Recipe of the week: Venison cobbler

If you're a warm blooded male like us then you're probably a fan of your beef, but why not mix things up by trying this tasty venison dish (it's deer, incase you didn't know).

Venison cobbler

The Basics

Venison is a very lean meat, with a much richer taste than beef. Wild venison is only available in the autumn and winter but farmed venison is available all year. Serve with a zero ProPoints value green vegetable, such as broccoli.

• 9 ProPoints per serving
• 52 ProPoints per recipe
• 30mins prep, 1 ¾ hours cooking
• Freezing without the cobbler
• Serves 6

What you need:

• Calorie controlled cooking spray
• 600g (1 lb 5 oz) diced venison
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 300ml (10 fl oz) low alcohol beer
• 600ml (20 fl oz) beef stock
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 300g (10 ½ oz) Chantenay carrots, ends trimmed
• 450g (1lb) celeriac, peeled and cubed
• 300g pack shallots, peeled
• 250g (9oz) flat mushrooms, halved and sliced thickly
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cobbler:

• 200g (7oz) self raising flour, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• A good pinch of mixed herbs
• 15g (1/2 oz) low fat spread
• 150ml (5 fl oz) skimmed milk

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/ 160°C/fan oven 140°C. Heat a large, lidded, non stick flameproof and ovenproof casserole dish and spray with the cooking spray. Fry the meat in batches to brown. Remove from the pan then add the garlic and flour. Stir briefly then pour in the beer, stock, and mustard, stirring all the time until thickened.
2. Add the meat back into the pan, followed by all the vegetables and the bay leaves, then season with black pepper. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours. Check that the meat is tender and if not, cook for a little while longer- generally, venison cooks more quickly than beef.
3. To make the cobbler, mix together the flour, baking powder, herbs and seasoning then rub in the low fat spread. Add the milk and mix to a soft dough with the blade of a round end knife. Lightly dust a clean work surface with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Tip the cobbler mixture out on to the work surface, then roll and stamp out six rounds, about 7cm (2 ¾ inches) each.
4. Remove the casserole dish from the oven, turn the heat up to Gas Mark 7/220°C/fan oven 200°C, and arrange the rounds on top of the stew. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the scones are risen and cooked.

Cook’s tips: The Chantenay carrots look attractive, but if you prefer, you can use ordinary ones, cut into chunky sticks. And if you don’t like the slightly bitter edge that beer brings, you can replace it with stock and use a total of 900ml (1 ½ pints) for the same ProPoints values per serving.

Try this: You might like to use 600g ( 1 lb 5 oz) cubed lean braising steak, instead of the venison, for 8 ProPoints values per serving.