Recipe: Fire roast Glen Dye venison loin, smoky beans, rainbow chard and charred leek
WORDS BY CAROLINE GLADSTONE
PHOTOS BY RHYS JONES
This is the recipe for the main course from the Seed Store restaurant at Glen Dye in 2025 and it was hugely popular.
It may look a little complex, but actually if you break it down to its component parts, it is straightforward. It is fun to cook the venison over the fire, as that gives the meat a delicious smoky flavour, but it works just as well in the oven.
I have suggested plating it individually, but equally, you can serve the carved meat on top of the beans on a big sharing platter.
1.3kg trimmed venison loin
oil for cooking
salt
For the charred leek dressing
3 large leeks, trimmed top and bottom and cut into halves
220ml extra virgin olive oil
60g capers, chopped
1 large pinch salt
1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
any left-over herbs, chopped finely
For the smoky bean stew
2 onions, peeled and finely diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed with a couple of pinches of salt
2 jars Bold Bean beans, organic white, Queen cannellini or butter
3 tsp fennel seeds
6 thyme sprigs, picked
1 tsp dried oregano
1 jar IOW smoked tomato pesto
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice and zest of 1 ½ lemons
salt and pepper
120g lardons
oil for cooking
sherry vinegar
For the rainbow chard
350g rainbow chard, trimmed
lemon juice and salt to season
Start by making the leek dressing. You can do this ahead of time and keep it in a container in the fridge. Just bring it back to room temperature before you serve, you don’t want it to be fridge cold. Blanch the leeks in salted water for 20-30 minutes until they are soft all the way through but still hold their shape. Drain and set to one side.
Put the leeks onto the grill over the fire, or in a frying pan over a medium heat. Turn regularly to remove any excess moisture. Once they have dried and taken on a bit of char, allow to cool. Run a knife through the leeks – you want to chop them, but not too fine as they will already be very soft.
Add the chopped leeks to the rest of the ingredients, mixing well with a spoon. It should be well bound with a slight texture.
To make the smoky bean stew, heat some olive oil in a heavy pan over a low to medium heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt and soften, making sure they don’t colour, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the fennel seeds, thyme leaves and dried oregano and cook off for a couple of minutes. Add the beans and their stock and stir in the tomato purée until everything is well coated. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until it’s hot through, stir in the olive oil, lemon juice and zest and adjust the seasoning if necessary. While the beans are cooking, fry the lardons in the oil until they are crispy. Deglaze the pan with a splash of vinegar and stir the lardons into the beans, then set to one side. You can make this ahead of time too, just make sure you gently heat the beans through thoroughly before you serve.
Cut off the stems off the chard and put to one side.
Blanch the chard leaves in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and allow to cool.
Finely chop the stems and coat in olive oil. Gently cook in a pan with the lid on, season with salt and lemon juice.
Unless you are cooking over a fire, preheat the oven to 200˚C. Season the venison loin with salt and oil and sear over the flames or in an oven proof frying pan over a high heat on all sides. If you aren’t cooking over a fire, transfer the pan to the oven for about 10 minutes or until an internal temperature of 44˚C is reached. Remove from the heat/oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. When you are ready to carve, place the venison on the hottest part of the fire for a minute to get the surface temperature back up.
Divide the beans between eight plates, and arrange the carved venison on top of the beans. Lay the rainbow chard and chard stems to one side of the beans. Finish with the leek dressing.
