Recipe - Roast Saddle Of Hare

1 Saddle cut from a well hung
hare
5 fl Game stock
2 Xtbsp Madeira
2 tablespoon Chopped parsley
1 tablespoon Chopped chives
1 Lemon; finely grated ,
; zest of
2 ounce Salted butter
8 Crushed juniper berries
1 Clove garlic; crushed

If you buy the whole hare, use the forelegs to make a dark game stock for
the sauce and save the back legs to casserole for another meal. Ask your
game dealer to save some of the blood for you to make a liaison which you
can use to thicken the sauce.

Preheat oven to 220C/450/gas 8.

Wash and trim the saddle, removing the thick blue membrane and the flappy
bits of muscle from the abdomen. Stand the saddle on the board with the
backbone uppermost. Using the point of a sharp knife, cut down into the
flesh either side of the backbone to form a pocket each side.

In a bowl, mix together the garlic, juniper, lemon zest and herbs. Season,
and pack the herb mixture into the pockets.

Season the saddle and smear with about a quarter of the butter. Heat a cast
pan or a heavy based frying pan until it is evenly hot. Sear the saddle in
the pan on all sides to seal in the juices and colour the meat.

Put into a roasting dish and roast at a high heat for 45 minutes. Remove
from the oven and leave to rest in a warming oven for a further 10 minutes
to settle the juices and tenderise the meat. At this point, reduce the
stock with 2 tablespoons of Madeira until it is a good flavour. Whisk in 2
tablespoons blood and 1 tablespoon chilled butter to thicken the sauce.

To serve, cut down the through the pockets and along the ribs to remove the
two fillets from the saddle. Slice diagonally against the grain before
serving with the sauce poured around.

Serve with crab apple jelly.

Converted by MC_Buster.

Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.