… my local town of Louth recently won the coveted title of Britain’s Favourite Market Town by the viewers of BBC’s Countryfile… it’s an honourable award to win and well deserved I feel, as the little town, known locally as the capital of The Lincolnshire Wolds, is a little stuck out on a limb over on the east coast, with no rail links and no major roads it is quite literally on a road to nowhere. Indeed it is thriving with thankfully very few empty shops, many lovely cafes, fine restaurants and pubs, it also claims the most hysterical department store called Eve and Ranshaw which is like something out of a Victoria Wood sketch and as well as a regular weekly market also has a fantastic Farmers Market once a month…
… with classic Victorian and Georgian buildings and little winding, cobbled streets it’s like something out of a Dickensian novel… in fact now that it’s decorated with all it’s twinkling Christmas lights it wouldn’t look out of place as a location for Hollywood production of A Christmas Carol… we may need a sprinkling of snow just to add a touch of sparkle…
venison sausage casserole with liquorice and bramble jelly gravy
it’s at the farmers market that I picked up these glorious venison sausages from the good folk at Lincolnshire Wild Venison as I couldn’t resist their rich but lean and unmistakable flavour… they add something wonderfully sophisticated to the casserole that I thought would be complimented by the liquorice and bramble jelly… you could easily substitute venison for regular pork or beef sausages and use a red currant jelly… it’s the sweetness from the jelly that creates such a delightful gravy… I was inspired to make this by the wonderful Amy Claridge who was Fanny to my Johnnie when we both recently demo-cooked at the Lincoln Christmas Food and Gift Fair…
What a posh sausage casserole. Sounds delish! Did you make the liquorice and bramble jelly yourself? if so come forth with the recipe or let me know how I might get hold of it or something similar it sounds perfect.
THANK YOU! No one listens to me about cooking meat with sweet licorice flavours – my hubby actually shudders whenever I suggest it.
Wow. I would never have thought about using liquorice with venison. I presume that the amount of it used in the jelly must be quite small, because it is a flavour that can easily overpower. I am also a great fan of Farmers' Markets. The quality of produce you get is so much better than mass-produced stuff, and it's often cheaper too.
Venison and brambles or blackberries is a fab combo – I like the idea that the animal may have nibbled at the fruit it is cooked with . . . and the hint of aniseed sounds brilliant. I am sitting here this morning wishing that my laptop had smell-o-vision and then thinking it's a rather long time until lunch!
i'm afraid it's shop bought from a British company called Braken Hill… I could buy you a pot if you like?
you're welcome… always love the combo of liquorice with meat… but funnily not a massive fan of liquorice as a sweet!
This really does sound delicious – I bet it smelt amazing! I'm not a great liquorice fan generally but there's something about this recipe that appeals to me so much, you may have converted me!
Your town looks so pretty and I love the venision casserole, very decadent x
Oh.. that is such a lovely little town. You Brit's get all the cool stuff 🙂
The casserole looks and sounds delicious!
Oh Dom …this looks glorious. We have a lot of venison in the freezer here .. SB came back from his hunt with a 180 lb. buck … that translates to just about ninety pounds of various cuts … the meat bill will be much lower this winter! Is your venison saisage a sweet herb blend or a spicy hot blend?
Dom, this looks incredibly delicious. Love venison sausages but I am very intrigued with the liquorice and bramble jelly… it sounds fab!
Now I need to do some research, having never heard of licorice (our American way of spelling it) and bramble jelly. I would also need to use a more common hunk of meat, venison not being at all available in my environs. What you've done looks ever so much like a cassoulet, a favorite way of mine for a wonderful roast.
Now that's what I call food. Unfortunately, I can't get venison sausage here. I'll have to find a hunter and steal some out of his freezer.
Dom this looks wonderful & as we have pork & caramelised onion sausages (Sainsbury's + their mash) for dinner tonight I am going to roast some chantenay carrots with them Love Mummyx
That reminds me, I never made any bramble and liquorice jelly, I have the recipe saved too. Love your dish, bet it tastes incedible.
What a wonderful dish Dom – I've never used liquorice in cooking but what a great way to use it. I'm sure the delicious dish was a great success!
Great recipe Dom – I don't like liquorice much on it's own (although I do like slightly liquorice flavours like dill, Jersey black butter etc but there you go). I reckpn that would taste lovely, never thought of liquorice and meat! Thanks for posting.
Dom that would be very generous. Hopefully they have an online shop?
Great post! Those recipes that you have are really interesting and exciting! i would like you to share some Christmas recipes for you to share! i am expecting for your next post! Thanks a lot!
mmm I love venison sausages – looks like a great cassserole, and I like the idea of that jelly too.
Ooh what a gorgeous looking supper, loving the sound of that licorice jelly, will look out for something similar at my local farmer's market. We usually get our sausages from the Woburn Estate, amazing venison there. x
Bloody stunning Dom! An absolute stunning recipe and one that I would walk to your place to eat from the Yorkshire wolds! Karen
Oh, this looks like perfect comfort food! Am intrigued by the liquorice and bramble jelly. It sounds simply glorious! 🙂
Looks like an amazing dish! I've never heard of venison sausage! I'll bet it was delicious!