This chapter is our unadulterated meat-fest, a guide to cooking some great gamey meats like venison and duck (as well as beef) and the perfect accompaniments to go with them. Pop into your local butcher and ask him for some minced venison and we’re pretty sure the next time you go in, he’ll remember your name. While a quality cut of meat can be expensive, the flavor and richness of the meat means it can go a long way in terms of how many you can feed! Prod, poke and feel your steaks and burgers while they’re cooking. The general rule is that the springier your meat, the more it’s cooked. So, super bouncy is going to be well done, nice and soft is going to be rare and in between is, well . . . medium.
The recipes here are all about making meat the star of the show, whether you’re making burgers for friends, a casual Friday night supper of meatballs or the venison “hash stag” as a romantic meal for two.
POP-UP EVENT
STAG PARTY
WHY NOT TRY . . .
We always love a cheeky cocktail at the start of the night—and at the end too! We’ll often have a bottle of vodka infused with fruit in the fridge, which we’ll pull out at the end of a meal to lift everyone out of a food coma! Another alternative is freezing berries or even cordials such as elderflower in ice-cube trays, which you can quickly turn out into a glass of gin. It’s a great way to round off a lovely evening with friends.
TERRY: We followed up our “Hen Party” pop-up the only way we knew how: with a “Stag Party.” We wanted to celebrate meat in all its glory and put together a menu based around venison—dishes such as venison with cherries, a burger with game chips and, to round off the meal, whiskey jellies. The Hen Party tickets were cheap, considering you got a four-course meal with a Bloody Mary thrown in for good measure, and I remember thinking, “Oh god, what if nobody wants to come because we’ve had to put the prices up to cover the cost of the venison?” But they did. I think people were interested as we were doing something different. The food was still playful but a bit refined too.
GEORGE: I remember traveling all around London on the day leading up to the event, picking up various cuts of venison from guys in the back entrances of butchers and kitchens. It was quite an adventure and I remember receiving bemused looks when I rocked up in my chrome Burberry trenchcoat fresh off a photo shoot. For me it was a real moment of my different lives colliding! Then it was back to the kitchen where a mountain of potatoes awaited me, ready for peeling and prepping for the game chips we had on the menu. We had a lot of fun putting the playlist together for the event, paying homage to some of the greatest 70s soul icons, such as Curtis Mayfield and James Brown. For us, Stag Party was about drawing on achingly cool old school glamour with a bit of The Godfather thrown in for good measure!
You can find a link to this playlist at
checkonpresents.co.uk