Selle de Chevreuil et Cuissot

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp flexible boning knife
• •Heavy ovenproof skillet or compact roasting pan
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Butcher's twine
• •Slim metal skewer and narrow chopstick for optional larding
• •Carving knife and warm oval platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose and pare joint

   Use roebuck that was promptly dressed, properly chilled, and handled by a trustworthy game dealer or butcher. It should smell clean and faintly mineral, never sour, sweetly putrid, or musty. Pare the joint by sliding a sharp boning knife directly beneath every tendon and sheet of silvery membrane, angling the blade toward the tissue so you remove as little meat as possible. Work patiently around the saddle loins or along each muscle of the cuissot. Heat tightens this tissue rather than tenderizing it, so what remains will pull against the carved slices.

   Ask the butcher to do the heavy paring and, for a saddle, to shorten the rib bones so the joint rests securely. Check the work yourself before cooking, because one missed cord of tendon can spoil an otherwise tender slice.
2. 2

   Lard only if needed

   If the roebuck is young, tender, and properly hung, omit the larding bacon. If the joint is mature or exceptionally lean, chill the bacon batons until firm, make narrow channels through the meat parallel to its grain with a slim metal skewer, and ease one baton into each channel with a narrow chopstick. Space them evenly rather than crowding the center. Larding is insurance, not ceremony, and forcing too many channels into a small home-sized joint does more damage than the bacon repairs. Do not marinate the meat.

3. 3

   Tie and season

   Tie a boneless cuissot at 1½-inch (4 cm) intervals so its thickness stays even; a butcher-prepared saddle needs no further tying unless the loins lift from the bone. Dry the entire surface thoroughly, season with the salt, and leave it uncovered for 30 minutes while the oven heats to 425°F (220°C). Add the pepper immediately before browning. A dry surface gives the butter something to bronze, while marinade or surface moisture makes the meat stew.

4. 4

   Brown in butter

   Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy ovenproof pan over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides and the butter smells nutty, add the joint and brown every accessible surface, taking 8 to 10 minutes altogether. Move the meat only when each side releases easily and shows a deep Maillard bronze. Keep the fond, but watch the butter closely. If its milk solids turn black or smell acrid, lift out the meat, wipe away only the burnt fat, and begin again with fresh butter. Ça se rattrape. Burnt butter left beneath the roast will make the entire jus bitter.

5. 5

   Roast by temperature

   Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan and place the joint in the oven. Baste with the foaming butter and pan juices every 8 minutes. Begin checking a short saddle after 18 minutes and expect roughly 20 to 30 minutes; begin checking a cuissot after 30 minutes and expect roughly 35 to 50 minutes. Shape matters more than weight. Insert the thermometer into the thickest muscle, away from bone and any bacon channel, and remove the roast at 140°F (60°C). Rest it loosely covered for 15 to 20 minutes, then verify that the center has reached at least 145°F (63°C). If it has not, return it to a 325°F (165°C) oven for a few minutes and check again. Once lean game passes its mark, the lost moisture cannot be put back, so the thermometer is the honest safeguard.

   Wild game must follow the food-safety guidance that applies where it was harvested and inspected. This method gives a lightly rosy whole-muscle roast while bringing the rested center to 145°F (63°C).
6. 6

   Make the jus court

   While the meat rests, set the roasting pan over medium heat and pour off any excess fat while preserving every browned deposit. Add the cold water and scrape the pan thoroughly, dissolving the fond into a jus court, a short pan jus. Boil until reduced to about ½ cup (120 ml) and glossy enough to leave a light trail across the pan. Remove it from the heat, add the resting juices, and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter a little at a time. This monté au beurre, finishing with cold butter, gives the jus body and sheen without flour or a separate stock. If it turns greasy or separates, whisk in 1 teaspoon cold water away from the heat. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Carve across grain

   For the saddle, run the knife closely along each side of the backbone, lift off the two loins, and cut them crosswise into generous slices. For the cuissot, remove the string, identify the direction of each major muscle, and slice across its grain rather than treating the leg as one uniform piece. Warm the jus gently without boiling, taste for salt and pepper, and pool a little on a warm platter before arranging the meat. Spoon the remainder over the carved surfaces and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chevreuil means roe deer specifically, not venison in general. If roe deer is unavailable, a young fallow or red deer joint of similar size is the closest practical cousin, but its flavor and cooking time will differ. Let the thermometer settle the argument.
• •Fresh game and properly hung game are not opposites. Hanging is controlled aging under refrigeration; taint, sourness, slime, and careless warmth are spoilage. No marinade rescues spoiled meat.
• •Larding bacon must be unsmoked. Smoke overwhelms the clean flavor of roebuck, and streaky breakfast bacon is too soft to thread neatly. A butcher can supply firm fatback and cut it into batons.
• •Serve the roast with a restrained red Burgundy or a Loire Cabernet Franc. The wine should have freshness and quiet tannin, not the weight to flatten such lean, fine-grained meat.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use them within 3 days. Cold slices with their jellied jus are excellent; repeated reheating only asks lean game to surrender moisture it no longer has.

Advance Preparation

• •The butcher can pare, shorten the saddle ribs, and tie the chosen joint up to one day ahead. Keep it refrigerated on a rack, loosely covered, so its surface remains dry.
• •If larding is needed, it may be completed earlier on the day of cooking. Keep the prepared joint cold, then season it only during the final 30 minutes before roasting.
• •Do not prepare a marinade. The jus court must be made after roasting because the fresh fond and resting juices are its entire foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 255g)