Deer and truffle croqueta with Colonnata lard and king oyster mushrooms. Aged sheep's cheese with truffle.

Deer
Lard (Lardo di Colonnata)
King oyster mushrooms
Sheep’s cheese with truffle
Truffle

I love tapas. It is simple, good convivial food, and croquetas are by far my favourite. The principle of the croqueta can inspire so many wonderful dishes, allowing us to put tasty ingredients together within its crusty envelope.

The stewed deer.
300g of deer steaks, 1 carrot, half an onion, 200ml of beef stock and 50ml of red wine.
Cut the carrot into slices and fry for a few minutes. Cut the deer steaks into half inch squares. Roll in flour and in another pan sear the deer all the way around. Put the deer and the carrots into an oven dish. Pour the wine and the stock into the pan where you seared the deer to absorb the meat juices and then pour it into the oven dish with the deer and carrots. 
Cook at 150°C for a few hours until the meat is really tender. 

The Croquetas (for 12 pieces).
300g of stewed deer, half an onion, 3 tablespoons of oilve oil, 1.5 table spoons of all purpose flour, 250ml of milk.
Take the juices out if the stewed deer and mince the meat in a mixer until it has a very fine texture. Slice the onion and fry on very low heat until transparent. Add the meat mixture and stir into the onions for a minute. Add the flour and cook for a minute. Gradually add the milk until the mixture has totally absorbed the milk and no longer sticks to the pan.
Take off the heat and allow to cool for 10mins.
Mix in 30g of grated truffle and roll it out onto a flat plate until about 5mm thick. Leave to cool and cover with cling film. Leave overnight in the fridge. 
Cut into rectangles and roll into the shape and size of the croquetas. 
Then beat an egg, roll the croqueta in the egg and then roll in fine breadcrumbs. Its now ready to go into the deep fryer.
Deep fry at approx 180°C until golden.

Serving.
Fry the king oyster mushrooms in olive oil with two garlic cloves. Keep turning so they are golden on both sides. Stop when they are becoming soft. Place on the bottom of the plate. Cut some very thin slices of the Colonnata lard and place on top of the mushrooms. 
Add a couple of slices of the truffled sheep’s cheese and top with the croqueta. I finish the dish with some fresh wild garlic leaves.