Spotlight on sausages!

A celebration of the great British banger, 29th October to 4th November is UK Sausage week.  We’re proud to offer a fantastic range of Rothiemurchus beef and venison sausages in our Farm Shop, all 100 % traceable from farm to fork and handmade by our talented in-house butchery team.

Rothiemurchus beef sausages

Top Quality

Our butchery team is made up of Brian and Fraser, who with over 75 years butchery experience between them know a thing or two about what makes a good sausage!  Brian tells us ‘the secret to a great sausage is using high quality meat – just like wine, a good quality one can make the meal.  We pride ourselves on selling beef and venison sausages that are made from 100 % Rothiemurchus meat – nothing is bought in.’

Butcher, Brian Dey

Traceable

Our beef and venison is totally traceable and has very little food miles if any.  Looked after by Farm Manager Alan, our pure-bred fold of Highland Cattle are born and reared here, spending their days grazing the fields in the summer and spending winter in our woods.  The only time the cattle leave the farm is to make the short trip to the abattoir in Grantown on Spey. The carcass comes back to Rothiemurchus to be hung in our chill for 4 weeks before being butchered by our Brian and Fraser who use the beef flank (belly) to make a top-quality sausage.

Alan with our fold of Highland Cattle

Hand made

The venison for our sausages is also sourced from right here on Rothiemurchus.  The process begins with our Head Stalker, Peter who ensures that our deer live peaceful and healthy lives grazing the grasses of our forests and hills before carefully selecting the very best beasts which are handled with great care and respect. According to Peter ‘every stage of the process is meticulous with great attention to detail.’  Our butchers then uses the trim of the prime cuts to make the sausages which are then minced, mixed and linked by hand.

Rothiemurchus venison sausages

Delicious

Once prepared, the sausages go on sale in our Estate Farm Shop where Farm Shop Manager Janet will be only too happy to offer you cooking tips and recipe ideas.  One of Janet’s favourite recipes is Sausage & Bean Casserole.  She says ‘This warming recipe is perfect for the colder months, it works well with both beef and venison sausages and all the ingredients can be found in the Farm Shop.’  Find the recipe below.

All the ingredients you need for a tasty casserole

Sausage & Bean Casserole

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 venison or beef sausages
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 150ml red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 beef stock pot/cube
  • 100ml hot water
  • 2 tbs tomato puree
  • 1 tin butter beans

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the sausages, onion and carrots and fry over a medium heat for around 5 minutes turning the sausages to brown.  Add the garlic and herbs and stir.

Add the wine, bay leaf, hot water and beef stock cube and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes.

Stir in the tomato puree and beans. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the beans are warmed through and the carrots are cooked, then serve.

Where to buy

As well as scrumptious sausages, Rothiemurchus Estate Farm Shop offer a variety of cuts of pure bred Highland beef and velvety forest venison as well as fresh and smoked fish, great seasonal selections of cheese from amazing artisan cheese makers, fresh local seasonal veg, locally roasted coffee, leaf teas, local organic preserves and chutneys as well as fruit drinks and interesting wines, fab chocolate and popcorn, shortbread, oatcakes and cakes and more…  Find us in Rothiemurchus Centre, 5 minutes from Aviemore.

Rothiemurchus Estate Farm Shop