Featured on Pasella Lifestyle show on Cooking with Venison

Tastes of the Mediterranean

I was invited by Errieda du Toit, an experienced hand in the kitchen and new twitter friend to be part of a feature on her, by the Afrikaans television programme Pasella, who are old friends to the Food and the Fabulous kitchen (feature on cooking with cheeses, my recipe for Ricotta Double Mushroom Phyllo Pastry tartlets here). We were tasked with cooking with venison and each chose something a little unusual, a  bit of a challenge and at the same time spoke about our activity on twitter and how we experienced the social media medium.

Here’s the feature:

Errideda made a luscious and hearty Guinea fowl burger  with a shiraz onion chutney (that inspired me to make my own version after our cooking session) and Fritz of Real Men Can Cook, my previous Pasella show partner-in-food,  made an elegant Springbok Carpaccio with Rooibos Balsamic Reduction

Guinea fowl burger

Fritz Brand of Real Men Can Cook

Dishes by Errieda (front) Guinea fowl burger and Fritz (back) – springbok carpaccio

I decided to use kudu and make a simple pan grilled loin, coated in spices that reminded me of my recent travels to Turkey.  Substitute this smokey spice with a mixture of steak and chop spice with smoked paprika and rub over the kudu.

I complimented the spiced meat with hummus and tzatziki – flavours of the Mediterranean neighbours, Greece that I had also been to in the same visit. Pile the thinly sliced kudu into a pita or wrap, or lettuce leaves if you’re going no-carb. This spicing would work perfectly with lamb or chicken too and the simple technique of grilling, as you can tell, makes cooking with venison (game) like kudu far from intimidating.

 

 

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 x 200 g kudu loin
1.5 t coriander seeds
1.5 t cumin seeds
3 large cloves garlic
4-5 T olive oil
1 T smokey spice for kebabs or mixture Steak and Chops spics plus smoked paprika
salt, to taste
4 pita breads, toasted
2 cups mixed leaves, washed

hummus and tzatziki to serve

 

Method

Pound cumin and coriander seeds in mortar. Add garlic and crush until it forms a paste.
Add olive oil, smokey spice and salt and mix.
Flatten kudu loin, a tad with your hands.
Coat in the marinade.
Heat griddle pan rubbed over with paper towel to which a a few teaspoons of olive oil is added, to high.
Add kudu and cook for 2 minutes a side, depending on preferred doneness and thickness of loin.
Venison dries out quickly, so rather under than over cook. Medium-rare is perfect for this type of meat.
Allow kudu to rest for a few minutes, while you slice open the pita breads and add leaves and spread hummus.
Slice the kudu fairly thinly, arrange in pita pockets and top with dollops of tzatziki.

Behind the scenes Pasella shoot