Civet de Chevreuil

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart heavy cocotte or Dutch oven
• •12-inch heavy skillet
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Tongs and slotted spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer for monitoring the blood liaison

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the venison

   Put the venison in a snug glass or ceramic dish. Add the fully cooled Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) and all but the reserved 2 tablespoons of red wine, turning the pieces until every surface is wet. Cover and refrigerate for six hours, turning once halfway through. Longer is not better with these small pieces; too much acid eventually gives the surface a cured, cottony texture.

2. 2

   Drain and dry

   Set a colander over a bowl and drain the venison, saving every drop of the red-wine marinade. Spread the pieces on towels and dry them with great attention, then season with the measured pepper. From this point, Civet de Lièvre (No. 1821) supplies the method framework: lardons, browned onions, golden roux, gentle braise, glazed onions, mushrooms, strained sauce, and the optional blood liaison. The hare has become venison, and the quantities are scaled for four; the sequence stays intact.

   Change the towels if they become saturated. The venison must feel tacky rather than wet before it meets the butter.
3. 3

   Brown lardons and onions

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a five-quart cocotte over medium heat. Add the lardons and cook until their edges are bronze and their fat has rendered, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. Add the quartered onions to the same butter and brown their cut faces patiently. Lower the heat if the butter darkens faster than the onions.

4. 4

   Make roux and raidir

   Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the roux turns pale gold and smells faintly nutty. Add the dried venison and raidir, firm its outer surface, by turning the pieces through the hot roux for 4 to 5 minutes. You are not chasing a hard crust now, because flour is already in the pot and would scorch before the meat browned deeply.

5. 5

   Moisten and braise

   Pour in the reserved red-wine liquid containing the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) in three additions, stirring around the meat and scraping the fond from the pot floor. If the roux gathers into lumps, lift out the meat, whisk the liquid smooth, and return it; ça se rattrape. Add the bouquet garni and bring the liquid to a full boil for one minute because it touched raw meat. Cover, transfer to the oven, and braise for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, until a fork enters the shoulder and neck without resistance. Check after the first hour; the liquid should barely tremble. If it boils hard, lower the oven to 275°F (135°C).

6. 6

   Prepare the garniture

   While the civet braises, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet. Add the pearl onions, water, sugar, and salt, then cover and simmer gently until nearly tender. Uncover and roll them through the reducing liquid until they are glossy and lightly browned; transfer them to the lardons. Melt another tablespoon butter in the skillet and sauté the mushrooms over lively heat until their moisture cooks away and their edges bronze. Add them to the lardons and onions.

7. 7

   Strain and reduce

   Lift the tender venison into a warm bowl with the lardons, pearl onions, and mushrooms. Discard the bouquet garni, then pass the sauce through a fine sieve into the cleaned cocotte without forcing the softened onions through. Skim excess fat and reduce over medium heat. If using blood, stop while the sauce is slightly loose because the liaison will thicken it; without blood, reduce until it nappes, coating the back of a spoon. If it tightens too far or the salt sharpens, loosen it with a spoonful of hot water.

8. 8

   Make the blood liaison

   If food-safe hare's blood is unavailable, skip this step and serve the preparation honestly as the source's excellent venison stew. If using it, whisk the blood smooth in a bowl, then temper it with about 1 cup of hot sauce, added gradually while whisking. Take the cocotte off the heat and whisk in the tempered blood in a thin stream. Return it to the lowest heat and stir until the sauce turns velvety and coats a spoon, but never let it simmer. At the first sign of graininess, pull it from the heat, whisk in the reserved cold wine, and strain it; ça se rattrape when caught early. A hard boil fully coagulates the blood and cannot be reversed.

9. 9

   Fry croûtons and serve

   Return the venison, lardons, pearl onions, and mushrooms to the sauce and warm them gently. If the blood liaison was used, keep the pot below a simmer. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet and fry the heart-shaped croûtons at the last moment until crisp and chestnut-gold on both sides. Bring the civet to the table in its cocotte, with the croûtons arranged around the edge for catching the sauce. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Shoulder, neck, and breast are the correct cuts because their connective tissue melts into the sauce. Venison loin is costly and wrong for this long braise; it dries while the harder cuts become tender.
• •Roe deer is difficult to source outside Europe. Farmed deer shoulder and neck are the closest practical choice, while elk produces a larger-grained, slightly milder braise. The substitution changes the animal, not the method, and the method is what protects the dish.
• •Use a dry red wine with body and fresh acidity, not a heavily sweet or oaky bottle. The marinade becomes the sauce, so any harshness grows louder as it reduces.
• •Use only food-safe hare's blood supplied by a licensed butcher or game processor and follow its storage directions. Never improvise with blood collected from uninspected wild game. If none is available, omit it rather than substituting another animal's blood; the source is plain that the result is then a stew, and it remains very good.
• •The sauce should taste of wine, game, and browned butter, with the mushrooms and onions remaining distinct. Serve it with plain boiled potatoes or a restrained potato purée if the croûtons alone won't satisfy the table.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare and cool the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) in advance, then begin the six-hour marination early enough that the venison can be drained and cooked the same evening.
• •For a dinner party, complete the braise and strain the sauce one day ahead, but stop before adding the blood and frying the croûtons. Cool promptly, cover, and refrigerate the meat in its sauce for up to three days.
• •Reheat the bloodless braise to a gentle simmer, prepare the garniture, then complete the liaison au sang off the heat shortly before serving. Once blood has been added, reheating must remain very gentle and the sauce must never boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 620g)