The Jameson Works x GAME
Jugged Hare From Brad McDonald, head chef at The Lockhart
What makes this dish special is the use of the blood to enrich and thicken the sauce. Nearly all cultures with a history of hunting rabbit have a form of using this technique when cooking hare.
The challenge of this dish is temperature, both in cooking the saddle gently as well as when liaising the sauce with the fresh blood – too much heat on either of these crucial elements will add a metallic, overcooked liver flavour to the final dish.
Another key element in the dish is the game stock, which is the base of the sauce. Use trimmings from any game in season or ask your butcher to sell you a kilo. Whenever possible try to use a little pheasant in your game stock, as it gives a flavour to the broth that is easy to build upon. Roast the trim in the oven until golden, then cover with 2litres of water for every kilo in a small stockpot. Add to this a little celery, onion, and garlic. Let it simmer very slowly for 4 hours. Be sure to top up the water that will evaporate as the stock cooks out. Strain, and reduce to concentrate the flavours.
Garnish with what you like and what is available on the day. Here, I’ve used sweet onions, ceps (mushrooms), preserved sour cherries, and wild rocket leaves.
Serves 4 Ingredients 1 saddle of hare with 100ml fresh hare blood 1 sweet white onion 20g butter 40ml cream 200ml reduced game stock 100g firm ceps (or another mushroom in season) 30g wild rocket (washed) 80g sour cherries, preserved in their own juices from Summer !
Method 1. Allow the saddle to come to room temperature 30-45 minutes before cooking. 2. Start the soubise by peeling and slicing the onions thinly. Sweat them over low heat in the butter with a generous pinch of salt, careful not to colour. The salt will draw out the moisture, which will evaporate, leaving the onions to cook down in their own natural sugars. 3. Once melted, add the cream and cook until it has reduced. If you like, puree it all into a smooth paste, or leave as is for extra texture on the plate. 4. Over medium-high heat, roast the saddle in foaming butter until you’ve reached an internal temperature at the bone of 55C. Allow the meat to rest in a warm place. 5. Thinly slice the mushrooms lengthwise and season with rapeseed oil and Maldon salt. 6. Carve the meat from the bone and cut into 4 portions. 7. Gently warm the reduced game stock over low to medium heat. Adjust seasoning and acidity with salt and a little of the sour cherry juices. 8. Dress each plate with a piece of the loin an even portion of soubise, ceps, and sour cherries. Garnish with wild rocket. 9. Finish the sauce by turning up the heat and bringing to a simmer. Then remove the pan from heat and whisk in the blood slowly. Adjust seasoning if necessary and sauce the plates. 10. Serve immediately.