Noisettes de Chevreuil Valencia

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10 to 12-inch / 25 to 30 cm heavy skillet
• •2-quart / 2-litre stainless saucepan
• •2½-inch / 6 cm round cutter
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Warm oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the oranges

   Blanch the julienned bitter-orange zest in boiling water for one minute, drain, and repeat twice with fresh water. This softens the peel and removes its coarse bitterness while keeping the aromatic edge bigarrade requires. Pelez les Valencia oranges à vif, trimming away the peel and white pith to expose the flesh, then cut them crosswise into rounds. Toss them gently with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) bitter-orange juice, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice, and a small pinch of the measured salt. Cover and keep cool.

2. 2

   Reduce the stock

   If the stock does not set softly when cold, sprinkle the gelatin over ¼ cup (60 ml) of the cold stock and leave it for five minutes. Combine it with the remaining stock in a wide saucepan and simmer uncovered until reduced by half, leaving about 1¼ cups (300 ml). The stock should taste concentrated but not salty and should lightly cling to a spoon.

   Use unsalted stock. A seasoned carton reduced by half becomes briny before it develops the body the sauce needs.
3. 3

   Build the bigarrade

   Put the sugar in a small stainless saucepan over medium heat and let it melt without stirring, swirling the pan only when the edges begin to colour. When the caramel is clear amber, remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar carefully. It will spit and the caramel may harden. Return it to low heat and stir until smooth, then add the reduced stock, the remaining bitter-orange juice, the remaining lemon juice, and the blanched zest. Simmer until about 1½ cups (360 ml) remain and the sauce lightly naps the back of a spoon. Taste for balance. If it is too sharp, dissolve in a small pinch of sugar; if too sweet, add vinegar a few drops at a time. Ça se rattrape. Hold the sauce warm without boiling.

4. 4

   Fry the Croûtons

   Cut eight rounds from the brioche with a 2½-inch / 6 cm cutter. Melt half the frying butter in a wide skillet over medium heat and fry four Croûtons until deep butter-gold on both sides, about two minutes per side. Transfer them to a wire rack and repeat with fresh butter. If the butter darkens before the bread colours, wipe out the pan and lower the heat; burnt milk solids will make every later bite bitter. Keep the Croûtons uncovered so their surfaces remain crisp.

5. 5

   Sear the noisettes

   Pat the noisettes completely dry and season them with the remaining salt and the pepper. Wipe the skillet free of brioche crumbs, heat the clarified butter over medium-high heat, and add the noisettes with space between them. Sear without moving until a dark bronze crust forms, about two to three minutes, then turn and cook the second side. Brown the edges briefly with tongs. Remove the meat at 125 to 130°F / 52 to 54°C for a rosy centre after resting. If liquid gathers and the meat begins to grey, lift it out, heat the pan until properly hot, wipe the meat dry again, and resume the sear. A cool crowded pan can be corrected before the crust is lost.

   Venison loin is lean and gains little from extra cooking. Use an instant-read thermometer rather than cutting into a noisette and spilling its juices.
6. 6

   Finish sauce and meat

   Rest the noisettes on a warm plate for six to eight minutes. Pour away excess fat from the skillet, add ½ cup (120 ml) of the bigarrade, and scrape the venison fond from the pan floor over medium heat. Simmer for thirty seconds, strain this back into the remaining sauce, and remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time until the bigarrade gleams. If it turns greasy, whisk in 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cold water away from the heat. Return the rested noisettes to the skillet for no more than thirty seconds, just long enough to glaze them lightly.

7. 7

   Dish in a circle

   Arrange the Croûtons in a circle on a warm oval platter and set one noisette squarely on each. Spoon only a light veil of bigarrade over the meat, leaving the butter-gold edges of the brioche visible. Pour the remaining sauce into a warm sauceboat and bring it to the table at the same moment as the orange salad. Rich brioche, lean game, bitter citrus. Everything holds the next thing upright. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chevreuil means roe deer. If it is not available, use the centre-cut loin of inspected farmed venison and ask the butcher for eight evenly sized noisettes. The flavour will be milder, but the lean texture and quick cooking remain right for the dish.
• •Bitter oranges are seasonal. When they disappear, combine ⅓ cup (80 ml) sweet orange juice with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice and use a strip of grapefruit zest in place of the bitter-orange zest. The sauce changes slightly, but it keeps the necessary bitterness instead of becoming sweet orange gravy.
• •A good stock should become softly gelatinous in the cold. If yours pours like water, the optional gelatin restores the body once supplied by a stockpot that never left the fire; it does not replace the reduction.
• •Serve as soon as the platter is assembled. Brioche waits poorly beneath sauce, which is why the entry coats it lightly and sends the rest in a sauceboat.
• •Choose a supple Burgundy Pinot Noir or a northern Rhône Syrah with freshness rather than heavy tannin. The wine should meet the venison without flattening the orange.

Advance Preparation

• •The bigarrade can be made through the reduction up to two days ahead. Chill it covered, reheat it gently, and whisk in the cold finishing butter only after the venison fond has been added.
• •The orange zest can be blanched and the salad assembled up to four hours ahead. Keep the salad covered and cool, then set it out fifteen minutes before serving so the citrus is not numbingly cold.
• •Cut and tie the noisettes a day ahead and keep them covered in the cold. Cut the brioche rounds ahead as well, but fry the Croûtons within an hour of serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)