Living in sussex means we have access to the most amazing produce. Luckily for us we live on the edge of the Ashdown forest which has a high population of Deer that needs to be kept in check so Venison is readiy available in all the farm shops in our area. Once you have tried a venison shank you can never go back to Lamb as it is so lean, this means it produces the most amazing sauce without all the excess fat and melts in your mouth. Paulie has cooked a number of different recipes and we both agreed this is our firm favourite.

Ingredients

• 2 venison shanks or lamb shanks
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries
• 8 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 hot dried chilli
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2cups of diced streaky bacon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 white onions chopped
  
• 8 Garlic cloves chopped
• 1 bottle red wine
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Salt

1. In a Casserole Pot with a lid, put spices and herbs in with the wine and honey. Turn the heat to medium-low.
2. Preheat the oven to 150°c.
3. Pour olive oil into a second pan set over medium heat. Fry the bacon slowly, turning all sides to get crispy. As each piece crispifies, toss it into the pot with the wine. Do not let the wine pot go past a gentle simmer.
4. Next brown the onions and when nearly ready add the garlic for a couple of minutes, then add them all to the pot
5. After this, brown the shanks on all sides; this helps the shank stay together after long cooking.
6. Move the shanks to the wine pot, bone side sticking up.
7. Pour the stock into the frying pan that was used to brown the onions and garlic. Bring to a furious boil and make sure you’scraped everything off the bottom of the pan.
8. Add to the wine pot, mixing in with all the other ingredients. Make sure the shanks are still bone side up.
9. Cover and cook in the oven for 3-4 hours.
10. When the meat is almost falling off the bone, remove it gently and cover with foil.
11. Fish out the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and as many cloves, peppercorns, allspice and juniper berries as you can in a few minutes. It’s OK if you don’t get them all.
12. Puree the sauce in a blender or pass it through a food mill set on a medium setting. It should be thick. Pour over the shanks and serve at once with mashed root veggies and something green