CookEat Recipe
Smooth Hare Pudding in Clear Aspic
A finely sieved hare and milk-sauce pudding set with egg yolks and Parmesan, chilled and enclosed in a continuous clear amber jelly.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 250 g legally supplied food-grade boneless hare meat, professionally prepared; 105 g butter: 50 g for the hare, 50 g for the white sauce and 5 g for the mould; 50 g plain flour; 30 g grated Parmesan; 6 egg yolks; 500 ml milk; About 20 g prosciutto, finely chopped; A small piece of onion, about 20 g, very finely chopped; About 250 ml ready-to-use broth, added as needed; Salt as needed; 500 g boneless veal shank; 150 g professionally cleaned veal foot; Professionally cleaned food-grade feet from 2 or 3 chickens; 2 professionally cleaned food-grade chicken heads with their necks; 2 litres cold water; Salt as needed; 70 g lean veal, very finely minced, for clarifying; 1 egg for clarifying; About 30 ml water for clarifying; 2 pinches sugar and a few drops water for caramel.
Step 2
For about 1 litre of clear meat jelly, use the listed shank, veal foot and professionally prepared chicken feet, heads and necks. Cut the feet into pieces, put all these parts in a pot with the 2 litres cold water and a little salt, and bring to a simmer. Skim and simmer very gently for 7–8 hours, until reduced to about half. Strain into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours, at 4°C or colder until set. Remove the solid fat. If a thoroughly chilled sample does not set, boil the broth again to reduce it further and test another chilled sample. Do not add an unspecified number of gelatin sheets.
Step 3
In a saucepan, mix the extra 70 g finely minced veal with the egg and 30 ml water. Add the cold jelly and whisk over heat until it boils. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, heat the two pinches of sugar and a few drops of water to dark amber, without burning black. Carefully dissolve with a little hot broth, standing back from steam, then stir small amounts into the simmering jelly until pale amber. Pour while hot through a clean damp fine cloth in a sieve, without squeezing. Keep the strained jelly in a clean container, cool promptly and refrigerate; gently remelt only the amount needed for assembly. Discard sour jelly or jelly left out for more than 2 hours; boiling does not rescue spoiled food.
Step 4
Make the hare pudding while the jelly is being prepared or chilled. Cut the hare into small pieces. Put the finely chopped prosciutto and onion in a pan with 50 g butter, add the hare and a little salt, and cook gently. Before the meat begins to brown, when the fat is nearly absorbed, add some broth. Simmer gently for about 45–60 minutes until tender and at least 74°C, adding broth as needed. Pound or process the cooked hare very finely with its juices, then press through a fine sieve.
Step 5
For the white sauce, melt the separate 50 g butter, stir in the 50 g flour and cook briefly. Gradually whisk in the 500 ml milk and simmer, stirring, for about 5 minutes until thick and smooth. Spread in a shallow container, cool promptly and refrigerate until cold, within the usual 2-hour limit. Cool the hare paste promptly in a separate shallow container as well. Beat the six yolks well, then mix with the cold white sauce, hare paste and Parmesan.
Step 6
Heat the oven to 160°C. Butter a smooth mould of about 1½ litres with the remaining 5 g butter and line its base with buttered baking paper. Fill with the mixture, set in a roasting pan and add hot water halfway up the sides. Bake for about 45–60 minutes until set and at least 74°C in the centre. Allow to stand briefly, turn out carefully and remove the paper. Divide into two smaller moulds from the start if preferred for easier cooling. Refrigerate promptly in a shallow container within 2 hours and chill until cold throughout.
Step 7
Choose a second mould slightly larger than the hare pudding, leaving about 1 cm around it. Gently remelt enough of the prepared clear jelly, cool until still fluid, and pour a thin layer into the larger mould. Refrigerate until this base has set. Put the cold hare pudding in the centre, then pour cool liquid jelly into the surrounding gap and over the top to form a continuous coating. Refrigerate promptly until softly set, about 3–4 hours.
Step 8
Briefly warm the outside of the larger mould with a hot damp cloth and turn out. Serve cold in slices, keeping the clear jelly coating intact where possible. Keep at 4°C or colder and eat within 2–3 days of first preparing either the jelly broth or hare, whichever is earlier. Discard if left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. The simpler alternative is to serve the cold pudding with clear jelly pieces around it and a thin coating of jelly over the top.
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