Noisettes de Chevreuil Romanoff

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 12-inch skillet
• •2-quart heavy saucepan
• •Wide sauté pan
• •Blender or food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Covered baking dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the composition

   Take the venison from the cold for 20 minutes, then pat every surface dry. Keep the medallions together in thickness so they cook at the same pace, but do not season them yet. Slice the truffle and measure every sauce ingredient. The venison is the last thing you will cook; beginning with it would leave eight beautiful noisettes waiting while their garnishes caught up.

   If the medallions vary in thickness, tie the thinner ones once around the circumference with kitchen string. A neat round is not plating theater here; it gives you even contact with the pan and even cooking.
2. 2

   Make mushroom purée

   Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook without browning for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Raise the heat and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring only as needed, until the mushrooms release their water, the pan goes dry, and their edges take a little bronze. Add the 1/3 cup cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Blend until completely smooth, then press through a fine sieve if the texture remains coarse. If the purée is loose, return it to the pan and stir over gentle heat until it sits in a soft mound; ça se rattrape. Cover and keep warm for serving separately.

3. 3

   Reduce the poivrade

   Reserve 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the stock for the venison pan. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, then add the poivrade shallot and carrot. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables and the pan floor are properly browned. Add the vinegar and wine, scrape up the fond, and boil until only about 1/4 cup (60 ml) remains. Add the remaining stock, thyme, and bay leaf, then simmer until reduced to about 1 cup (240 ml), 25 to 35 minutes. Add the crushed peppercorns for the final 5 minutes so their perfume stays alive, then strain into a clean saucepan.

4. 4

   Cream the sauce

   Add the 1/2 cup cream to the strained poivrade and simmer gently until the sauce nappe (coats the back of a spoon), about 6 to 10 minutes. Taste before adding salt because the stock has concentrated. Keep the sauce warm without boiling. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with hot stock or water a tablespoon at a time. If the cream turns oily at the edge, take the pan off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold cream. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Warm cucumber cases

   Heat the oven to 275°F (135°C). Set the finished Concombres Farcis.—A (No. 2124) in a covered baking dish and warm them gently for about 12 minutes, until the cucumber is hot but still holds its round shape. If the cases are coming directly from the refrigerator, heat the chicken forcemeat centres to 165°F (74°C). Hold them covered for no more than 20 minutes; longer cooking softens the cucumber and tightens the forcemeat.

6. 6

   Sear the noisettes

   Heat a heavy 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Season the dry venison with the remaining salt and the ground black pepper, then add the clarified butter. When the butter gleams, arrange the noisettes in one uncrowded layer. Sear without nudging for about 2 minutes, turn, and cook the second side for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes, depending on thickness. Pull them at 125 to 130°F (52 to 54°C) for rosy centres after resting, then move them to a warm plate for 5 minutes. If the pan fat blackens, lift the meat out, wipe away the burnt fat, and continue with fresh clarified butter; the meat can be rescued, but burnt fond cannot.

7. 7

   Finish with fond

   Pour away excess fat from the venison skillet without disturbing its browned film. Add the reserved 1/4 cup stock and scrape firmly over medium heat until the liquid reduces by half. Strain this fresh fond into the poivrade and bring it back to nappe consistency. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the cold tablespoon of butter. This is monter au beurre (finishing with cold butter): it gives the sauce its final gloss. Do not boil it afterward.

8. 8

   Assemble in order

   Arrange two hot cucumber cases on each warmed plate, or all eight on a warmed oval platter. Set one noisette squarely on each case, place a truffle slice on every noisette, then coat each stack lightly with the poivrade crémée, following the source sequence exactly. Spoon the warm purée de champignons into a separate serving bowl and send it around at the table. No extra garnish is needed. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chevreuil means roe deer, whose fine-grained loin is smaller and more delicate than farmed red-deer venison. If roe deer is unavailable, buy an inspected venison loin and cut it into small, even rounds. Technique first: dry meat and a properly heated pan matter more than pedigree.
• •Fresh black truffle is seasonal and cannot be bullied into appearing. A whole preserved black truffle, drained and sliced, is the classical pantry's honest answer. Bottled truffle oil cannot provide the slice the composition requires, and its aroma changes the dish.
• •The cited Concombres Farcis.—A (No. 2124) contains chicken forcemeat. Prepare it completely according to its own entry, keep raw chicken away from the venison and other garnishes, and verify that its centre reaches 165°F (74°C).
• •For the rosy result intended here, use intact whole-muscle venison from a trusted source. If serving pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised guests, or if local wild-game guidance requires it, cook the medallions to 145°F (63°C) and rest them for at least 3 minutes; they will be firmer but still properly sauced.
• •Pour a red Burgundy with enough freshness to meet the vinegar and pepper, or a mature northern Rhône red. Avoid a heavily sweet or jammy bottle, which makes the poivrade taste dull.

Advance Preparation

• •The listed timing begins with the Concombres Farcis.—A (No. 2124) already completed, because the book treats it as a separate preparation. Make the cases earlier the same day, chill them promptly if necessary, and reheat them gently while the venison rests.
• •The poivrade can be prepared through straining one day ahead. Chill it promptly, then reheat and add the cream only on the day of serving; finish it with the fresh venison fond and cold butter at the last moment.
• •The mushroom purée can be made one day ahead and reheated over low heat. If it tightens in the cold, loosen it with a spoonful of cream; if it becomes watery, reduce it uncovered until it again holds a soft mound.
• •Trim and portion the venison several hours ahead, then keep it covered in the cold. Dry it and let it lose the deepest chill shortly before searing, but season only when the skillet is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 385g)