Le Lievre Rossini
Recipe by Callum Smart, winner of the Master Chefs of Great Britain’s Game Chef of the Year Competition 2025.
Ingredients
Pan-Roasted Hare Saddle
1 Whole hare saddle
10g Thyme
50g Butter
Method
Seal the hare saddle in a hot pan until golden brown on all sides
Add butter and thyme, then baste the hare continuously
Transfer the pan to a preheated oven at 110degC and roast until the internal temperature reaches 48degC
Remove fromm oven and rest the hare for 5-10mins
Brush the hare saddle with the prepared hare glaze before serving
Hare Glaze
250g Red wine vinegar
150g Caster sugar
1/2 bulb garlic
1 Bay leaf
5 Black peppercorns
125g Gluten free soy sauce
Method
In a pan reduce the red wine vinegar with garlic, bay leaves and black peppercorns by half
Add caster sugar ad continue to reduce until the volume decreases by about one-third and the mixture becomes syrupy
Stir in the soy sauce and reduce further until the glaze has a consistency between maple syrup and honey
Strain and set aside
Hare Sauce
2 Hare legs
1 Hare heart
1 Hare liver
25g Butter
1 Shallot
1 clove Garlic
2 Dried shiitake mushrooms
250g Red wine
750g Dark chicken stock
50g Dark chocolate
20g Dried blood powder (reconstituted with 120g water)
20g Sherry vinegar
1 sprig Thyme
Method
Roast the hare legs until well browned, scraping the pan bottom. Remove hare from pan
Add butter, then sweat (soften without browning) the shallot, garlic and dried shiitake mushrooms
Return hare legs and thyme to the pan. Deglaze with red wine ad reduce until syrupy
In a separate pan, reduce the chicken stock to a demi-glace consistency, then add to the red wine reduction
Pass the sauce through a fine sieve
Blend the hare heart, liver and reconstituted blood powder until smooth, then strain
Heat the sauce to 70degC and slowly whisk in the dark chocolate and the blood mixture - take care not to boil
Finish the sauce with sherry vinegar, adjusting the seasoning as needed
Hare Parcel
100g Hare leg (minced)
80g Pork fat (minced)
1 Hare liver (minced)
1g Ground cinnamon
1g Ground black pepper
1g Ground star anise
1g Ground nutmeg
3g Mustard powder
3.5g Salt
1.5g Garlic powder
25g Crepinette (caul fat)
Method
Combine minced hare leg, pork fat and liver with all spices, slat and garlic powder
Weigh into 40g portions and wrap each in crepinette
Roast the parcels in a pan over medium heat until browned, then finish in a preheated oven
Glaze parcels with hare glaze just before serving
Wild Mushrooms
50g In season wild mushrooms
50g Butter
50ml Oil
Salt - to taste
Method
Cook the mushrooms in foaming butter and oil over medium heat
Add a small amount of water and emulsify the butter into the mushrooms
Season with salt and keep warm
Macerated Blackberries
50g Blackberries
50g Whey (from yoghurt or cheese)
Method
Wash and cut blackberries as needed
Macerate in whey for at least 30mins to soften and add acidity
Pearl Barley Risotto
200g Pearl barley
350ml Chicken Stock
1/2 piece Orange zest
1 Thyme sprig
40g Honey
20g Soy sauce
Sherry vinegar - to finish
50g Butter
50g Ricotta
1/4 Whole celeriac (diced)
Method
Bring pearl barley to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30-40mins until tender
Drain and rinse barley under cold water
Simmer chicken stock with orange zest, thyme, honey and soy sauce to reduce and infuse flavours. Add half of the orange juice at the end
Cook diced celeriac in foaming butter until tender
Reheat barley in the infused stock with celeriac
Emulsify with butter and ricotta, then finish with a splash of sherry vinegar
Cashew Foie Gras
75g Cashew nuts
15g Odourless coconut oil
45g Banana shallot (thinly sliced)
25g White button mushrooms (thinly sliced)
1 Garlic clove (thinly sliced)
55g Cream sherry
138g Water
13g White miso paste
8g Tomato puree
1.5g Cinnamon
4g Salt
0.75g Ground black pepper
0.75g Low acyl gellan gum
0.2g High acyl gellan gum
Half a baguette
50g Duck fat
Method
Heat coconut oil until fully melted. Cook shallots, mushrooms and garlic in the oil, covered, for about 10mins until soft and translucent
Uncover, increase heat, add cream sherry and reduce until glazed
Add remaining ingredients (except gellan gums) and bring to a boil. Cook for 1min
Transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth
Add gellan gums and continue blending until the mixture thickens (approx 2mins) and reaches above 93degC
Toast baguette slices in duck fat and finish with cashew foie gras to create a Rossini-style toast
Crispy Shallot Ingredients
1 Shallot
20g Rice flour
15g Mushroom powder
10g Salt
250g Cooking oil (deep frying)
Method
Thinly slice shallots and dust with rice flour
Deep fry in oil at 180degC until golden brown
Drain on kitchen towel and dust with mushroom powder and salt
Garnish
10 Nasturtium leaves
10 Small Seasonal leaves
Salt for seasoning