Ooooh, can’t you just smell this already? Cinnamon has to be the quintessential aroma of Christmas - and this slow cooked casserole delivers both flavour and aroma. To avoid drowning its delicacy is is wise to choose a light red wine, maybe a pinot noir.

As with other stews, this can be made in advance and either stored in the fridge for a couple of days or frozen. Perfect for retrieval on a day during the holiday period when you really can’t face another hour spent in front of the stove. Red meat stews positively benefit from this treatment - unlike your turkey as it lurches from roast to soup to curry to sandwich... becoming ever more dry and dreaded along the way. Serve this over buttery garlic scented mashed potato.

Ingredients - serves 4

600g diced venison
30g butter
1/2 bottle red wine
2 cinnamon
6 bay leaves
8 prunes
strip of orange peel
8 shallots, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
4 medium carrots, cut into batons
1 tbsp plain flour
salt, pepper

Method

Place the diced venison in a bowl with the red wine, cinnamon sticks, garlic, orange peel and bay leaves, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 160°C

In a casserole, heat half the butter and fry off the shallots and carrot until they begin to brown. Drain the venison, reserving the marinade. Pat the meat dry with paper towel and toss in seasoned flour to coat. Heat the remaining butter in a separate to foaming and brown the meat, in batches if necessary, and remove with a slotted spoon, adding it to the vegetables in the casserole together with the bay leaves, garlic, orange peel and cinnamon sticks from the marinade.

Now place the pan you’ve cooked the meat in over a high heat and pour in the marinade wine, bring to the boil, scraping any meat residue into the sauce, and once incorporated pour into the casserole over the venison and vegetables, add a little water if necessary to scantly cover. Place this over heat to bring back to the boil, add the prunes, cover and transfer to the oven for an hour and a half by which time the venison and vegetables will be delicious, fragrant and tender. Remove cinnamon sticks, peel and bay leaves before serving on warmed plates with buttery mash.