Venison Pie with Wensleydale and Cranberry Mash

We are staying in the lovely North York Moors and following the theme of trying to cook regional dishes I figured you can't get more Yorkshire than a pie, pair it with mashed spuds with Wensleydale cheese and we have a Yorkshire dish. Wensleydale with cranberry goes very well with the venison and makes the mash a bit more interesting, Mrs Larry enjoyed it very much, which is lucky because I made 2 pies and we've got it again later in the week.

Ingredients:

500g Venison rump, chopped into cubes and seasoned
1x Onion, finely diced
200g Smoked bacon lardons
1x Garlic clove, diced or crushed
1x Carrot, peeled, quartered and sliced
1x Celery stick, finely diced
2x tbsp Tomato puree
6x Large white mushrooms, quartered
2x Black pudding slices, diced
1x Beef stock cube
1x tbsp Redcurrant jelly
1/2 Bottle of red wine
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Lard
Cornflour
Shop bought puff pastry
Milk for brushing the pastry

Potatoes
150g Wensleydale with cranberry cheese
A big knob of butter
A glass of milk
1x Small garlic clove, peeled
Dried cranberry's


Method:

1. In a frying pan cook the onion in a little lard for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the lardons and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. In goes the garlic and venison, lightly brown the venison.
4. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for a couple of minutes.
5. Pour in the wine and the balsamic vinegar then stir in the redcurrant jelly.
6. Add the black pudding and crumble in the stock cube then simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. In goes the celery, carrot and mushrooms and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
8. If needed thicken the gravy with a bit of cornflour mixed with water.
9. Pour into your pie dishes.
10. You can skip this step and go straight to 12 if you like. Allow the filling to cool, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
11. The next day top the pie with puff pastry and brush with a little milk. Cover loosely with foil and pop it in the oven on gas mark 5 for 30 minutes.
12. Remove the foil and turn the gas up to 7, the pie is done when the pastry is golden brown.

For the mash:

1. Boil the potatoes and garlic clove until soft.
2. In another saucepan warm the milk then crumble in the cheese, stir until melted.
3. Drain and mash the potatoes then combine with the cheesey milk and butter, season to taste.
4. Serve up with a handful of dried cranberry's on top.