Loin of hare, creamed celeriac tart, haunch braised in chocolate beer

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Hare is a beautiful meat, well worth seeking out at your local butchers for its deep gamey flavour. Kevin Mangeolles serves it with bitter chocolate and rich creamed celeriac for a perfect winter meal. If preferred, you can make a hare stock for the beer-braised haunches to give an extra rich finish.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Hare loins

Chocolate beer-braised haunches

Thyme pastry

Creamed celeriac

Cabbage

Equipment

  • Chamber sealer
  • Water bath
  • Vacuum bags
  • 10cm pastry cutter

Method

1
Preheat a water bath to 85°C
2
To begin, prepare the braised hare haunches. Sweat down the onion in a dash of oil in a small pan until softened. Leave to cool then add to a vacuum bag with the hare thighs, beer, juniper, garlic and thyme. Seal in a chamber sealer and cook in the water bath for 5 hours
3
Remove the thighs from the bag and strain the juices into a pan. Add the stock, reduce to a sauce consistency and stir in the chocolate. Pick the meat from the bone in large pieces and add to the sauce. Keep warm
4
Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2
5
To make the thyme pastry, mix the flour and butter until you reach a fine sandy texture, then add the water, thyme leaves and egg yolk. Mix until you have a smooth dough
6
Roll the dough out until 1/2cm in thickness and cut out four 10cm circles. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes
7
For the creamed celeriac, grate the celeriac and transfer to a pan with the melted butter. Cook until softened, add the cream and reduce until you have a thick creamy consistency. Add the mustard and season with salt
8
Preheat the water bath to 60°C
9
Trim any sinew from the saddles and place into a vacuum bag with a sprig of thyme, salt and a dash of oil. Seal and cook in the water bath for 15 minutes
10
Roughly chop the cabbage and blanch the leaves in boiling salted water for 1 minute before refreshing in iced water. To serve, heat a saucepan over a medium heat with a knob of butter and warm the cabbage through
11
Remove the hare loin from the bag and drain on kitchen paper. Heat a frying pan over a high heat and sear the hare loin until caramelised. Leave to rest for a few minutes then carve lengthways to serve
12
To plate, place a pastry circle on the plate and spoon some creamed celeriac on top. Cover with the loin and arrange some buttered cabbage and the braised haunch around the outside of the tart. Finish with a little grated bitter chocolate and serve
First published in 2015

Given the name of Chef Kevin Mangeolles’ restaurant – The Neptune, in Hunstanton, Norfolk – you’d be right to suspect that the chef has an affinity for quarry caught with net or hook.

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