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Cervena Loin of Venison with Smoked Beets, Clove Gelée and
Black Pepper Gastrique
Yield: 4 servings
Smoked Beets
8 ounces beets
2 teaspoons blended olive oil, sea salt and black pepper
Clove Gelée
1 cup spring water
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cloves
1½ grams agar agar powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
Black Pepper Gastrique Sauce
1 cup Game Sauce, made with venison bones and fortified with venison
scraps
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon black pepper, coarsely chopped by hand
Venison
1 venison haunch, boned
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons shallot, minced, sel-gris, Brittany sea salt to taste
Blended olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Swiss Chard in Cauliflower Cream
1 pound Swiss chard, center ribs removed
2 teaspoons blended olive oil
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Garbure, see recipe, for braising Swiss chard
4 ounces cauliflower florets, cooked until tender in boiling salted
water
2 ounces heavy cream
Heat an oven to 350°F. Roast scrubbed beets in their jackets,
lightly tossed with olive oil and seasoned with the salt and pepper
in a deep-sided roasting pan to which has been added just enough water
to keep the juices from scorching the pan. Roast until tender, approximately
1 hour. When beets are cool enough to pick up, slip them out of their
skins. Skins should be removed while still warm.
In the meantime prepare a smoker. Light hardwood chips such as hickory,
apple or rosewood until ashen. Slice beds lengthwise into ¼-inch thick
slices and place beets in smoke for 5 minutes. Bisect beet slices.
Two half wedges are a portion.
For Clove Gelée, combine water, sugar and cloves in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil. Cover and let steep until it reaches desired intensity.
Strain out whole cloves. Add agar agar and return to boil. Transfer
to a rectangular or square container. Let it set at room temperature.
When ready, slice into julienne.
For Black Pepper Gastrique, heat the game stock and the venison scraps
together in a small saucepan. Reduce slowly over low heat. Stir in
the coarse pepper and red wine vinegar to taste.
To sauté venison medallions, slice the meat away from the connective
tissue and thigh bones such that each muscle group can be identified,
as each will cook at different rates. Portion into 1-ounce medallions.
Serve 2 to 3 medallions per portion. Wick off any moisture with a
towel, season both sides with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with Wondra
flour. Heat a heavy iron skillet to high, add a light coating of blended
oil and quickly sear medallions, turning from side to side after only
a few seconds to produce even coloration. Add butter, shallots, season
with sel-gris. Remove from heat. Rest.
For braised Swiss chard in cauliflower cream, bring salted water to
a boil for the cauliflower. Add cauliflower and cook until tender.
Drain. Place cooked, drained cauliflower in a blender with the heavy
cream and puree until smooth. Check the seasoning. Strain through
a fine sieve. For the chard, heat a sauté pan over medium heat.
Add blended oil. When hot, add Swiss chard, cover and let wilt. Add
Vegetable Garbure and braise until liquid evaporates. Bind the Swiss
chard with the cauliflower cream. Season lightly with salt and pepper
lo taste. Heat to serve.
To serve, place 12 tablespoons of the Swiss chard in cauliflower cream
in the center of a warmed plate. Stagger 2-3 medallions of venison
over cauliflower. Place a cube of roasted smoked beet to the right.
Place 4 ribbons of Clove Gelée in 2 cross patterns over the
venison. Draw a diagonal of Black Pepper Gastrique from the center
to upper left corner and down from the center to the lower right corner.
Game Sauce
Yield: 4 servings or 3 cups of sauce
5¾ pounds wild game bones (duck, squab and pheasant), cut up into
1-inch pieces
1½ whole Spanish onions, diced
1½ carrots, large dice
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2½ whole shallots, peeled, large dice
1¾ Tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted, crushed
700 milliliters Burgundy red wine, or about 3 cups Merlot or other
full bodied red wine
Salad oil or peanut oil
Color duck bones in 1 tablespoon of oil over moderate heat, in a stainless
steel sauce pot. Reduce the red wine by one half, with 1 bouquet garni
sachet. Add the vegetables to the bones and color them as well. Moisten
with the veal stock and reduced wine and cook 2 hours at bare simmer,
skimming well. Remove from heat and allow to rest 20 minutes, then
pass through sieve, twice. Do not press. Repeat process with new bones
if more strength is needed. Do not boil during reduction.
Meat Fortification for Game Sauce
The final rendition in transforming base stocks to plate sauces. For
venison, add venison trimmings, for game foul, add pigeon or other
wild game foul trimmings
Yield: 8 servings
1 cup Game Sauce
Venison trimmings, add Game Sauce
1 teaspoon each of carrot, onions and celery, minced
½ teaspoon tomato paste, best quality
Equipment
1 small saucepan
Pan-roast meat scraps by heating the bones and/or trimmings on flat
top in 1 quart saucepan. Caramelize. When all edges are caramelized,
add 1 tablespoon standard mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery)
and sweat. Add tomato paste, let it cook in and darken (pincée).
Keep draining off the fat from the pan. Add the Game Sauce to the
pan. Serve hot.
Vegetable Garbure
Yield: 4 servings
Cut the following ingredients into 1-inch dice:
¼ whole Spanish onion
5/8 carrot
1/16 white turnip
1/8 parsnip
1/8 zucchini
¼ fresh tomato
1/3 stalk celery
½ ounce mushroom stems and pieces
1/8 head garlic
½ stalk lemon grass
1/16 apple
1/8 orange
3/8 ounce fresh ginger root
Spring water
Tourrage
5 sprigs each; fresh dill weed, parsley, chervil, tarragon fennel
fronds
2 ounces cabbage, green, savoy or napa, sliced
1/8 star anise
¼ Tablespoon fennel seeds
Pinch black peppercorns and sel gris
Clean, dice or chop all the vegetables and seasoning ingredients except
those listed as Tourrage. Using a large heavy-bottomed non-reactive
stockpot, distribute the ingredients in layers beginning with those
that are the most firm such as carrots and parsnips and ending with
the least firm, mushrooms, tomatoes and fruits.
Cover with water; increase heat until water is barely trembling. Simmer
very gently about 1½ hours. Add the tourrage ingredients and turn
off heat. Let mixture steep at least 30 minutes. Strain without pressing
on solids. Cool before storing. Stock will keep 1 week in airtight
containers refrigerated, longer if frozen.
Wine Pairing
1989 Bernard Faurie Hermitage "le Meal" |
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