Recipe: Hare/Stilton/Pear/ by Sat Bains

Hare is one of my favourite game meats and I really want to showcase its textures and flavours when it's in season. This dish combines saddle of hare, which has been roasted with pear, stilton, and chocolate. We always serve tartare with it, because It's a really pure flavour of the game. The pear is dusted with Szechuan, which gives it a little bit of fragrant spice that cuts through the richness of the meat.

SEASONALITY AND AVAILABILITY The ingredients in this dish are available between November and February. It's available to pre-order at Restaurant Sat Bains, even if it's not on the current menu, with five days' notice.

PRESENTATION We haven't put any emphasis on presentation because we want you to create your own interpretation of the dish. Alternatively you can follow the example shown here.

Ingredients
For the wild hare 150g salted butter
10 juniper berries, deseeded and chopped
10g thyme, chopped
10g Douglas Fir pine needles, chopped
5 wild hare loins
For the hare tartare 1 wild hare loin
10g small caper berries
10g shallot, diced
10g gherkin, diced
Salt to taste
For the quince terrine 5 large quinces
300g caster sugar
For the caramelised cauliflower purée 100g salted butter
25ml sunflower oil
500g chopped cauliflower
100ml white chicken stock
Salt to taste
For the acidulated chocolate 100g 70% dark chocolate
20ml olive oil
10ml soy sauce
10ml sherry vinegar
You will also need 20 cauliflower florets, thinly sliced
4 ripe Conference pears cut into 8 wedges, seasoned with Szechuan pepper just before serving
30g pennywort
100g Colston Bassett stilton
100g 100% dark chocolate for grating over the final dish

Method
Wild hare Brown the butter and mix with the aromatics. Cool slightly and spread all over the meat. Place in a sous vide bag and compress on full. Cook at 58°C for 30 minutes. Take out the bag and brown on all sides in a hot pan or plancha. Season with a little salt.

Hare tartare Finely dice the hare into small cubes. Add the rest of the ingredients and salt to taste. Set aside until needed.

Quince terrine Peel the quinces. Use a mandoline to slice the quince to a thickness of 5mm. Line a 15cm x 10cm terrine mould with greaseproof paper. Layer up the quinces, making sure that they overlap and are tightly packed.

Caramelised cauliflower purée Heat the butter and oil until foaming. Add the cauliflower and begin to cook and caramelise. The heat needs to be tempered so that the butter never stops foaming: the caramelisation process will take around 90 minutes.
When the cauliflower is golden brown, deglaze the pan with the chicken stock. Blend on full power for 1 minute, season with a little salt and blend for a further 30 seconds. Pass through a chinoise. Â

Acidulated chocolate Heat the chocolate to 42°C in a bain-marie, add the rest of the ingredients and emulsify. Set aside until needed.
Taken from Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian by Sat Bains, see review opposite

Recommended wine With the hare dish, we found that what works best is a beautiful old-fashioned Chateauneuf du Pape well crafted by the Feraud family. Ripe and juicy fruits, spices, hint of saddle leather makes it the best combination for this dish. With a majority of Grenache in the blend, this wine is open, aromatic and ready to drink now as well as in a few more years from now. It's delicate yet full body match up to the strong taste of the hare without overpowering the delicate taste of the other elements put together on the plate. A delight!

Laurent Richet, master sommelier, Restaurant Sat Bains