Venison Lancashire Hotpot (Recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the venison steaks into bite size pieces. Any cut of venison will do for this recipe. Just make sure you remove the silvery looking skin and any white veins and fat from your venison. My general rule is that if the meat is tough to cut, it will be tough to chew.

When the cutting is done, melt one stick of salted butter on medium low heat in a large skillet. Then, remove the skillet from the burner and add half of the potatoes to the pan. Toss the potatoes in the butter to make sure they are thoroughly coated.

I have been looking for a recipe that would give me the chance to use these cute little Dutch oven-like dishes I got for a steal. I used them for this Field to Fork, but a regular old Dutch oven will work just as well.Distribute the potatoes as a bottom layer in four dishes. Next, pour the rest of the butter into the bowl with the potatoes and toss to thoroughly coat them. Then let the potatoes sit.

Place skillet back on the burner, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and crank up the heat to high. Once rippling hot, add venison and scatter a pinch of sea salt over the meat. I let the venison get a good sear on one side before stirring and flipping it around in the skillet. Turn the burner dial down to medium heat and then distribute the meat on top of the layer of potatoes into each bowl. On top of the venison, add one small bay leaf.

Leaving the oil and juices in the pan, return the skillet to the stove and add the onion and garlic. I let these cook for about four to five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Next up, add seasoning to the dish. Pour one teaspoon of a rather famous English condiment, Worcestershire sauce, in the pan. Add a half-teaspoon of dried thyme. The last ingredient into the pan – beer!

Many Lancashire hotpot recipes call for either chicken broth or lamb stock to help keep the contents moist. Since this is a pub dish and I wanted to use a liquid that is rather popular in the United States, I chose a micro brew! I selected a summer ale in honor of the Summer Games. I poured the entire contents of one bottle of Big Sky Brewing Co.’s Summer Honey Seasonal Ale into the skillet as a tribute to fellow Montanan Olympic shooter Nick Mowrer.

Turn off the stove and spoon the onions on top of the venison layer. Pour the liquid from the pan into a large measuring cup to make it easier to add the liquid to each bowl. Pour just enough of the beer mixture to cover the meat under the onions. For the final step, layer the remaining butter coated potatoes on top of each dish. Cover them tightly with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for two hours.