Tom Kerridge's Individual Venison Pies

1. Pour the flour into a large bowl and add the venison cubes. Mix to coat the pieces well, and then season with salt and pepper. 
2. Place a large casserole pan onto a medium to high heat. When hot, add one tablespoon of the oil, and then a third of the venison. Brown the cubes evenly on all sides and then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon onto a tray. 
3. Repeat twice more with the remaining venison until all the meat is browned. Set aside and reserve any flour left in the bowl. 
4. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and when hot, add the shallots and carrots. Cook for 4-5 minutes then add the celery and garlic, cooking for a further 4 minutes until everything has softened. 
5. Stir through the tomato purée and let it cook for 2 minutes before adding the juniper berries. 
6. Next, add the flour that's left in the bowl from coating the venison, and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in the wine and bring up to a simmer then cook until the mixture reduces by half. 
7. Add the venison back into the pan, then pour in the stock. Tie the herbs up together with a piece of string and drop them into the pan, then cover with a lid. 
8. Reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 2 hours and 30 minutes until the meat is meltingly tender. 
9. Remove the herbs, and then add the prunes, chestnuts and parsley to the venison stew and gently mix. 
10. Now divide the stew into four individual pie dishes, filling the dishes almost to the top. As a guide, dishes with a 200ml capacity and 5cm depth work well. Place the filled dishes on a baking tray and set aside to cool. 
11. To make the suet pastry, place the flour, salt, suet and thyme into a large mixing bowl. Season with a liberal amount of black pepper and then add one of the beaten eggs and 200ml of cold water. 
12. Using your hands, mix to combine and form a soft dough. When the pie filling is cool, preheat the oven to 180C fan. Divide the pastry into four equal pieces. 
13. Then roll out each piece into the same shape as, but slightly wider than, each pie dish. This could be a circle, oval or rectangle depending on your pie dishes. 
14. Brush the outside of each of the pastry lids with some of the beaten egg, and then turn over and lie on top of the filled pie dishes, pushing down the edges to create a seal. Trim any excess if you need to. 
15. Brush the top of each pie with more beaten egg and finally sprinkle with a little salt. Cut a small hole into each pie to allow steam to be released during cooking. 
16. Place the pies into the oven and cook for 45-50 minutes or until a deep golden brown. 

Tom's Tip: 

If you don't have individual pie dishes, make one big pie instead. Simply fill a larger pie dish with the venison stew and roll out all the pastry to make one big lid.