H&C

24
Jun
2009

2 Comments

Game Stock and Game Jus recipes

Jose, at a Game to Eat demo

"The secret of many sauce based dishes is a good quality stock, and I know that many of you told me at the weekend that you do not have the time or large amounts of bones needed to make stock when you need it for a particular dish.

I make stock in bulk and freeze it. During the season, I keep all the bones from any game I prepare and place them in a bag in the freezer to then make stock once I have stockpiled enough. All game bones are good for stock apart from rabbits. The best are venison bones and pheasant carcases.

Once the stock has been made, we can then turn it into a jus - a stock that has been fortified with the flavours of game trimmings, like cuts of venison and pheasant winglets, then reduced and concentrated to produce a sauce that will be strong in flavour and slightly thick, as the natural gelatine in the meat and bones give body to the sauce.

Once made, the jus can be frozen in small bags or in plastic containers. They can also be infused with herbs or have mushrooms and other ingredients added to compliment the meat. At the show, I took the basic jus and added fresh thyme leaves at the end to release their oils and flavour into the sauce.

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Here are the recipes for game stock and game jus:

Game stock
3kg bones (any game bones except rabbit)
3 large carrots, cut into a large rough chop
1 large onion, cut into a large rough chop
2 sticks celery, cut into a large rough chop
Oil

Step one: Fry or roast bones so that they get a good brown colour.
Step two: Fry or roast all the veg with a little oil so that it also gets a good brown colour.
Step three: Place the bones and veg into a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
Step four: Bring to the boil, skimming (removing the fat on the top) all the time.
Step five: Once boiled, allow to simmer for three to four hours skimming from time to time.
Step six: Once cooked strain and the stock can be used, frozen or turned into a jus.

Game jus
5 lt game stock (Approx)
1 kg game trimmings (diced venison is the best, but other game or a mix of game will do )
3 large carrots, cut into a large rough chop
1 large onion, cut into a large rough chop
1 stick celery, cut into a large rough chop
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and cut in half
2 tea spoon tomato puree
Half a bottle of red wine
Sprig of fresh thyme
S/P
Oil

Step one: Fry off the game trimmings with a little oil to give a good brown colour. Just do a bit at a time.
Step two: Fry off the veg in the same pan with a little more oil - again to give a good colour.
Step three: Once the veg has been fried, add the trimmings to the veg and add tomato puree. Fry off for two to three minutes.
Step four: Add wine and thyme and allow to reduce by half.
Step five: Add stock, season and reduce by a third.
Step six: Strain through a fine strainer and if you would like a thicker consistency, reduce some more or freeze and use as needed.