Easy Scottish Venison Meatballs, with Whisky and Mushrooms.

These Scottish Venison Meatballs are so easy to make, and so much better that the shop-bought versions. To go with them I’m making a mushroom and whisky sauce to toss through buttered Tagliatelle.  The dish uses ingredients abundant in the Scottish countryside, perfect for autumntime when a variety of wild mushrooms are available to use.

Of course, it’s great to make at any time of year. And you can change the mushrooms you use according to what’s available to you. If you are making this out of season (as I am) I would recommend you always add the dried morels into the mix.

If the idea of gathering your own dinner attracts you, great. But DON’T just go off and pick whatever takes you fancy, get some tuition first.

Mushroom gathering.

Picking wild mushrooms needs care and experience. A few taste wonderful, a few are ok, and some are extremely dangerous. Before you head out on your own go on a tutored course and ideally have an experience friend with you for the first few trips out. And the golden rule – if you’re not sure, don’t touch it!

If you are keen to learn on how to forage for wild mushrooms, there is a great guide available HERE.

Scottish Venison, one of the best meats to eat.

Don’t be put off this recipe thinking the venison will be strong and earthy, not a bit of it. Been classified as game gives people an image the meat will have an overpowering flavour.

In fact, the meat has flavour, but it’s a more delicate herbaceous, almost nutty flavour. that marries will with red wine, fruits, and mushrooms.

Venison is also one of the heathiest meats to eat. Venison has less intermuscular fat that beef and because of this has less calories wight for weigh. It is high in omega 3 and nutrients and of course in one of few totally natural meats available to us. You can of course also get reared venison, and if you are looking for a more tender cut to sauté or roast it’s a very good product.

Its all about the fat.

The one drawback of venison for a chef is the fat, its quite unpleasant. Because of this if fat is needed in the preparation, beef or pork fat would be added.

To make our meatballs we are adding belly pork to the mix. This will do two things, lighten the mixture, and add in some fat which will improve the texture and flavour in the mouth. It’s quite common in Italy for a cocktail of meats to be used when making meatballs. Most commonly, beef, pork, and gammon.

Venison Meatballs Mix.

• 400 g              minced venison
  250g               minced Pork belly
• 1 slice             stale bread (without crusts)
• 80ml               milk
• 85g                 finely chopped, red onion
• 1tbsp              olive oil
  1                     clove of garlic
• 1/8tsp             ground cinnamon
• 1/4tsp             fennel seeds
• 1                     egg yolk
  1 tbsp             flat parsley (finely chopped)
  ¼ tsp              salt
• black mill pepper
• plain flour to dust the meatballs
• olive oil
  
  
  

The sauce.

• 30g                 unsalted butter
  120g               mixed mushrooms, chestnut, king oyster, shiitake chanterelles, ceps.
• 12g                 dried Morels
  35ml               blended whisky
  120l                beef stock
  80ml               double cream

To serve.

• Buttered Tagliatelle
• Chopped parsley
• Shavings of Parmesan cheese

Preparation, for the Venison Meatballs.

First of all, we need to cook the onion, so many recipes add raw onion into the meat mixture. That should never happen! Peel and finely chop the onion, pop it into a shallow pan and add the 1tbsp of olive oil. Using a mortar and pestle break up the fennel seeds then add them to the pan.

Gently cook the onion in the oil without letting it colour then scrape all the onion our of the pan into a bowl, and let it cool completely. In a second smaller bowl soak the sliced bread in milk until soft.

If you are using the dried Morels, place them in a small container and cover them with boiling water. Put them to one side to use later.

Mixing the meats

Mix the meats together in a large bowl and add the salt and cinnamon. Finely grate the clove of garlic into the bowl and add the cooled, cooked onion.

Lift the bread from the milk, squeeze it out to form a soft ball and add to the meat with the parsley, and egg yolk. Mix to make a smooth mixture then form the mix into balls of roughly 30g. you should make 24 meatballs from the recipe.

Dust the meat balls in flour and place in a tray until all the mixture is used.

Cooking the venison Meatballs.

Heat a shallow pan on the hob and add the 60ml of olive oil. Check the oil is hot by placing a meatball in the pan, if it sizzles in the oil add more meatballs but don’t over crowd the pan. The oil needs to be hot but not smoking, we want to cook the meatballs with a golden-brown crust but without burning the meat. If you can’t get all the meatballs in at once do the cooking in two batches.

As the meat balls are ready remove them and drain well on a tray lined with absorbent paper.

If you don’t want to serve the meatballs straight away, let them cool completely, then cover them and store in the fridge. Do this in the morning, then all you have to do is re-heat the meatballs in the oven while you make the sauce and cook the pasta, easy!

Making the Sauce for the Venison Meatballs.

Use the same pan the meatballs were cooked in. Drain off the excess cooking oil and put the pan over a medium heat.

Add the butter to the pan closely followed by the fresh mushrooms then let them sauté in the for three to four minutes. Now we are ready for the whisky.

Going up in flames.

WARNING! When the whisky hits the pan on the hob there is a likelihood that the alcohol will burst into flames! This should not be a problem as long as you are prepared and expecting it.

If you are cooking on a gas hob its almost certain the alcohol will ignite. It may look good on television, but not such a good idea at home.

Insure there are no flammable materials anywhere close to where you are cooking, and your hob extractor is clean and not full of grease.

If there may be a risk of the whisky igniting, remove the pan far away from the hob before you add the whisky and let the alcohol completely evaporate safely away before returning the pan to the heat. Have the pan lid close to hand and stand well back when adding the whisky.

Finishing the sauce.

Add the stock to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pan with a silicone spatula to lift any flavours into the sauce. Let the pan simmer to reduce the stock by half. While the pan is simmering lift the Morels from the soaking water and give them a squeeze. Check the stem of each one is clean then slice each Morel in half longways and add them to the pan. Decant three quarters of the soaking water into the panto reduce with the stock.

Dried morels can be quite gritty, so by not adding all of the mushroom juice to the pan we can leavy any dirt and grit in the container to be disposed of.

When the stock and mushroom juices have reduced add the cream. Return the meatballs to the pan and coat in the sauce to reheat them. Put the pan on a low heat and pop on the lid to let the flavours blend while you cook the pasta.

Serving the Venison Meatballs.

Take your warm deep plates and nestle the buttered paster into each one. Set the meatballs into the centre of each nest of pasta arranging the mushrooms on top. Divide any remaining sauce around the plates, scatter some chopped parsley and parmesan shaving on top and serve.

Enjoy Life!

John.

© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024