Chef Juliette
Selle de Chevreuil et Cuissot
Selle de Chevreuil et Cuissot teaches the discipline of game: strip every tendon, skip marinade for a young, well-hung joint, roast in butter, and stop before leanness turns to dryness.
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Selle de Chevreuil à la Cumberland
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1795, Selle de Chevreuil à la Cumberland, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Rosy roast saddle, no marinade, with a cool port and red-currant sauce served apart and haricots verts shining with butter: a grand game roast scaled cleanly for four.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
25 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 servings
Selle de Chevreuil à la Cumberland (roast saddle of venison with Cumberland sauce) teaches the discipline of roasting lean game: temperature, not marinade, makes it tender. The source is emphatic about leaving the saddle unmarinated, so its clean, mineral flavor remains itself and the sweet-sharp sauce arrives separately. Your one true task is to pull the meat while the center is still rosy; venison has too little fat to forgive bravado.
The classical kitchen around this entry assumed a butcher-trimmed saddle, a roasting fire watched by several hands, a saucier ready with Cumberland Sauce (No. 134), stock never off the fire, and a salamander waiting overhead. This dish uses neither stock nor salamander, so they are brigade scaffolding and go. For one cook, one stove, one evening, a compact butcher-tied saddle, an ordinary hot oven, an instant-read thermometer, and a warm serving bowl for the beans do the work. The roast is scaled to four, and the silver timbale becomes that warmed bowl; the book's intent, no marinade, butter-bound beans, and sauce served apart, stays untouched.
The saddle comes out Maillard-bronzed at the edges and warm rose within, the haricots verts gleam under a thin butter emulsion, and the port, red currant, citrus, mustard, and spice of Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) cut through the richness. Trust the thermometer before the clock. That is the step that decides the dish.
Selle de chevreuil belongs to the French classical game table, where the saddle, the two loins carried on the backbone, was prized as the tender roasting cut and presented whole before carving. Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) comes from British game cookery, its red-currant jelly, port, citrus, mustard, ginger, and cayenne traveling into the French repertoire under its English name rather than being claimed by a French region. The book preserves a telling contrast: the sauce is directed toward cold venison in its own entry, yet Selle de Chevreuil à la Cumberland sends it separately beside a hot, unmarinated roast with buttered French beans.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
butcher-trimmed, bone-in saddle of venison
Quantity
1 saddle (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg)
chine bone removed and loins tied in place
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 tsp (10 ml / 12 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 tsp (5 ml / 2 g)
clarified butter
Quantity
2 tbsp (30 ml / 28 g)
melted
Cumberland Sauce
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 190 g) Cumberland Sauce (No. 134)
prepared as its own finished component and brought toward room temperature
haricots verts
Quantity
4 cups (1 lb / 450 g)
trimmed to even lengths
fine sea salt for the bean water
Quantity
1 tbsp (15 ml / 18 g)
cold unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tbsp (45 ml / 42 g)
cut into small cubes
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| butcher-trimmed, bone-in saddle of venisonchine bone removed and loins tied in place | 1 saddle (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg) |
| fine sea salt | 2 tsp (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 tsp (5 ml / 2 g) |
| clarified buttermelted | 2 tbsp (30 ml / 28 g) |
| Cumberland Sauceprepared as its own finished component and brought toward room temperature | ¾ cup (180 ml / 190 g) Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) |
| haricots vertstrimmed to even lengths | 4 cups (1 lb / 450 g) |
| fine sea salt for the bean water | 1 tbsp (15 ml / 18 g) |
| cold unsalted buttercut into small cubes | 3 tbsp (45 ml / 42 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Low-sided heavy roasting pan large enough to hold the saddle
- •Instant-read digital thermometer
- •Long carving knife and sturdy carving fork
- •Large pot for the haricots verts
- •Warm 1-quart straight-sided serving bowl
- •Small sauceboat
Instructions
- 1
Temper and season
Take the saddle from the refrigerator 45 minutes before roasting. Set Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) out at the same time so its chill softens without warming it over heat. Pat the venison completely dry, season every surface with the salt and pepper, and leave it uncovered while the oven heats to 230°C (450°F). No wine, herbs, or marinade belong on the meat; that omission is the book's instruction, not a missing step.
Ask the butcher to remove the chine bone while leaving the ribs and loins together. The saddle keeps its handsome roasting shape, but the carved loins will lift away without a wrestling match at the table. - 2
Roast the saddle
Rub the saddle with the melted clarified butter and set it bone-side down in a low-sided roasting pan. Roast for 12 minutes at 230°C (450°F) to set a bronzed exterior, then lower the oven to 190°C (375°F). Baste with the butter and roasting juices, then continue for 18 to 28 minutes, basting once more and checking early with an instant-read thermometer. Pull the saddle when the thickest part of the loin reaches 60°C (140°F), away from the bone; carryover heat should bring it to 63°C (145°F) during the rest while the center remains pink. If the outside darkens before the center is ready, cover it loosely with foil and lower the oven to 170°C (340°F). If the temperature runs past its mark, stop cooking immediately, rest it, and carve more thinly. Ça se rattrape.
The roast's thickness matters more than its weight. Begin checking before you think it is ready, because a thermometer can ask for five more minutes while a clock can only make promises. - 3
Rest and ready sauce
Transfer the saddle to a warm platter and tent it loosely with foil for 20 minutes, holding the final center temperature at 63°C (145°F) for at least 3 minutes. A tight wrapping traps moisture and softens the browned surface, so give it some air. Stir Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) until glossy and spoon it into a small sauceboat. Keep it cool to room temperature and separate from the roast; its clear fruit, citrus, mustard, and spice are meant to meet the warm venison on each diner's plate.
- 4
Bind the beans
While the meat rests, drop the haricots verts into a large pot of rapidly boiling water seasoned with the measured salt. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until vivid green and tender with a little resistance at the center. Reserve 2 tbsp of the cooking water, then drain the beans thoroughly. Finish them liés au beurre, bound with butter: return them to the warm dry pan off the heat, add the cold butter and 1 tbsp of reserved water, then toss until the butter and water form a thin, shining emulsion around every bean. If the butter separates into greasy beads, add another teaspoon of hot bean water and toss firmly off the heat. Ça se rattrape. Transfer the beans to a warmed straight-sided serving bowl.
- 5
Carve and serve
Run a long sharp knife closely along the backbone and ribs to release each loin in one piece. Slice the loins across the grain into pieces about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick, then arrange them on the warm platter with any resting juices spooned over, never the fruit sauce. Bring the haricots verts alongside and pass Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) separately so each guest can take exactly as much sweet-sharp contrast as desired. Never apologize at your own table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Order the saddle ahead and give the butcher the finished weight, not merely the number of diners. Roe deer is the precise chevreuil, but a small farmed red-deer saddle preserves the cut and method honestly when roe deer cannot be sourced.
- •A thermometer is essential here. Venison changes from rosy to dry within a narrow span, and its dark color makes visual guessing unreliable. For hunter-harvested game or meat of uncertain handling, follow the higher safe temperature advised for that source.
- •Prepare Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) from its own entry rather than rebuilding it here. Bring it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before dinner, stir it well, and serve it apart without heating; high heat loosens the jelly's body and dulls the fresh citrus.
- •Butter, not margarine, binds the haricots verts. The spoonful of bean water supplies what butter needs to emulsify into a glaze instead of sitting as an oily puddle.
- •Pour a red with freshness rather than heavy sweetness. Red Burgundy or a peppery northern Rhône Syrah has enough structure for the venison and enough acidity to stand beside the red currant and citrus.
- •Refrigerate leftover venison within 2 hours and use it within 3 days. Thin cold slices with the remaining fruit sauce make an excellent lunch, exactly the temperature at which Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) is most traditionally at home.
Advance Preparation
- •Cumberland Sauce (No. 134) can be prepared a day ahead in its own entry and refrigerated in a covered container. Take it from the cold about 30 minutes before serving and stir until smooth.
- •The haricots verts can be trimmed and washed earlier in the day. For a dinner party, blanch them up to 4 hours ahead, cool them promptly in iced water, dry them very well, and warm them gently with the butter and a spoonful of water while the roast rests.
- •Have the butcher trim and tie the saddle a day ahead. Leave it uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator so the surface dries, but do not marinade it; season it only before roasting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 365g)
Calories
545 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
250 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
22 g
Protein
60 g
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