An all game menu

[Adam Balic]

I've never come across a thrush, and I don't fancy stuffing a terrine in my suitcase, but keep the ideas coming. 

It's very painful so you are lucky.

I just had a cunning plan. THere must be all types of interesting North American game, why not bring some back to old Blighty and do a compartive thing? Or you could buy some guinea pigs at a local pet shop in London, kill them, cook them. That's pretty American.

Salad of bitter leaves with shredded confit of hare saddle (or legs?).

[Wilfrid]

I executed the game menu on Saturday. I made two mistakes, one huge and the other not so huge.

The huge mistake was not sourcing the game at Borough Market. They had heaps of snipe and hare, all looking beautiful. I just didn't want it hanging in the hotel room over night. However, after battling to Selfridges and Harrods through the nightmarish Saturday shopping crowds, and coming up with a fairly limited selection of critters, I wish I had just thrown a heap of game in the bathroom on Friday evening and opened the windows.

The smaller mistake was buying a pack of corn tortillas, in a burst of laziness. I would have been much better making pastry (or even buying it frozen).

So, the menu:

Crepinettes de sanglier, sauce moutarde

Quesadilla de perdrix

Salmis de widgeon

I recall Fat Bloke on a very old thread bemoaning the state of kitchen knives in the average domestic kitchen. Having decided to avoid the hassle of airport security or of mailing knives back and forth, just for one dinner, it was my turn to be confronted by a horrific array of kitchen tools. One blunt knife, presumably for all purposes, half-melted plastic spatulas (no wooden ones), and tongs? Don't make me laugh. I battled on.

The crepinettes, or faggots, were very coarse; chopping wild boar and belly pork (and onion) with a knife as blunt as a plastic ruler - that's my excuse. I bound them with the minimum egg and flour, and flavored them with some very aromatic fresh chopped sage. A simply mustard/butter/white wine sauce and a sprinkle of parsley. Not all that gamey in flavor, but I didn't expect it to be.

Quesadillas? Well, not exactly. The stupid corn tortillas were too dry to roll around the filling, so I ended up laying them flat, serving the filling on top, sprinkling with a little grated mozzarella, and finishing them in a hot oven. The tortillas became a sort of crisp shell. I was, conversely, very pleased with the filling - er, topping: the flesh of plump red-legged partidges, chopped together with a little streaky bacon, and cooked in orange juice and cream with thinly shredded sweet orange peppers. A dash of red pepper flakes to kick it up (approximately a notch, yes). Sweet and slightly spicy, but with the partridge flavor present too. I was sparing with the melted cheese.

At least the widgeon came out as planned. Between a teal and a mallard in size and flavor (teal being at the smaller and milder end of the wild duck scale), half a widgeon per person was enough. I passed them through a very hot oven, to take some color, let them cool, then removed the legs and breasts. The salmis sauce was simmered red wine with chopped leeks, carrots, and green beans, oyster mushrooms, some curly parsely, a couple of crushed garlic cloves, the birds' livers, and plenty of salt and pepper. Finished the legs in the sauce first, then gave the breasts just enough to come out medium-rare (I got that just right, pink in the middle, phew!).

The huge advantage of a salmis over a roast is that I find the dense, lean meat of a wild duck toughens up like a rubber ball under dry heat. These duck were tender, powerfully gamey, and quite well flavored. A good shot of brandy would have helped the sauce at the end, but I thought of it too late. At least I avoided the temptation of setting fire to the kitchen.

Someone came up with a lemon tart for pudding.

[Ron Johnson]

Wilfrid,

So a salmis is a braise? Is that correct?

[Wilfrid]

I expect it often is, but my understanding is that a classic salmis involves part-roasting the creature first, as I did here. Which, of course, a braise doesn't, although I suppose one might quickly brown the meat first.

[Adam Balic]

Interesting. Ignored all my advice I see . Did you use caul on your faggots? I find it difficult to get caul in Scotland.

Was Woodcock, not snipe. But I understand how Scrumpy can make things apear bigger, so I forgive you.

[Wilfrid]

But I understand how Scrumpy can make things apear bigger, so I forgive you.

Yes, it's a very good date drink.

I have trouble getting caul in New York, too. Didn't try in London. I hand-shaped my faggots. If I'd been cooking for a bunch of compulsive-obsessive foodies, I'd have called them faux crepinettes to cover my arse.