November 29th, 2010

Venison Burger with Roasted Parsnip Straws

Finally we found our lunch time niche item for the menu – phew I thought it was never going to happen!! Drum roll please……. It’s the fantastic bang on season Venison Burger!

As I said in previous posts, game does well. I could guess that if we only needed to sell game we would still have done pretty well. Our customers enjoy it and I must say it’s been the best amount of creative fun I could ever have imagined to have in the British Larder kitchen.

We set out to do something for everyone and felt the urge to cater for as many markets and tastes as we possibly can. Sandwiches and burgers, along with a ploughmans and steaks, all grace our lunch time menus, but this recipe is a fairly new one that we only started to serve a week or so ago, and boy oh boy is it doing well! I must say it’s a big “thank you” to Pump Street Bakery for producing these spectacular burger buns. A week ago one of the Pump Street team visited and tweeted about the venison burger; until then we did not really think much of it. The tweet did draw my attention to this humble burger and I started to keep track of its daily sales - now we are selling out every time we put it on the menu, hence me taking serious notice!

I’m sort of fearing for when the game season will end; I’m not sure what the next kind of ingredients will be to inspire us to create something new. Finding that new seasonal niche item almost feels like the impossible task that lies ahead. Having said that, we’ll have to worry about that another day, as right now I’m enjoying the game season too much!

We thought that instead of serving straight forward hand-cut potato chips, we will be a bit more daring and push the seasonal boat out a tad further. These roasted parsnip straws, dusted with a thyme and coriander seed salt, are certainly not your traditional fayre but they do offer something different.

Venison meat is very lean which means that if you use straight minced venison the burger could potentially be very dry. We mix through a bit of pork mince to add a little bit of fat which keeps the venison meat moist and succulent.

Hope you enjoy the game as much as we do!

Venison Burgers

  • 600g venison mince
  • 200g pork mince
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • 1 stick of celery, grated
  • 1tbs olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, roasted and pureed
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1tbs whole grain mustard
  • 1tbs freshly grated horseradish
  • 1 whole free range egg
  • 50g fresh breadcrumbs (preferably sourdough)

Heat a large non-stick frying pan with olive oil and saute the diced onion, grated carrot and celery with seasonig until soft. Do not colour - when the onions turn transparent then it's ready. Leave to cool completely and add the roasted mashed garlic.

Measure all the ingredients including the cooked onion mixture into the bowl of a mixer, attach a dough hook and kneed the meat until all the ingredients are well mixed. I prefer to use a mechanical form of mixing for burgers as it tightens the meat and prevents it from falling apart when cooking.

Test a small amount in a hot pan and taste, adjust the seasoning if needed.

Shape the burgers approximately 175g and compress into a patty shape. Let the burgers rest in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Cook the burgers 5 - 6 mintues on each side in a hot griddle pan, alternativley brown the burger in a hot pan and transfer it to a preheated oven at 200°C and cook for a further 5 - 6 mintues.

Serve the burger patty on a bun with a spoonful of the beetroot relish, slices of tomato and salad leaves. Garnish with home made onion rings and chips of your choice. For this recipe I have chosen roasted parsnip straws.

Roasted Parsnip Straws

  • 1kg whole parsnips, peeled
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2tbs olive oil
  • 2tbs honey
  • 1tbs maldon sea salt
  • 1tsp freshly chopped thyme
  • 1tbs coriander seeds, crushed

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Peel the parsnips and cut them length ways, toss them with the oil and lightly season them with salt and pepper. Roast the parsnips in the preheated oven until tender and golden brown.

While the parships are roasting prepare the salt: Using a pestle and mortar crush the coriander seeds, add the maldon salt and the chopped thyme, and mix.

Once the roasted parsnips are done, drizzle over the honey and season with the thyme and coriander flavoured salt.

Serve immediately.

Beetroot and Red Onion Relish

  • 300g red onions, peeled and finely sliced
  • 350g raw beetroot, peeled and grated
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp dried chilly flakes
  • 30g unsalted butter
  • Maldon sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 100g muscovado sugar
  • 100ml malt vinegar
  • 1tsp chopped thyme

Coarsely grate the peeled raw beetroot and finely slice the red onions.

Heat a medium saucepan with butter and sweat the onions, garlic, chilli flakes and beetroot with seasoning until it starts to caramelise. This should take about 10 - 15 minutes.

Add the sugar and cook until dissolved. Deglaze with the vinegar and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Once the relish is done stir in the chopped thyme, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Transfer the relish into sterilised jars and keep refrigerated until needed. The longer you let the relish mature the better the flavour, however you can use it straight away as it's equally as delicious.

Serves  6


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11 Comments to “Venison Burger with Roasted Parsnip Straws”

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  1. I love this burger (as well as every other meal I’ve had at The British Larder)

    Also a big fan of Pump Street Bakery (and their amazing sourdoughs) so I’m pleased to know you’re using their breads

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