Spicy venison tortilla wraps recipe

If you’re bored of venison stew, barbecued venison, and in times of creative desperation, curried venison, try this spicy venison wrap recipe by Tim Maddams for a spicy new twist

Using all that prime venison harvest can see you developing steak fatigue followed swiftly by curry blindness, so try these spicy wraps for a change and make the most of your hard-won harvest.

This simple, quick and easy venison dish is a winner; it’s hard not to eat more than you should, but any leftovers will make excellent lunchbox treats the next day. You can use seamed-out haunch steaks for this recipe or even neck fillets if you like. Alternatively, you could use some coarse minced shoulder, but it will have more texture and I prefer to make a chilli with minced forequarters (more on this in a later issue!). Making the wraps is easy so do give it a go; they are so much nicer than the shop-bought ones once you get the knack for making them, and far cheaper as well.

Venison wrapS, serves 4, preparation and cooking time: 30-45 mins

INGREDIENTS

For the spicy venison

* 500g haunch of venison, sliced

* 2 tsp coriander seeds

* 2 tsp cumin seeds

* 1 tsp caraway seeds

* 1 onion, sliced as thinly as you can manage

* 2 large cloves of garlic, sliced

* 1 hot chilli, finely chopped

* 1 dessertspoon smoked paprika

* 50ml rapeseed oil

For the tortillas

* 250g white spelt flour or plain flour

* 175ml cold water

* 1 tsp of vegetable oil

* a good pinch of salt

Method

Firstly, toast the whole spices in a hot, dry frying pan and crush them lightly in a pestle and mortar. Cut the slices of venison meat into thin strips and place them in a bowl with the onion, garlic, crushed spices, chopped chilli and paprika. Add the oil and leave to marinate for about an hour (you can leave it for longer if you want to, or just cook straight away, but leaving it for an hour or so will really improve the dish).

To make the tortillas

Work the ingredients into a soft but pliable dough and allow it to rest for a few minutes. Separate into four, six or eight similar-sized balls and roll them out very thinly, one at a time. Once the first is rolled out you can cook it in a dry frying pan on a moderate heat. Flip it over when it puffs up and has changed colour – a few brown spots are a good thing. (If they don’t go crunchy while cooking, the pan is not hot enough.) You should be able to roll the next one while the first one cooks and continue like this until they are all ready. Pile them on a warm plate and cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm.

To cook the venison

Simply chuck the marinated venison meat into the still-hot pan you cooked the wraps in and turn the heat up high. Cook for a few minutes and then turn off the heat, allowing the venison another few minutes in the hot pan to finish cooking. Remove the venison to a warmed serving dish.

Serve up the venison and wraps for people to help themselves, with little additions like natural yoghurt, winter leaves, fresh coriander and maybe some grated cheese.