Venison With Red Wine & Chocolate Sauce And Gratin Dauphinoise

Gordon Ramsay's family fare cook book challenge day 43:

*Venison With Red Wine & Chocolate Sauce And Gratin Dauphinoise

 

 Recipe online(recommend the book though): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ABXW6H6Vbs

 

If you like chocolate, the dark and rich cocoa, this is your dish.  Even better the chocolate was mixed with red wine, which is always the sexy combination because of their aroma and delicate tastes.  

 

If you do not like the thought of  killing the cute deers who roaming in your back yards in the morning and greet you while you eating your breakfast, you can perfectly substitute the venison with some good red meat. The trick here is to pick the type of red meat from a game-ish animal, like turkey thighs or a goose. Beef would not be a good substitute because the meat is strong and heavy as oppose to wild, lean and sweetish taste. A easy way to determine if a meat is good for substitute is to think if it would go well with cranberry sauce.  I used turkey thighs for substitute, it would not be as good and tasty as venison but and it went perfect well with the sauce and gave me a peace in mind.

 

The first thing my husband said about the chocolate sauce was "weird", I agreed, I never had "desert" in the same plate as the main course. However, the sauce went really well with the tender red meat. The rich tasting of red wine and the bitter-sweetness of the melted chocolate really enhanced the flavor of the meat. It is the perfect fit for a game meat the same way as good home made gravy for roasted beef. At the same time, if you are watching your cholesterol, this dish provide excellent protein with minimum fat as long as you choose the lean game meat. Do not worry about the chocolate, use the semi sweet chocolate, there is not much sugar in it. I sauteed mixed wild baby greens to go with it, and together they made a wholesome meal. 

A tip here for the sauce: the chocolate will make the sauce a little grainy because of the cocoa solids, a good way to make the sauce looks smooth is to put a fine strainer on top of your dish and pour the sauce through the strainer. It will get rid of the chunks of the un-melted chocolate and finish the dish with a silky sauce.

The gratin dauphinoise reminds me of Acadia putin -- fries with cheese, but a more beautiful version. It was layered potato slices with cheese and cream. Yes it is good, cream and cheese plus potatoes, it is a dish that makes the hubbies happy.