Back in September 2014 I was a guest at the Dublin Tea and Coffee Festival, the first time it has been in Ireland. It was a huge success. I will definetly be there next year. The minute you walked through the door of the R.D.S. you were hit with the most amazing aroma of exceptional blends of coffee. The place was buzzing, probably from all the caffeine. I myself had 22 different shots of coffee in a 2 and a half hour period. My good pal Raymondo was with me, another coffee fan. And what he doesn’t know about coffee isn’t worth knowing. He even knew that a roaster had left a certain coffee house and started up a new one. It’s in the detail.It’s funny that a paramedic should be become so obsessed with coffee. We are always ready, 24/7, and coffee just makes it that bit easier.

I’ve had the idea for this recipe for nearly twelve months now. Garlic and coffee are not really a match you think of but just try it and you will be amazed at how well they compliment each other. When I got to the festival my goal was to seek out the best coffee that would suit my dish. I was always going to make this dish with venison and the coffee I wanted needed to be strong enough to punch through the game flavour of the rich venison

Stephen Morrissey the 2008 World Barista Champion, an Irish lad, was a guest speaker at the festival. A highlight he spoke about was brewing coffee to LCD Soundsystem, which I like. Coffee with music, see it goes with everything. After his talk I had the chance to have a chat with him. I first heard of Stephen through Tim Ferriss author of the Four Hour Chef http://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ . One of my all time favourite books. I told Stephen my idea for this venison recipe and asked him what type of coffee might work for this dish. He suggessted a Brazilian blend as it would have the strengh and intensity to go with the garlic and game flavours. And so my search began. 22 coffees later I met Sean Conville from Two Spots Coffee http://www.twospotscoffee.ie an Irish roasting company. Sean made me a special Brazilian blend and posted it to my home a few days later. Two Spots are located in Boroimhe Shopping Centre in Swords Co. Dublin just 20 mins drive from our home. Stephen is origanally from Skerries Co. Dublin just 15 mins from Swords. Just meeting these two guys confirmed for me the success of this dish.By keeping everything local. So, with my recently purchased, Breaking Bad coffee syphon, I headed for home to make all this come together.

The only ingredient missing was Bambi. This November I shot a two year old Sika doe to make sure I had the most fresh venison for this dish. I butchered and prepped it myself. Don’t worry she didn’t see me. I now have everything I need to make this happen, apart from time. But who out there with kids has time? Lier. Today was a good day though and here you can see the final creation.

The Ingredients:

2 venison steaks

200g Brazilian coffee

2 full bulbs garlic

1 butternut squash

3 parsnips

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp Golden syrup

220g unsalted butter

1 pinch Maldon sea salt

1 pinch ground white pepper

A splash of milk

Grapeseed oil

The Make:

Make sure your meat is left out at room temperature . Make 500ml of filtered coffee. Add this to a pot and place into it your 2 complete bulbs of garlic. Simmer this until the garlic feels soft to touch. Using a slotted spoon you have to periodically check them until they are done. Once done, set aside in a sieve to drain. Keep coffee aside. Peel butternut squash and parsnips. Chop them into 1 inch pieces. Place them into a plastic bag and pour in Dijon mustard and golden syrup. Tie a knot in the bag. Now massage the veg ensuring an even coating of the mix. Pour the veg into an oven tray and cook in oven at 170C until they brown. Make sure they don’t crisp up. You want to keep them moist. I’d say once they start browning and producing moisture take out. Finish off the veg in a colander and steam them until they are soft enough to mash. I added the veg with 100g of butter and a splash of milk to a food processer to get a smoother mash. Or you could use a food mill. I added and extra bit off Dijon and syrup to the mash with a pinch of ground white pepper and salt for seasoning. Take garlic and sqeeze out each clove into a bowl seperating the peel. Place garlic pulp into a blender with 100g of butter and a splash of coffee. Keep adding coffee until you get the cosistency you like. Heat up some grapeseed oil in a frying pan. When its smoking add the steaks one at a time. Once you get to the stage you like, I prefer medium rare, remove it from the heat and let it rest. Its now time to plate up this dish and eat.

Hope you enjoy it.

This post was inspired by Professor Peter Barham from The Kitchen Cabinet on BBC Radio 4, Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Barham