Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [101]
10 black peppercorns, crushed
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR POIVRADE SAUCE
¾ A teaspoon arrowroot
1 tablespoon Cognac
1 tablespoon red currant jelly
1.Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook until softened and fragrant. Pour in the stock, add the juniper berries, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the stock is reduced by half.
2.Add the peppercorns and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing on the vegetables to extract all the flavor. Add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
3.To finish the sauce, once you have cooked the roast or whatever meat you are serving the sauce with, set the meat aside and keep warm, loosely covered with foil. Pour off any fat from the pan used for the meat, add the strained liquid to the pan, and deglaze the pan by scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Bring to a boil, then strain the jus through a sieve and correct the seasoning if necessary.
4.For the poivrade sauce, mix the ¾ teaspoon arrowroot with 1 tablespoon Cognac and whisk it into the sauce after deglazing. Bring back to a boil, whisking constantly, then remove from the heat, strain through a sieve, and stir in 1 tablespoon red currant jelly.
Marinades
Marinades add flavor to meats and can provide the basis for a sauce. With game, they add much-needed fat and tenderize the meat. The oil adds the fat, while the wine, being acidic, tenderizes the meat. A simple marinade of olive oil, white wine, and herbs gives game a protective coat of oil and enhances its flavor without overwhelming it. It is good for prime cuts that are to be grilled, sautéed, or roasted; I also use it on milder game like rabbit. For everything else, I use the stronger red wine marinade, which reinforces the game’s flavor.
Smaller pieces of meat only need 6 to 8 hours in a marinade, while larger cuts such as legs and shoulders, and those from older animals, benefit from as long as 2 days in the marinade.
ο Olive Oil Marinade
{MAKES ABOUT ½CUP (125 ML)} Use this for wild boar chops, leg of venison, and rabbit.
I. Mix ¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine (or dry white vermouth) with 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon each thyme and marjoram leaves. Coat the surface of your meat with the marinade and refrigerate.
ο Red Wine Marinade
{MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS (750 ML)}ln this marinade, the alcohol is burned off to stop it from cooking the surface of the meat. The theory is that this then allows the flavor of the wine to penetrate the meat more easily.
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, sliced
1 large shallot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 flat-leaf parsley stems
1 large rosemary sprig
1 thyme sprig 1 bay leaf
4 large juniper berries, crushed
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1.Pour the wine into a large saucepan and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat so the wine bubbles gently. Tip the saucepan slightly away from you and, using a long match, carefully light the wine and let the wine burn. Once the flames die out, light the wine again. Continue lighting the wine until it no longer burns. Pour it into a glass measuring cup and leave it to cool; there will be about 1½ cups (625 ml).
2.Place the carrots, onion, shallot, celery, garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, juniper, and peppercorns in a large nonreactive container, and add your meat. Mix the vinegar and oil with the cooled wine and pour over the meat, turning it to coat. Cover and refrigerate, turning the meat from time to time.
BONE TOOLS
Killing game for meat left man with plenty of bones for making tools. Large leg bones were especially useful. Reindeer tibias were sharpened and used to remove the hides of animals, and tubular cannon bones (the bones between the hock and the fetlock) were employed to scrape the remaining flesh off the hides. The