Game mitten

[Zapp]

This is a slight variation on a pressed meat dish which I saw on "two fat ladies"

 

What you end up with is a loaf of meat and stuffing which slices well and is served cold with cold meats, cheese, pickles and crusty bread. I make one mid december and it does me for tea right up to christmas.

 

My amounts are a bit approximate, but you ca judge whats needed once you get your loaf tin.

 

You'll need:

 

A loaf tin

4-5 pigeon breasts

1 egg

Some rabbit (I often use the scrappy bits from the ribcage and upper back/neck area from stews)

a couple of pheasant breasts

liver, heart and kidneys (I use 2 or 3 rabbits worth)

streaky bacon ( a couple of packs)

GOOD sausage meat (waitrose do some cracking mixes)

sage & onion stuffing mix (or any other which fires your imagination)

Redcurrant jelly

Port

Thyme

bay leaves

streaky bacon

chestnuts (if its an xmas mitten)

Salt

Pepper

 

Something which fits into the top of the tin, to be used for pressing. (I have cut a bit of plywood for the purpose)

 

Get your game meat and fry it so it is browned. You can either slice it (reasonably thinly) or cube it (quite small, half an inch dice)

 

Line the tin with bacon, leaving lots to overhang the edges of the tin. The bacon should completely enclose the finished dish.

 

Make up your stuffing (you can make your ow if you are adventurous). Add sausagemeat to the stuffing so that it becomes quite gelatinous (50%/50% works well) Let the mixture cool if you are using a packaged stuffing (very important). Beat the egg and mix it into the stuffngmix. Chop the liver, kidneys and heart finely and add them to the mix. Put in a slug of port (cognac aslo works well, but add less). Put in a heaped teaspoon of redcurrant jelly. Season with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. If you are doing a christmas mitten, take a couple of handfulls of chesnuts, slit them and boil for 5 minutes. Peel them (shell and skin) and then chop or crumble them and add to the mix. Add a good quantity of chopped thyme to the stuffing. Mix all well together.

 

At this point, if you've cubed your game, add it to the mix. If you have cubed the game pile everything into the tin ad pack it down. If the game is cubed, ignore the next paragraph.

 

Now put a layer of the stuffing, about an into the bottom of your tin. Now add a layer of the sliced game (mixed or one at a time). Repeat until the mix reaches the top, remebering to pack each layer down.

 

Once the mix reaches the top of the tin (or slightly over), fold the loose ends of bacon over, adding new rashers until the stuffing is encassed. Now put 2 bay leaves on top of the meat, and cover with a layer of tinfoil, which is tucked under the lip of the tin.

 

Preheat the oven to a moderate heat (gas 5-6 on my non fan gas oven)

 

Now prepare a bain marie, by taking a large roasting tin and placing the filled loaf tin in the middle. Now add boiling water so it comes halfway up the side of the loaf tin.

 

Put the bain marie into the pven and leave for 3 hours.

 

Remove the cooked mitten, andremove the tinfoil. Savour that smell!

 

Now wrap whatever you have decided will fit into the tin for pressing, and wrap it in tinfoil. put it onto the mitten and weight it down to press the meat while it cools. Put the weighted tin onto a plate because a lot of liquid will leach out.

 

Leave until it is completely cool, and then turn it out onto a plate (you may need to use a knife to loosen it)

 

Cover with cling film and then pop into the fridge overnight.

 

You now have a meaty treat which is delicious with pickles (red onion, sppicy mango chutney or ever good old branstons), a hunk of bread, a lump of cheese and a pint of good beer (for me IPA in summer, dark ale or stout in winter). I like to slice it quite thinly.

 

Its great for picknicks or parties, or scoffed by a greedy shooter for supper warming his toes by the fire!

 

Sorry for the gargantuan post, but this recipe is something I do twice a year (I'll be doing one with the product once the fields are harvested, minus the pheasant and chestnuts, and one ready for xmas). I feel that it is well worth the effort!

 

Hope you enjoy it.

 

Pete

 

Edited because I forgot the egg

[henry d]

**" Put the weighted tin onto a plate because a lot of liquid will leach out."**

 

Remember that the jelly is a wonderful thing that will give flavour to stocks/soups and sauces so keep any and scoop off any excess fat

[pin]

henryd: I am guessing not much goes to waste in your house? Not a criticism at all, I am exactly the same.

 

Need to see more of this, given just how much food which is perfectly good gets thrown away these days

 

Zap: any chance of some pics when you make the next one? Sounds Delish!

[henry d]

henryd: I am guessing not much goes to waste in your house? Not a criticism at all, I am exactly the same.

 

Need to see more of this, given just how much food which is perfectly good gets thrown away these days

I hate to see waste.

[Zapp]

henryd: I am guessing not much goes to waste in your house? Not a criticism at all, I am exactly the same.

 

Need to see more of this, given just how much food which is perfectly good gets thrown away these days

 

Zap: any chance of some pics when you make the next one? Sounds Delish!

 

 

Pin

 

If I can get my wife's newfangled plug-into-the-computer-camera to work, I will take a few piccies and post them next time I make one (shouldnt be long now).

 

Z

[pin]

Hehe, modern technology eh?

 

I dunno, I remember when it were all fields, when I were a lad...