Selle de Chevreuil à la Baden-Baden

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Nonreactive container or food-safe bag large enough for the saddle
• •Wire rack set over a tray
• •12 by 9-inch (30 by 23 cm) deep flameproof roasting pan with lid, or parchment and foil
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Gravy separator or shallow spoon
• •Long serving platter and warm sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the saddle

   Set the saddle in a close-fitting nonreactive container and pour over the completely cold Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168). Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours, turning the joint two or three times so every surface spends time in the liquid. Keep the reserved vegetables from the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) chilled separately; they must have been removed before the marinade touched the raw venison.

2. 2

   Dry it completely

   Lift the saddle from the marinade and discard the used liquid. Blot the joint with several changes of clean kitchen paper, pressing into every hollow around the backbone, then set it uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for 45 to 60 minutes. The surface is ready when it feels dry and slightly tacky. If beads of moisture return, blot again and wait another 15 minutes. Ça se rattrape, but only before the meat meets the butter.

   Do not rinse the saddle. Water would wash away the marinade’s seasoning and put back the surface moisture you have just worked to remove.
3. 3

   Stew the pears

   Put the pear halves in a snug saucepan with the water, cinnamon stick, and lemon rind. Bring just to a simmer, cover with a small lid or parchment round, and cook gently for 15 to 25 minutes, turning once, until a knife enters cleanly but the fruit still holds its shape. There is no sugar here. The pears should soften the game’s richness, not turn the plate into dessert. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the pears in their liquid.

4. 4

   Prepare the poëling

   Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the reserved vegetables from the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) across the bottom of a snug, deep roasting pan. Season the dry saddle with the salt and pepper, set it bone-side down on the vegetables, and pour over 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) of the melted butter. Cover tightly with a lid or buttered parchment and foil. This is Poëlings (No. 250), covered butter-roasting: add no stock or other liquid now, because moisture would turn the poëling into a braise.

5. 5

   Poêle and colour

   Cook the covered saddle for 20 minutes. Uncover it, baste thoroughly with the butter in the pan, add the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) melted butter, and raise the oven to 425°F (220°C). Continue uncovered, basting every 7 to 8 minutes, until the surface is deeply bronzed and the thickest part of the loin reaches 130°F (54°C), usually another 15 to 25 minutes. It should rest to about 135°F (57°C). If the saddle remains pale, spoon away any watery liquid, blot the exposed surface carefully, brush it with hot butter, and give it another few minutes in the hot oven. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Rest the venison

   Transfer the saddle to a warm long platter and tent it loosely with foil for 15 minutes. Keep every vegetable, browned speck, and drop of butter in the roasting pan. Resting lets the heat settle through the loin and keeps the juices in the meat when you carve; cut immediately and those juices belong to the board instead.

7. 7

   Build the game jus

   Set the roasting pan over gentle heat, or scrape its entire contents into a saucepan if the pan is not stovetop-safe. Pour in the game stock and simmer for exactly 10 minutes, scraping up the fond and keeping the stock in contact with both vegetables and butter. Do not remove the fat first. It carries the roasted aromas into the stock during this extraction. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing lightly, then remove the fat with a gravy separator or shallow spoon.

8. 8

   Thicken with arrowroot

   Return the clear stock to a clean small saucepan. Mix the arrowroot with the cold water until perfectly smooth, then whisk it into the simmering stock a little at a time, holding back the final spoonful until you see the texture. Cook for only 30 to 60 seconds, until the jus lightly coats a spoon while remaining clear and fluid. Arrowroot turns gluey if overcooked. If it tightens too far, whisk in hot water a teaspoon at a time; if it remains thin, add the reserved slurry. Ça se rattrape.

9. 9

   Carve and serve

   Warm the pears gently in their cooking liquid, then drain them well. Run a sharp knife along each side of the saddle’s backbone, lift off the loins, and cut them across the grain into generous slices. Return the slices to the platter in their original lines, with the bone between them, and arrange the unsugared pear halves at either end. Pour the game jus into a warm sauceboat and place the redcurrant jelly in a small bowl, serving both separately as the source directs. Never apologize at your own table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for a small, bone-in saddle from a reputable game butcher. The bone protects the lean loins and gives the platter its proper shape. Two boneless venison loins will carry the same flavours, but they cook much faster and lose the joint’s generous presentation.
• •The Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) must be completely cold before it touches the saddle. Warm marinade starts cooking the meat’s surface and invites spoilage. Reserve its strained vegetables before adding the raw venison, then keep them chilled separately.
• •Choose firm Bosc or Conference pears. A ripe eating pear collapses before it absorbs the cinnamon and lemon; tired fruit belongs in a compote, not at either end of this saddle.
• •Use true game stock if you have it. A strong, unsalted brown veal stock is the honest home equivalent when game stock cannot be found, though the finished jus will be rounder and less wild.
• •Arrowroot should give the jus a clear, light gloss, never the weight of gravy. Add the slurry gradually and stop as soon as the sauce veils the spoon.
• •Pour a red Burgundy with some structure or a restrained northern Rhône Syrah. The wine needs enough savour for the venison without trampling the pears.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) ahead and chill it completely. Reserve its strained vegetables in a separate covered container before the raw saddle enters the marinade.
• •Marinate the saddle overnight. It can be drained, dried, and left uncovered on its rack in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours before cooking.
• •The pears may be stewed up to 6 hours ahead and held in their cinnamon-and-lemon liquid. Reheat them gently and drain just before arranging the platter.
• •The game jus must wait for the roasting fond, but the stock, arrowroot slurry ingredients, sauceboat, and straining equipment can all be measured and set out before the saddle enters the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)