A couple of friends recently gave us some ground venison that they hunted, and told us to make sure to cook it thoroughly. Normally with good meat I make simple burgers so as to let the meat's flavor shine but that was out of the question with wild game, especially deer. I got the idea to use it in shepherd's pie instead of lamb, and decided to call it hunter's pie instead. They call it cottage pie when you put beef in it, so why not change the name again for venison?
I very loosely based the filling on this shepherd's pie one by Sprig and Flours because I liked the idea of putting beer in it. I say loosely because as with much of my cooking, today I was cooking with the ingredients I already had rather than running to get the exact ones the recipe calls for. Different meat, slightly different vegetables, slightly different ratios of vegetables (I had lots of carrot), different beer (Newcastle brown ale instead of stout), no tomato paste, and I just winged the mashed potatoes.
This was my first taste of venison, and it was a bit different from what I expected! I was expecting it to be kind of like beef. It's more like ground pork in terms of color and flavor, but leaner. I'd use it again in something like this.
RECIPE: Shepherd's Pie with Brown Ale Gravy
