Noisettes de Chevreuil Villeneuve

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large sharp chef's knife or two-handled chopping knife
• •Sturdy cutting board
• •Digital scale accurate to 1 g
• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warmed oval serving platter
• •2-cup (480 ml) timbale bowl for the celery purée

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare crumb and caul

   Open the caul fat gently in a bowl of cold water and leave it for twenty minutes, then rinse and pat it dry without tearing its lacy web. Saturate the fresh breadcrumbs with the milk for five minutes, gather them in a clean cloth, and press firmly until no milk runs freely. Weigh exactly 4 ounces (113 g) of this panade, the milk-soaked bread binder. Chill the panade while you trim every tendon and strip of silverskin from the roebuck; connective tissue caught in a hand-chopped noisette remains stubborn under the teeth.

   The pressed panade must feel damp and supple, not sodden. Its exact weight preserves the original proportion and keeps the cream from making the farce loose.
2. 2

   Chop the cold farce

   Cut the chilled roebuck into 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) dice and spread it over a cold, sturdy board. Chop rhythmically with a large sharp knife, scraping and turning the meat often. Once the pieces are lentil-sized, add the cold butter in four additions, chopping each through before adding the next; work in the pressed panade the same way. Scrape everything into a chilled bowl and beat in the cold cream a spoonful at a time, followed by the salt and pepper, until the farce is cohesive and finely textured but not smooth. If the butter begins to shine or smear, stop and chill the mixture for ten minutes. Ça se rattrape. A food processor would warm the fat and erase the knife-cut texture that defines this entry.

3. 3

   Test and portion

   Cook a teaspoon of the farce in a trace of clarified butter and taste it. Correct the salt or pepper now, because seasoning cannot be repaired once the caul is wrapped. Weigh twelve portions of 2 ounces (57 g) each and shape them with cold, lightly dampened hands into neat rounds about 2 inches (5 cm) wide and 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. If the mixture clings to your fingers or slumps, chill it rather than adding extra breadcrumbs; the ratio belongs to the dish.

4. 4

   Wrap the noisettes

   Spread the caul flat and cut twelve pieces large enough to enclose the rounds once. Set a noisette in the centre of each piece, draw the caul around it without stretching, and trim away heavy overlaps. Place the noisettes seam-side down on a cold tray and chill for fifteen minutes. Caul contracts as it cooks, so wrap snugly, not tightly. If a piece tears, overlap it with a small lacy patch and carry on.

5. 5

   Warm the accompaniments

   Warm the prepared Chasseur sauce in a small saucepan at a bare simmer, then hold it over the lowest heat. Warm the prepared celery purée separately, stirring until it is smooth and soft enough to hold a gentle mound. Do not boil either component. If the sauce tightens while it waits, whisk in a teaspoon of hot water; if the purée develops a skin, beat it back to smoothness.

6. 6

   Cook at last moment

   Heat a 12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet over medium-high heat and film it with half the clarified butter. Cook the noisettes in two uncrowded batches, seam-side down first, for about three minutes without moving them. Turn once and cook for another two to three minutes, until the caul has rendered nearly translucent, both faces are deeply browned, and the centre of a test noisette reaches 160°F (71°C). Hold the first batch on a warm rack for no more than five minutes. If the surface darkens before the centre is ready, lift the pan off the heat for thirty seconds, lower the flame, and resume gently. Never press them; the butter belongs inside.

7. 7

   Crown and sauce

   Arrange the twelve noisettes in a close crown on a warmed serving platter. Nappez, coat each one with the hot Chasseur sauce, letting enough pool beneath to meet every serving without drowning the browned caul. Spoon the celery purée into a warmed timbale bowl and send it separately, exactly as the dish intends. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chevreuil means roe deer, a particularly fine-grained and lean venison. If roe deer isn't available, use well-trimmed farmed venison leg or loin and expect a milder flavour. Avoid preground venison; the hand-chopped texture is part of the dish, not brigade scaffolding.
• •Order caul fat from a butcher in advance. It should look white and delicately netted, with a clean smell. Caul protects the lean game while its fat renders into the farce; bacon overwhelms the meat and is not an invisible substitute.
• •Keep the board, meat, butter, cream, and finished farce cold. This is temperature control, not fussiness: once the butter softens before cooking, it smears instead of binding and later runs into the skillet.
• •Serve with a red Burgundy or another poised Pinot Noir. Its acidity meets the butter and cream, while its earthy fruit sits naturally beside venison, mushrooms, and celery.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Chasseur sauce and celery purée up to one day ahead and chill them separately. Reheat both gently while the noisettes cook; the listed preparation time assumes these finished components are ready.
• •The noisettes may be shaped and wrapped in caul up to six hours ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated below 40°F (4°C), then cook them directly from the cold.
• •Caul fat may be kept frozen and thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Rinse and soak it only when you are ready to wrap the noisettes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 425g)