Venison pavé with ice cube potatoes

We watch a lot of hunting programmes on TV and many episodes feature a cooking session. That's the part of the show that I enjoy the most. A little while ago we watched an American series called Dearmeat for dinner and just as the title explained, the hunted... lobsters. Strangely enough, they didn't cook lobsters, but venison. They served the meat with ice cube potatoes.

I know, it sounds crazy and we were watching intently, thinking it may be something that we want to try. They cooked their potato parcel on the bbq, so it may be worth remembering when summer finally knocks on the door. Because it is only spring now and still rather cold, I decided to make an attempt to cook these strange-sounding potatoes in the oven. They said they should take 25-30 minutes, but mine took 50 minutes at 220 degrees.

Were they as amazing as promised on TV? No, they were not, but they had potential. When watching the show, I paid attention to how much seasoning they added and watched every shake of the jar like a hawk. They used regular Everglade seasoning, something I didn't have access to. I did however have a great blend called Grill Brazil. Perhaps Everglade seasoning has an edge on Grill Brazil or we are used to more flavour, because we all agreed that it lacked a little something.

Imagine watching something on TV, thinking it is going to be fabulously glorious when you make it yourself. Take that first bite, taste it and realise that it is average, at best. Disappointing, but you have a plateful and you are hungry. Keep eating and with every bite, it grows on you. At the end of the meal, you realise that it was actually rather nice and with a bit of tweaking, it could be great. That's how they ice cube potatoes were.

No, we didn't only eat potatoes. That would be a boring meal. I served the spuds with venison (muntjac) pavé and corn on the cob, cut off the cob because I can't bear getting the stringy bits stuck in my teeth. All in all, it was a good meal.

1. Prepare the potatoes and an onion.

I used red skin potatoes and left the skin on to prevent them from breaking apart.

2. Place a sheet of tin foil on the mesh part over a baking tray. Place the potatoes onto the sheet, sprinkle over the onion and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and your choice of spice mix. Add a few piece of butter and a handful of ice cubes.

They said on the show that they didn't know why the ice cubes were a good idea, but they guessed they provided steam once they melted. They did however say that the butter was essential.

3. Place another piece of tin foil over the potatoes, fold in the edges to seal the parcel and stab the top sheet a few times. I may have added the sound track from Psycho... No, I didn't. Honestly. That would be all sorts of wrong. Pop the tray into the oven at 220 degrees for half an hour. Check the progress and add more time if needed.

My potatoes took 50 minutes, but the dice were quite big.

4. If you are serving corn on the cob, get them ready for boiling. They need approximately 8 minutes of simmering once the water has reached boiling.

I seasoned with salt, paprika and chilli flakes.

5. Trim and pat the meat dry. 

I tend not to season the meat, but add salt and pepper to the hot oil in the frying pan instead.

6. Brown the meat in the frying pan and place the pieces in an oven tray. Depending on how well done you want it, you need to find out how long to cooking it. When it comes out of the oven, it needs to rest for as long as you have cooked it.

My guide is this: If the piece of meat is as thick as my thumb is long, I cook it in the oven for no more than 5 minutes. If it is as thick as my fist is wide, I cook it for 10 minutes. Incredibly scientific, but it generally works.

7. Check that the potatoes are done.

8. Serve and enjoy.

I used the meat juices from the pan for the gravy and added a little bit of homemade red currant jelly to the plate when serving. It was a classic meat and vegetable dinner.