Royal comfort food! The Queen's hearty dinner recipe takes 10 minutes
Even Queen Elizabeth loves comfort food on occasion, and who can blame her? With cold weather outside, nothing quite warms you up like a hearty dinner. And the monarch's go-to is surprisingly easy to cook!
Her Majesty loves both French and British cuisine, with her usual dinner consisting of a combination of meat or fish and vegetables.
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One supper dish that makes a regular appearance on the Queen and Prince Philip's menu is Gaelic steak.
"For a main course she loved game, things like Gaelic steak, fillet steak with a mushroom whisky sauce, especially if we did it with venison," former royal chef Darren McGrady said.
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"For a first course she loved the Gleneagles pâté, which is smoked salmon, trout and mackerel. She loved using ingredients off the estate and so if we had salmon from Balmoral from the River Dee, she'd have that, it was one of her favourites."
The same is likely true of the venison, with the grounds of her Scottish residence offering plenty of deer.
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Her Majesty loves to eat venison for dinner
Royal chefs have not released the monarch's exact recipe, but we bet this easy ten-minute alternative from Rebecca Seal from our archives would be royally-loved – minus the garlic and onion, of course!
Rare seared venison with thyme and red wine (serves two)
Ingredients
2 knobs of butter
¼ small onion, finely chopped
2 venison steaks, if possible cut about 4cm thick
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
250ml red wine
2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
Method
Step 1
Place a frying pan over a high heat. Add a knob of butter and the onion and allow to brown. Pat dry the meat if necessary, then season all over. Add to the pan along with the thyme and rosemary. Cook the meat for six minutes, just three minutes a side (less if the meat is thinly cut or you like it very rare).
Step 2
Remove the meat from the pan, leaving the onion behind, wrap in foil and leave to one side in a warm place.
Step 3
Add the garlic to the pan and cook for one minute, then add the red wine and redcurrant jelly. Let the wine reduce by half and the jelly melt into the sauce.
Step 4
Remove from the heat and add the last knob of butter, mix thoroughly. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a warmed jug and add the chopped parsley. Remove the venison from the foil and cut into 1cm slices, going against the grain of the meat – it should be pink and most inside. Serve straightaway with the red wine sauce. The venison is best enjoyed with Brancott Estate Terrior Series Pinot Noir.
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