Hare à la Royale
Ingredients:
(serves 8)
1 hare of about 4kg in
weight
12 slices of lard
60 cloves of garlic
40 peeled shallots
2 carrots
1 bunch of mixed herbs
1 stick of celery
1 sage leaf
10 peppercorns
6 juniper berries
2 cloves
4 bottles of vintage
Borgogna wine
10cl hare's blood
50g butter
Cover a deep casserole
dish with some of the slices of lard. Place on one side the hare with
its kidneys, heart, liver and lungs removed, which must be kept to
one side to be used later. Arrange the cloves of garlic, nearly all
the shallots, diced carrots, the bunch of herbs with the tuft off the
celery and the sage leaf all around the hare. Season with pepper,
juniper and the clove.
Cover the hare
with the remaining slices of lard and moisten it with plenty of wine.
Let it boil gently and flambé to burn the alcohol. Leave it to cook
for 6 hours in an oven at 160°.
Towards the end of
the cooking time, chop up the kidneys, liver and heart, add the
remaining shallots and a little wine. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the hare on a flat plate and cover it with a damp
cheesecloth, so that a crust forms.
Strain the sauce,
pressing hard on the garlic and the shallot, to squeeze out the
juices and leave it to stand.
Heat
up some of this sauce, in which the chopped offal has been added,
without bringing it to the boil. Heat the hare up in the remaining
sauce. Mix the two sauces, only when it is time to serve the dish.