Deer Stalker Pie

 

 

 2-3 cups cooked venison (or beef)                 

2 onions, chopped                                          

Butter                                                             

¼ cup red wine                                             

2 cups mashed potatoes

 

Cube meat and place in a baking dish. Fry bacon, crumble it, and add to meat. Cook onions and carrots in bacon fat over medium heat until onions are soft. Add to meat.

 

Mix red wine with gravy and pour over meat mixture. Cover mixture with a layer of mashed potatoes, leaving an opening in the center. Dot with butter. Bake in a Dutch oven or home oven set to 350F until top is browned, 25-30 minutes.

 

Celery Gravy:

 

1 cup brown stock                                           ½ cup celery, sliced thin

2 tbls onion, chopped                                      2 tbls butter, divided

1 tsp nutmeg                                                   1 tbls mushroom ketchup

¼ cup red wine                                               Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbls flour

 

Sauté the onion and celery in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. Stir in the nutmeg, ketchup, wine, salt, pepper and stock.

 

In a separate saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Stir in the flour and let cook a minute or two, stirring. Slowly pour in the liquid, stirring constantly. Let thicken slightly.

 

 

 

The basic technique is to make a ragout and top it with mashed potatoes. Although many people generically use "Shepherd's Pie" to describe this, there are technical differences.

 

When made with lamb, it is a Shepherd's Pie.

 

When made with other meats it is a Cottage Pie.

 

In parts of the upper Midwest, when made with venison, they call it a Deerstalker Pie, and I picked up that usage from there. But most cooks would call it a Cottage Pie when made with venison or other game.

 

In the U.S., this same approach, used with a pastry, is called a "Pot Pie." Depending on where and how you learned to make it, there may or may not be a bottom crust.

 

During the 18th century, most savory pies were made only with a top crust, and I follow that method when making pot pies.