Hunting Recipes

As  Gabe discussed in the previous blog, there are many different animals that are hunted in this region including:

·         Boar

·         Duck

·         Rabbit

·         Pigeon

I have looked up recipes for these animals in a local cookbook that Margaret was so generous to let me borrow.

Civet de Sanglier (Boar)

Red wine stew, to be used for a tough shoulder, leg or fillet of boar.  

Cut the meat into small 1 – 2 inch pieces. Gather together: wheat flour, 1 onion, a small carrot, one or two heads of garlic, a thick and fat slice of smoked bacon, fresh mushrooms, a bottle of strong red wine, salt, pepper, herbs de Provence, a bay leaf, the smallest can of concentrated tomatoes, and fresh parsley. Use a large, deep pot or casserole dish with a cover. Place butter and oil in it and the little cubes of fat bacon into the pot. The grease of the bacon will flavor the fat. Once warm, add in the diced onions. Cut the carrot cut into thin slices and add into the pot. Cut the garlic into small pieces and add that to the pot. After all of that add the pieces of meat. Put on strong heat and continue to stir. If you find that the meat has become too dry, add some oil. Sprinkle the flour on the meat until the top becomes white. Turn it over. Don’t burn the meat but make sure that it cooks to become a dark brown. Do this again for a 2nd time. Then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of concentrated tomatoes. Mix it all again. Add in the mushrooms. Mix again and leave it a short while. Add the wine. All of the meat must be under the wine level. Put the salt, the pepper the laurel leaf and the parsley thoroughly cut. Turn the heat back up to high and let it boil while stirring it continuously.  Once it is boiling, reduce heat to minimum, place cover on top and let it cook for two hours checking on it every 20 minutes or so. After these 2 hours turn off the heat and let it sit covered another hour. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Serve the next day (so let all of the flavors blend together for a day) and reheat for an hour over low heat.

Rabbit with fall apples and dried ham

Use a 3 lbs rabbit. Put in a pan pieces of lard. As soon as they are highly colored, add minced onion and shallots. Add ½ tablespoon of flour. Toss. Add a bouquet of garni. Pour 1 ½ of white wine. Reduce heat. Simmer 40 minutes.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the 40 minutes, add 3 ½ oz.  of ham fat and cut into small pieces. Remove bouquet garni.
Strain the sauce through a strainer.

Put 3 or 4 apples into a dry skillet.
Put the rabbit, fruit and ham together.
Serve with bread.

Duck with cépes Grésigne

Take 4 duck breasts and salt, pepper and lightly brush the skin side with oil. Heat over high heat for 10 minutes.
Place in preheated oven Glaze pan with 2 tablespoons of Gaillac wine.
Clean 300 gr cépes carefully. Rub with a damp cloth. Separate hats and stem. Chop coarsely. Sauté over high heat in oil / duck fat. Sprinkle the entire chopped garlic and parsley in cooking. Remove them when they are nicely browned.
Serve very hot mushrooms and duck JOINTLY.

Supreme pigeons with a cream truffle

Compose a cream with truffle peelings or broken pieces (in the absence of an Entire truffle.)
Bring to a reduction of white wine and Puerto mixed with the cream. Mix in a bit of salt and pepper. Let it sit for about 5 min.
Brush 4 pigeons with olive oil and cook 3 minutes skin side. Cook on the other side.
Top with truffle cream
Serve immediately

[http://www.poppyfields.net/poppy/photos/020604_otters.html] - Picture

[ Wild boars in Provence, Sept 2007. http://www.gourmetfly.com/Cookingwildboar.html ] - Boar recipe
[Chalendar, Pierrette. La Cuisine Du Tarn. C. Lacour, 2001. Page 91] - Rabbit recipe
[Chalendar, Pierrette. La Cuisine Du Tarn. C. Lacour, 2001. Page 93 ] - Duck recipe

[Chalendar, Pierrette. La Cuisine Du Tarn. C. Lacour, 2001. Page 104] - Pigeon recipe