Stuffed roasted saddle of venison with spiced red cabbage and port sauce

Method

1. First, prepare the spiced red cabbage. In a heavy saucepan, fry the red cabbage, onion and apple in butter for 5 minutes. Add the juniper berries, vinegar, sugar and cinnamon, cover and cook over a low heat for 90 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas 6. Mix the sausagemeat, onion, sage, rosemary, garlic, redcurrants and mustard together in a bowl. Roll the sausagemeat mixture out into a long sausage.

3. Place this sausage down the middle between the two fillets of venison. Wrap the flaps of venison around the fillets and tie with string every 5cm or so. Rub with goose fat, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with the chopped thyme.

4. Heat a roasting tray on the hob until hot. Add the venison and sear on all sides. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove and rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

5. To make the port sauce, simply combine the port and stock in a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by two-thirds. Finish by adding the redcurrants and whisking in the butter.

6. Carve the venison into 1cm-thick slices and serve on a bed of spiced red cabbage, spooning plenty of port sauce around the meat.