Gigot

[Suninfrance]

OK - so me and OH have just got back from Lotto in the village and we didn't do too bad.  3 bottles of wine,  a tricyle (flower thingy), a gillet with loads of pockets (which I'm wearing now because it's cold), a bag of oranges (yuk) and a GIGOT.

I thought it would be lamb which doesn't really cause me a problem, but it turns out (our French neighbours got the dictionary out) that I now have a leg of wild roebuck deer in the freezer.

Any suggestions on how I can cook it to perfection in a calor gas oven????

Help

[Pancake]

Here yer go.Give this a try......yum yum.

http://www.historicfood.com/Venison.htm

[Suze01]

I was given one last night too! A present from the couple who own the stables that my daughter goes to - they raise roe deer as a sideline.

Mine is currently marinating in red wine, juniper berries, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme and bay then tonight it will roast in the oven and I'll make a sauce with the marinade.   It was going to be Jamie Oliver's Fantastic Fish Pie for Christmas eve, but the venison sounds better!

Just don't tell Rudolf otherwise he won't help bring the presents [;-)]

[img]http://bestsmileys.com/christmas4/9.gif[/img]

[Suninfrance]

Thanks Pancake & Suze - lovely recipes.  Really like the sound of your one Suze.

[Suninfrance]

Hi Suze - still got that gigot in my freezer and thought it was about time I did something about it.  Can you let me have your recipe please, including preparation instructions and cooking time.

Thank you in advance.

Jan

[hoverfrog]

the neighbour's recipe is good for chevreuil as well as sanglier :)

Take a good bottle of côtes du rhône, marinage your gigot for 24_72 hours (sanglier is longer, younger or tenderer beasts are shorter) in it with bouquet garni, salt, pepper, carrots, onions...etc. Don't forget to turn it twice a day.

Put in oven with the strained marinade and roast!

[Suninfrance]

Well - despite having just eaten a rather hearty chilli - I'm drooling.  Question is - I'm a pretty naff cook, so you will need to tell me roasting times please.  I just wouldn't want to get it wrong and end up with it looking like a chicken leg [:D]

[Megan le Fey]

Not a suggestion, just indulging myself in a personal bit of nostalgia.  My mother used to coat a leg of freshly shot (Scottish) deer in a crust of moistened ground pepper and hang it in the cellar for what seemed to me like weeks - the pepper was to keep off flies and so avoid maggots. She would then lard it with bacon or pork fat and wrap it in a coat of flour and water crust and bake it slowly in the oven.  As I remember it was moist, tasty and altogether delicious.  This was more than sixty years ago and I doubt that anyone would go the that much trouble today,  I certainly don't.  Still, if somebody would do it I think I could force myself to eat it.[:P]

[hoverfrog]

OK, here's the full version!

"mettre dans 1 grand plat:

1 bouteille do bon vin rouge (côte du Rhone)

1 carotte coupé en rondelle

1 cuillèire d'huile

1 cuilière vinaigre

thin

laurier

sel

poivron

coupé un oignon en rodelle, et de l'ail

mettre marinée 2 jours, tournez et bien le badigoner.

A cuir:

mettre dans le four chaud - saler et poivrer. A mettre cuir avec le jus de la marinade, 1 bonne heure."

Oh, for the purists, any spelling mistakes are hers not mine!!!

The results? Delicious every time, although we are looking for an atlernative recipe for the hunting season or for when she empties her freezer before the hunting season :)

[Suze01]

Hi suninfrance,

It's pretty much as above (thanks for saving me the typing [;-)] )

I would thoroughly recommend getting a meat thermometre though.  I managed without one for 20 years but I can honestly say that using one is so much easier and takes the worry out of a not-quite-cooked-chicken or pork or over-done-beef [I]