Add the stock and any juices from the cooked venison, and simmer for a few minutes or so until the sauce thickens, then strain through a fine-meshed sieve. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets. Leave to rest on a warm plate to catch the juices.Meanwhile put the marinade in a saucepan and boil it rapidly until it has reduced to about a tablespoon. Retain the marinade.Heat a little vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the fillets for 2-3 minutes on each side for medium rare, or a few minutes longer for medium. Put to one side.Remove the venison from the marinade, pat the fillets dry on some kitchen paper and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return to the saucepan, coarsely mash with a potato masher, add the butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, mixing well. Drain in a colander, leave them to cool for about 15 minutes then rub off the skin with your hands (a pair of rubber gloves is useful protection).

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they are soft to the point of a knife. Otherwise you could replace them with redcurrants or any other small berries – even frozen ones will be fine as they are going into the sauce Beetroot is in season now, too. They should be ripe around now, probably earlier than usual this year. When it is really fresh and young, it can taste a bit too much like beef, so you may wish to marinate it overnight in a few splashes of red wine, with a few crushed juniper berries and some thyme leaves.Elderberries are not normally available in the shops, so you’ll need a nearby tree. You can roast it on the bone, but as the eye of meat is generally so small, a few minutes in a pan is all it really needs.The gaminess of venison depends on how young it is or how long it’s been hung, and it is very much a matter of personal preference. Of course, it’s the most expensive cut too, but it doesn’t take much cooking, once removed from the bone, and it eats (and costs) like the best fillet steak with a little hint of game. Yorkshire Game (01748 810212/ co.uk) supplies caterers and individuals, and sells boxes of 10 birds, by mail order.

Good butchers often have a licence to sell game.Saddle of venison with mashed beetroot and elderberriesServes 4The saddle is the most tender cut of venison (except for the little fillet that lies under the ribcage, which you rarely find except on restaurant menus). It’s just that us chefs are game for anything in season …For further information, lists game suppliers around the country including some who sell by mail order. I hope I’m not jumping the gun by thinking about winter already. Wild rabbits can be bought most of the year round and make a good casserole or soup. The fillets from the saddle make a great addition to a salad with some slices of black pudding and a good mustard vinaigrette.Look out for squab pigeons, which are reared in France and Italy and milk-fed for a delicious, rich liver-like taste that’s almost as good as grouse. You will pay about a fiver-plus each for them compared to about a pound for their humble relatives the wood pigeon, but it’s well worth it.Along with all the game birds arriving over the coming months we can also look forward to some great mushrooms and root vegetables to get us into an autumn and winter mood. I prefer to stick to fishing.Some game is available most of the year.