It's all in the game: A game evening (Kikuklu Christmas dinner 2012)

It was to be our Christmas dinner and the only day that suited all was December 8^th, I had managed to get all of my game together, as we, Linda and I where hosting, we had the main course to do. Being as we are in the middle of the huntsmans most fruitful time of the year it was game 3 ways. I had a nice brace of cock pheasants, a couple of hares and a full roebuck saddle (shot by my shooting mate Alan).

First thing is to get the game in front of the guns, this was done at the annual shoot over the airfield (this only happens once a year because it is an active airfield and can only take place when no movements are taking place), there had been no shoot in 2011 due to various reasons but we expected a good bag.

It was decided that the mains would be:

Roast Roebuck with a chocolate game sauce

Whole saddle of roe buck
Back speck (the green back fat from a piece of pork)
Game Spices Seasoning
Red wine (Cotes de Rhône )
Root vegetables diced (Suppengrün)
1 onion diced
50g of speck
Chocolate (85%)

Clean off any still attached skin, gristle and remove the silver skin, I also removed the fillets for another meal. Half the saddle using only the thicker section. Slice the saddle along the back bone almost to the ribs. Rub all over with game spices and salt and pepper, wrap in cling film overnight in a cool place. When ready to cook, chop a bunch of Suppengrün along with an onion and some streaky bacon (Durchwachsen Speck) add to the base of a roasting tin, just cover with a 50/50% red wine, game stock mixture. Slice the green back fat into slices and cover the saddle with this, place on top of the vegetables, cover with foil and place in a pre-heated oven (180°C) and roast for 1 hour (max) keep checking, it should be moist and juicy. Remove from oven and keep warm, strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, reduce by half, add a good knob of butter and 3 squares of the dark bitter chocolate, it should be rich and glossy. Carve the saddle through but keep on the rib-cage. Place on a serving platter, surround with the filled poached pears, peaches and confite onions.

Braised hare in a red wine sauce

A good sized hare cut into pieces (as this is going to be braised over several hours the age is irrelevant)
Red wine (Cotes de Rhône)
Speck (air cured belly)
Suppengrün (leek, carrot, celeriac and parsley)
Bouquets’ garni (consisting of rosemary, thyme, sage, bay and marjoram)
Onion (small dice)
Garlic (crushed and chopped)
Stock (I made fresh by roasting marrow bones, and boiling together with chicken carcasses and the game parings)
2 slices of Lemon zest
50ml Port
Game spices (my own game spice mix)

Clean and prepare the hare (remove as much shot and broken bones as possible along with the silver skin and any discoloured flesh)place in a red wine marinade along with a tablespoon of game spices overnight. Next day, fry along with the root vegetables, onion, garlic and speck, brown the hare pieces in the pan,

add some stock until the hare is just covered, pour in the Port and bury the bouquet gari and add the lemon skin, turn down the heat and slowly braise the hare pieces until tender and the meat is falling off the bones. Keep warm until ready to serve( I placed in a cast iron casserole and on the lowest heat setting on the hob).

Pot roast pheasant on Riesling sauerkraut

2 dressed pheasants
150g smoked bacon rashers (thick cut)
Forced meat stuffing
Riesling
Sauerkraut
Grapes

Pick the pheasants over to remove any shot, feathers etc. singe all over with a blow torch to get rid of the wispy down. Wash well inside and out, chop the livers, hearts, add to a packet of sage and onion stuffing mix along with an onion softened in a little butter, add a handful of soft bread crumbs.

Remove the skin from a good chunky meat sausage and mix well and season with salt and pepper. Wash and dry the pheasants inside and out, fill the cavity with the stuffing and truss. Cover with the bacon, put a good handful of chopped onions in the base of a heavy based casserole, cover with vegetable stock and place in a low heat oven (do it at the same time as the you are roasting the saddle of roe).

Using sauerkraut from a tin, jar or fresh from the barrel, add some grapes, cloves, juniper berries, pimento berries and pepper and slowly cook in Riesling on top of the stove along with the pheasant cooking liquid. You will have removed the pheasants from the cooking liquid to keep warm, from the liquid.

Place in a serving dish and top with the stuffed roast pheasants, cover and keep warm until read to serve.

Accompaniments:

Riesling poached pears with a chutney filling.

Poach the pear halves in a pan of Riesling flavoured with a winter spiced tea, allow to cool in the liquid overnight, then drain and fill with my own home made green tomato and apple chutney

Peach halves with a spiced peach, plum and ginger filling

I used a good quality jar of Italian peaches halves and a spicy compote that I had made last year.

Confite baby onions

Skin the onions, melt a good knob of butter in a saucepan, and sauté until just coloured, then ladle in stock and poach over a low heat, the stock will be absorbed by the onions and turn into a fantastic glossy coating

Hairy bikers spiced red cabbage

Shred the red cabbage, sauté a large onion until with star aniseed and a cinnamon stick in neutral oil, add the shredded cabbage and allow to soften over a very low heat,add a grated apple, stirring every now and again, when soft add a table spoon of redcurrant jelly.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, shallots and speck

Par-boil the sprouts, place in iced water until required. Soften, the diced shallots and fry the speck in butter, add the sprouts and sauté, add the chestnuts and heat through, season and give it a good grating of nutmeg.

Servietten Knödeln (bread dumplings)

Half a loaf of white bread (with crusts on) steep in 150ml warm milk, soften a medium onion in oil and add to the bread and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Chop up 20 green olives, pluck the green leaves from a bunch of parsley, and stir into the bread mixture, add 1 whole egg mix, pour out onto a large sheet of well-buttered aluminium foil, roll into a large sausage shape twisting the ends to compress. Poach in boiling water for 30 minutes, remove from the water, allow to rest for a while, release from the foil and slice into 10mm thick slices. Fry these golden brown in olive oil (or butter)

Cheesy baked potato, celeriac, and turnip (swede) mash

Dice the potatoes, celeriac and turnip into equal sized pieces, boil until soft in salted water, drain and dry (put back into the hot pan and allow any remaining water to steam off), add a large knob of butter and mash until smooth, do not add any salt at this time as you are now adding the two salty cheeses (50g each of Parmesan and a hard Swiss mountain cheese). Add a good dollop of crème frais and only now taste and adjust the seasoning if required. Put into an oven proof dish and criss-cross with a fork to make a nice pattern. Bake in a hot oven until a gold crust forms.

Wild mushroom ragout.

Clean and halve a selection of mushrooms (in this case I used brown caps, white button, krauter settlings, and frozen cepes, allow to defrost, drain and dry on kitchen paper). Sauté a chopped shallot with diced juniper cured ham in a little olive oil, add the mushrooms and fry until they start to give off their liquid, season (salt & pepper)add 100ml of Rama crème frais (a vegetable cream substitute), keep warm until ready to serve.

But before we got to the mains our dear friend Kalle had prepared a very nice entrée, consisting of a beetroot crisp, with cream goat’s cheese quenelles done 4 ways, curry, chives, paprika and natural.