Please note: this venison needs defrosting for 24 hours in the fridge before cooking. The jus should be microwaved from frozen.

Click here for tips on how to carve and serve your Venison Haunch.

• The cooking times on the packaging are if you’d like this medium, that’s an internal temperature of 57°C if using a food thermometer. It will reach closer to 62°C once rested. For well-done, cook to an internal temperature of at least 75°C.
• Although you should always thoroughly cook poultry, pork and dishes made with minced meat (like burgers or kofta) all the way through, cuts or joints of many meats can be served rare. If in doubt, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website is a wealth of useful information. Remember to always wash your hands after handling raw meat.
• An indulgent wintery roast with a delicious hand-prepared sauce made with red wine, sloe gin, blackberries and juniper berries.
• The venison comes from Ben Rigby Game, a family-run business with 40 years’ experience. For their venison, they work with The Royal Parks and The Forestry Commission to source wild deer from sustainable forests and managed estates.
• Comes with a little card with serving suggestions and helpful cooking tips.

Try it With:

• For a simple supper, carve and serve with spiced potato wedges and a watercress salad.
• It also makes for a great winter roast dinner. Quarter some red onions and halve some carrots lengthways, then sit the venison on top and roast for the recommended cooking times and they’ll be full of flavour. Serve with roasties and Brussels Sprouts.
• And for some serious comfort food, try it with mustard mash and some steamed broccoli.

Wine Paring

• With a rich gamey dish like this, you need an equally rich wine or you will hardly taste it. An Australian Shiraz or Californian Cabernet will work well, especially with that blackberry jus. Or for something very special, try an Amarone.

• Our chefs start by brushing the venison haunch with Dijon mustard, then season it with a spice rub of smoked paprika, thyme, salt, black pepper, light brown sugar and finish with panko breadcrumbs and crispy onions for extra crunch.
• To make the sauce, we reduce Italian red wine and sloe gin with redcurrant jelly, juniper berries and our beef glace to make a rich sauce base.
• We then thicken it and add blackberries for flavour and texture. It is finished with a little butter for some extra richness and shine.