12 sleeps to go - Rudolph the red-nosed Reindinner...

So guess what I’m having for dinner this evening. Here’s a little clue: Santa’s sleigh is pulled by them.

Yes, I know but Reindeer is delicious so why are you looking at me like that? It’s not like I’m eating the real Rudolph, or even Dasher, Prancer, or the rest of Santa’s crew. It’s just meat, like lamb and cow and pig. So unless you are a vegetarian hear me out; this is no time for anthropomorphic sentimentality red nose or no red nose.

Reindeer meat is delicious. It has a wonderful taste, a bit like a richer version of venison, and it’s tender, very lean, full of vitamin E and omega-3. So it ticks the ‘good for you’ list. The meat is very, very dark, almost dark brown and Reindeers have been a part of Northern Europe’s diet for hundreds of years. Reindeer is widely eaten in Norway, in the same way that we eat venison. Reindeer’s are sustainable, free-range, and healthy – just the sort of thing that the doctor would order, if only it was on the menu.

Of course the Sami people of Northern Norway eat, wear, sleep on and even breathe Reindeer. Around 15% of the Sami population are involved in the husbandry of this semi-wild creature. They  roam freely all the way up to the Arctic Circle and the Sami people shepherd them from their winter breeding grounds to the spring grazing pastures on the coast - and then back again.

Traditionally the Sami are very long-lived, so if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me.

I bought my Reindeer meat frozen from Lidl. Well done to them I say, although the press have pilloried them for selling it.

Anyway…

 Daube of Reindeer.

Ingredients (serves 4)

600g reindeer meat, cut into cubes

150g sliced bacon

1 chopped carrot

2 sticks of chopped celery

1 chopped onion

2 finely chopped cloves garlic

400ml beef stock

½ bottle red wine

200g sliced button mushrooms

3 juniper berries (if you can get them) lightly crushed

1 bay leaf

2tbsp plain flour

And if you fancy dumplings: 

200g self-raising flour

105g butter

2tbsp chopped thyme

A little water

- Fry the bacon in a little olive oil in a casserole pan

- Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and cook gently until soft

- Remove vegetables from the pan and set to one

- Coat reindeer meat with seasoned flour

- Brown the reindeer meat on a high heat in batches

- Place the vegetables back into the pan, and add the wine, stock, mushrooms, bay leaf and juniper berries (if you found some) and simmer

- Meanwhile, make the dumplings

- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until it looks like fine breadcrumbs

- Add a little water gradually, until you have a firm - but not wet - dough.

- Roll the dough into golf ball-sized balls and place them on the top of the stew

- Cover and cook on a very low heat for 3 hours or until the meat is really tender

I wonder if it's one of Santa's favourites?