Now .

VENISON HAND PIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour and salt for pastry in a medium bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until coarse. Stir in water with a fork until dough can be pressed into a ball. Divide into 5 equal pieces. Place each piece on plastic wrap, flatten into a disc with your hand, and wrap tightly. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a large rimmed baking sheet.
• Mix eggs and milk together in a small bowl.
• Mix venison, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onion, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.
• Remove pastry from the refrigerator. Roll discs, one at a time, on a lightly floured surface into 6-inch circles.
• Fill the centers of each circle with meat and vegetable mixture and place a dot of butter on top of each. Fold the dough to make a crescent shaped-hand pie and crimp shut with a fork. Cut a small slit in the top of each pie and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle should read 135 degrees F (57 degrees C).

VENISON POT PIE

Steps:

• 1) Preheat oven to 400°F Lightly grease a 9-inch deep pie dish.
• 2) Season venison with salt and pepper. Roll in flour to coat.
• 3) Heat butter in a large skillet over medium. Add venison and brown on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and garlic; cook until softened, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add wine, peas, broth, and Bay leaves; bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over medium-low 20 minutes.
• 4) Transfer mixture to prepared pie dish. Cover with prepared pastry dough and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until top is golden and juices are bubbly.

VENISON POT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate.
• Season venison with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix in flour to coat pieces. Combine egg and milk in a small bowl for egg wash and set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn heat to high and add venison; quickly brown the meat while stirring, making sure not to overbrown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove mixture into a bowl and set aside.
• Make gravy by deglazing the pan with red wine and Worcestershire sauce, scraping the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Reduce until the pan is almost dry, 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add beef broth. Dissolve cornstarch with water in a bowl and pour into the broth, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat; cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery and cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately immerse in ice water for several minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain.
• Combine drained vegetables with venison mixture, corn, and peas in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.
• Line the prepared pie dish with 1 pie crust, trimming edges if needed. Place venison mixture into the pie crust, pour gravy over the top, spread mushrooms over, and cover with the other pie crust. Brush on egg wash and cut vents in the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and you can see filling is bubbling, 45 minutes to 1 hour. If edges of crust are getting too dark, cover edges with aluminum foil until center crust has caught up. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

VENISON AND WILD MUSHROOM PIE

Steps:

• Marinate the venison in the wine, carrots, onion, bay leaf and juniper for 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4 Remove the meat from the marinade (reserve the marinade). Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the drained venison and gently brown. Add the sliced onion, thyme and sugar, reduce the heat and continue to cook slowly until the onion pieces are soft.
• Add the flour and tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Next add the reserved marinade and stir while slowly adding the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the venison is cooked and falling apart, and the sauce is well reduced - 20-25 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and check the seasoning.
• Place the venison mixture in the bottom of the pie dish and allow it to cool. Then top it with the puff pastry, cutting off the excess to leave a 1cm overhang. (A pair of skewers inserted crossways into the pastry will keep it from sagging.) Brush with the egg yolk and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden and the filling is hot. Serve with braised red cabbage and winter salad leaves.

VENISON AND TROTTER PIE

Steps:

• Make the filling: In a heavy-bottomed pot that fits the trotter pieces in a single layer, bring the stock and trotter to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer gently for about 3 hours or until the trotter skin and meat is very tender. Remove trotter pieces and strain the liquid, reserving both the trotters and liquid, separately.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat. Generously season the venison all over with kosher salt and, working in batches, sear the meat on all sides until deep golden brown. Return all meat to the pot, reduce heat to medium and sprinkle the flour over the meat, stirring gently. When flour is slightly brown, add the wine, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the liquid thickens, about 1 minute, then add about 4 cups of the braising liquid from the trotters, so the meat is covered, along with the onion, garlic and herbs. Bring up to a boil, then cover tightly and place in the oven to cook until tender, about 3 hours. Fish out and discard the onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.
• Once the trotter pieces are cool enough, pick off all of the meat, silken tendons and skin from the bones, and discard the bones and any tough bits. Chop trotter meat, tendon and skin roughly and add to the braised venison, along with the potatoes. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary with more salt.
• Make the crust: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and suet and pulse until mixture has a cornmeal-like texture. Slowly stream in a little cold water and continue pulsing, adding water a little at a time until dough comes together; you may not need all the water. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, dusting with flour as needed to avoid sticking. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
• When ready to bake the pie, heat oven to 375 degrees. Put a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie plate on a foil-lined baking tray and stand the marrow bone up in the center of the pan. Spoon all the meat, potato filling and gravy around it. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch round and cut a small cross at the center. Drape dough over the pie plate, pushing the marrow bone right through the center, so it's sticking out. Use scissors to cut excess dough away, leaving at least an inch hanging off the edge all around. Use a fork to press down and crimp the dough where it's touching the edge of the pan, leaving the overhang attached. (It will make a kind of curtain around the the dish.) Generously brush the dough all over with the beaten egg, and bake until the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then season the open top of the marrow bone with a little salt and serve.