La Petanque's Venison saddle - braised venison pithivier, parsnip mousseline, beetroot cranberry compote, sauce Grand Veneur Venison saddle or kangaroo fillets - The saddle is the most tender and most flavoursome piece of venison.
Different in flavour but similar in texture Kangaroo fillet can be substituted to create a similar dish.
VENISON Method 180 grams of Venison saddle boned and trimmed per person or 360 gms with bones per person .
Bone and trim your saddle for 2 to 3 days prior allowing time for hanging, making of the pie and the sauce.
Only cook the meat before serving, after all the other ingredients are made and ready.
Pan-fried evenly in a little bit of butter the venison loin rare to medium rare .
allowing 10 minutes of resting in the warmest part of the kitchen.
Overcooking the venison will make the dish point less.
PARSNIP PUR E 200 grams of peeled, chopped parsnip Half an onion 100 ml of chicken stock 1 bay leaf 100 ml of thicken cream 50 grams of butter Method Saut onion without colour, add chopped parsnip, Braise slowly for 3 minutes, add stock, cream and bay leaf.
Simmer until the parsnip is soft enough to puree.
Strain, add butter salt to taste.
BEETROOT AND CRANBERRY COMPOTE 200 grams of cranberry jam 2 large beetroots, Method Wash, season with sea salt and wrap beet in foil.
Roast until cooked through.
Leave to cool then peel and pur ed.
Blend with cranberry jam or sauce and season to taste PITHIVIER Cooked the trimming from your venison saddle like a beef bourguignon.
Prepare a puff pastry pie utilising your cooked venison bourguignon and creamed potatoes.
Stillwater at Crittenden s Famous Hot Chocolate Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Candied Cumquats CHOC PASTRY 2 cups plain flour cup cocoa 180g butter 1 3 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 2tb cream 1tsp vanilla essence tsp salt In a mixer place flour sugar butter, blitz together then add in sugar slowly.
Stop the mixer, add in the rest of the ingredients and blitz until it forms a ball.
Rest for at least hour before use.
FILLING 400g coverture chocolate 400g diced butter Melt together over a water bath 8eggs 8 yolks 400gm sugar Whisk together in a large stainless steel bowl to mix immediately, then cook out sabayon over a low heat until thick ribbon-like.
Fold in choc mix to sabayon and fold in 110g of sifted flour.
Keep in fridge until needed CANDIED CUMQUATS 2 1 sugar syrup cumquats - Boil cumquats 3 times in cold water, discarding the water each time.
After the last time place in hot syrup let it go cold.
Keep them in the syrup until needed Line some greased individual tart moulds with the thinly rolled out pastry blind bake.
When cool spoon in filling until just level with the edge of the pastry.
Cook at 200c for 6 minutes, serve immediately with good quality Vanilla bean ice cream some of the cumquat diced with a little drizzle of the syrup.
- Enjoy, Zac Poulier SAUCE GRAND VENEUR For the marinade makes about 350ml enough for 6 people 500ml red wine, C te du Rh ne, Tempranillo, shiraz 100ml sherry vinegar 30ml Cognac 40g diced onion 20g diced carrot 20g diced leek 4 bay leaves 6 juniper berries Sprigs fresh thyme Parsley stalks bones from the saddle of venison For the sauce...
40ml sunflower oil 50g diced onion, carrot, leek 1 sprig elderberries 50g fresh tomato pur e or about 20g tinned 1tsp green peppercorns 1 heaped teaspoon redcurrant jelly 6 juniper berries 30-40ml about 3tbs double cream Salt METHOD Put all the marinade ingredients in a container so that the pieces of venison are completely immersed.
Refrigerate for 24 hrs.
Take the bones and venison trimmings out of the marinade.
Strain the marinade through a hair sieve into a clean pan.
Bring to the boil.
Skim thoroughly.
Leave to reduce on the side of the range for not more than 30 minutes.
There should be about 400ml of liquid left.
Heat the oil in a sauteuse or similar pan, almost to smoking point.
Add the bones, venison trimmings and diced vegetables.
Brown thoroughly on all sides.
Make sure the bones and meat sufficiently colored.
Add the tomato pur e.
Mix it thoroughly with the meat, scraping any sediment off the bottom of the pan so that it doesn't burn.
Add the elderberries and peppercorns.
Strain the cooked marinade over the bones.
Bring to the boil and leave to reduce at simmering point for about 20 minutes.
The pieces of hare are actually cooking in the liquor and transferring their flavour to it.
Through a fine-meshed chinois or sieve, strain the liquor into a clean pan.
Don't press the solids bones, meat, vegetable debris or the shine on the sauce won't be as bright.
Add the redcurrant jelly and juniper berries.
Boil until thoroughly dissolved.
Add the cream, bring back to the boil.
Taste for salt, but don't add any more pepper.
The sauce is cooked now.
It shouldn't be boiled again, but is not ready to serve - it needs to settle first.
Two things happen.
One, it develops extra body, not so much thickening as gaining a more velvety texture.
Two, the flavours amalgamate better - like a wine that has been left to breathe.
When served, the sauce should not be boiling hot.
If it's kept at bain-marie temperature and spooned on to a hot plate, it will be an ideal temperature when eaten.
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