Râble de Lièvre au Genièvre

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12 by 9-inch (30 by 23-cm) flameproof roasting dish
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Sharp carving knife and board
• •Small warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the râble

   When the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) is completely cold, measure 2½ tablespoons (37 ml) of clean liquid into a covered cup for the sauce. Keep the cooked vegetables retained from Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) covered separately. Set the râble in a close-fitting nonreactive dish or food-safe bag, pour over the remaining marinade, and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours, turning once. Cold matters: warm marinade begins cooking the lean surface before the oven has any say in it.

   Reserve the sauce portion before raw hare enters the marinade. Once the liquid has touched the meat, it is no longer the clean spoonful needed for the roasting dish.
2. 2

   Dry and temper

   Remove the râble from the cold 30 minutes before roasting. Lift it from the marinade, discard the liquid that touched the raw meat, and dry every surface thoroughly. Let the vegetables from Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) drain until no liquid runs from them. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C), then season the hare evenly with the salt and pepper. A wet saddle pales and simmers; a dry one gives the roasting dish the fond this sauce requires.

3. 3

   Brown and roast

   Set a small flameproof roasting dish over medium-high heat and melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the foam subsides, brown the râble on its meaty sides and edges for 5 to 6 minutes, moving it only when each surface releases cleanly. Lift it out, add the drained marinade vegetables and remaining butter, and spread them across the dish. Set the râble bone-side down on the vegetables and spoon the butter over it. Roast for 12 to 20 minutes, beginning your checks early, until a thermometer inserted horizontally into the thickest loin without touching bone reads 155°F (68°C). Transfer the râble to a warm board and rest it loosely covered for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

   Hare has almost no internal fat to forgive an extra ten minutes. The thermometer is discipline, not fuss.
4. 4

   Reduce in the dish

   Leave the vegetables and browned fond in the roasting dish. Take the dish completely off the heat before adding the gin, then pour in the reserved 2½ tablespoons of clean Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168). Return the dish to medium heat, scraping and tilting until every bronze patch dissolves into the liquid. Boil steadily until the gin and marinade are reduced by half, about 4 to 6 minutes. If you reduce too far and the liquid turns sticky, add water 1 tablespoon at a time and scrape it smooth again.

   Never pour gin from the bottle over a lit burner. Measure it first and move the roasting dish off the heat before it goes in.
5. 5

   Finish and strain

   Lower the heat. Add the measured heavy cream, the finished Poivrade Sauce, and all four crushed juniper berries, in that order. Hold the sauce at a gentle simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until it is nappant, lightly coating the back of a spoon. If the acidic reduction makes the cream look grainy, remove the dish from the heat and whisk in the optional tablespoon of cold cream. Ça se rattrape. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer into a warm sauceboat, pressing lightly for the liquid but not forcing the exhausted vegetables through. The berry skins have done their work.

6. 6

   Rest, carve, serve

   After the full rest, confirm that the centre of the râble has reached 160°F (71°C). If it has not, return it to a 350°F (180°C) oven for 3 to 5 minutes, then rest it briefly again. Run a sharp knife close along each side of the backbone, lift away the two loins, and cut them crosswise into thick slices. Arrange them on a warm platter and pass the sauce separately, as the dish requires, so the browned surface reaches the table intact. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask a licensed game dealer for a large, inspected hare saddle with the backbone intact and the silver skin removed. The bone protects the loins as they roast. If only legs are available, choose a braise; they are built for long cooking, not this quick roast.
• •Have the finished Poivrade Sauce ready before the hare enters the oven. Those two tablespoons look modest, but they are the concentrated foundation a brigade's saucier once supplied. Stock or gravy is not an equal exchange.
• •Use an unsweetened, juniper-led dry gin. A strongly citrus or floral bottle quarrels with the crushed berries, and four berries already say everything necessary.
• •Serve the râble with purée de céleri-rave or a plain potato purée to catch the sauce. A red Burgundy or a northern Rhône Syrah has enough savoury depth for the hare without burying the juniper.
• •Chill leftover meat and sauce separately within two hours and keep them for no more than two days. Warm the sauce very gently; the hare is better sliced cold than reheated until dry.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) and finished Poivrade Sauce up to three days ahead, then chill both completely. Retain the measured cooked vegetables when the marinade is strained.
• •Marinate the râble for 8 to 12 hours in the refrigerator, turning it once. Do not exceed 18 hours; prolonged acidity firms the delicate surface of the loins.
• •Before roasting, measure the gin, cream, poivrade, and juniper into separate small bowls. Once the hare leaves the oven, the sauce moves quickly and deserves your whole attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)