Noisettes of venison with cramberries

Brittany is fortunate in having plenty of wild deer and come October all the local farmers are out and about with their guns! Make sure you are visible if your out in the woods collecting mushrooms! If you are not a member of the hunting club then join up immediately or make friends with someone who is! Failing that source a good gamekeeper or licensed butcher.

You will need for 6 persons:

1 saddle of roe deer
200g cranberries
1 ts thyme flowers
3 ts crushed black peppercorns
100ml olive oil
100ml port
30g castor sugar
half an orange
half a lemon
2 medium carrots
1 large onion
1 stick celery
2 garlic cloves
50g flour
50ml cognac
150ml red wine vinegar
1L red wine (Gamay-style)
1L veal stock
1 sprig of thyme
100g foie gras (preferably raw)
50g butter
salt

Method
First cut out the 2 fillets from the bone; trim off the skin,sinews and nerves and keep to one side. Remove the 2 fillet mignons from underneath the saddle. Cut the large fillets into 12 or 18 noisettes and place in a shallow dish with the 2 fillets mignions. Sprinkle over with the thyme flowers, peppercorns and olive oil and leave in a cool place for 3 hours.

Put the port, sugar, and the orange and lemon zests into a pan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, add the cramberries and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Keep at room temperature

For the pepper sauce first preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Break up the bones from the saddle and place into a roasting pan with the venison trimmings. Brown the bones on all sides in the hot oven. Slice the carrot and onions into rings and finely chop the celery. Add the vegetables to the roasting pan along with the unpeeled garlic clove. After a few minutes, sprinkle with flour and roast for a further 10 minutes. Remove the contents from the pan into a large saucepan.

Deglaze the roasting pan with the cognac and vinegar. Set it over a high heat, pour in the wine and ignite. Simmer for 5 minutes then pour the liquid over the bones in the saucepan. Add the veal stock, the remaining crushed peppercorns and the thyme and simmer gently for two and a half hours skimming as necessary.

Pass the sauce contents through a conical sieve pressing the mixture with the back of a spoon to ensure all the wonderful juices are fully extracted. Return the sauce to a pan and keep warm.

Place a sauté over a high heat and without adding any fat, brown the venison noisettes and the filet mignonsfor 1 minute on each side. Keep them pink in the middle and warm.

Drain off the fat from the pan, deglaze with the juice from the cramberries, then add the pepper sauce. Rub the foie gras through a fine sieve and add to the sauce. Slowly add in the butter ensuring mixture does not boil. Add the cranberries and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, lay the 2 filet mignions in the centre of a shallow dish and arrange the noisettes around the sides. Pour over the boiling hot sauce and serve immediately.