Back in New Zealand and venison wraps

I'm currently back in New Zealand for a holiday and to catch up with people. Thankfully today the weather has decided to play ball and it's a wonderful Wellington day. There is definitely something to the saying that you can't beat Wellington on a good day.

 

 

Since my parents have a farm this means a lot of meat. Much more than I would normally eat and a little bit of the meat and potatoes style of eating.  This includes wild venison. To be honest, venison isn't it something that I'm a big fan of. It's a bit meaty for me. Other people seem to get excited about it but I can take it or leave it. It definitely isn't a meat that I would choose to get at a restaurant.

So when tasked by my mother to cook dinner using venison steak I did have to think hard about what I was going to cook. In the end I opted for wraps because they're delicious, easy, healthy and have the ability to obscure the meatiness with a good marinade and flavourings.

 

Operating in the absence of my normal pantry staples, I did have to get a little imaginative but hey that's when the best combos arise!

 

This is a delicious combination of sweet marinade, subtle taste of the meat, lifted by freshness of the cucumber. Best if you can leave the meat to marinade which does add to the overall time,  but total hands on prep/ cooking time of less than half an hour. 

 

Venison wraps:

 

Ingredients:

• 180gm venison steak
• 2x whole grain wraps
• 7 mushrooms sliced
• One onion finely chopped
• Half an avocado
• Sliced cucumber
• Handful of alfalfa sprouts

 

Marinade:

• 2 tbsp currant jelly (I used black currant but red currant would also work)
• 2 tbsp port
• 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
• A squeeze of lemon
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped

 

Method:

1. Mix together marinade ingredients. Pour over the venison and leave to marinate  for a few hours.
2. Heat fry pan to high heat. Lightly sear the venison steak. Place marinade to one side. Leave venison to rest whilst you prepare the rest of the wrap.
3. Lower heat to medium.  Toss in onions, mushrooms and leftover marinade. Cook until onions and mushrooms are cooked ( about ten mins)
4. Layer slices of avocado and cucumber on to the bottom of a wrap. Slice venison thinly, layer onto wrap and top with mushroom mix and alfala sprouts.
5. Roll the wrap and serve with side salad.