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Roebuck, Cutlets Of
Divide a neck of roebuck into cutlets, trim them neatly, flatten with a cutlet-bat, and season with pepper and salt. Dip the cutlets first into clarified butter, and afterwards into bread-crumbs. Butter the bars of the gridiron, and boil the cutlets over a gentle fire, turning them frequently to preserve the gravy. Serve with a little piquant sauce poured round them. Time to broil the cutlets, ten to twelve minutes.
A straightforward grilled venison cutlet, crumbed and broiled. Two things in the original need translating before you start: the animal, and the word "boil".
- "Boil the cutlets over a gentle fire"This is a printer's slip for broil — the same sentence specifies a gridiron and gives a broiling time. The cutlets go on a grill or under a broiler, never into liquid.
- RoebuckThe European roe deer, a small game animal; a dressed carcass usually runs somewhere in the region of 25-40 lb. It is not farmed or sold commercially in North America, and it is a game species with statutory close seasons in Britain and Europe. Any farmed or wild venison substitutes directly; red deer, fallow and axis all behave much the same way on the grill.
- Neck versus rackA roe neck is small and comparatively sinewy, which is probably why the recipe has the cutlets batted flat. Modern butchers generally cut venison cutlets from the rack or loin, which are more tender and need no pounding beyond a light flattening for even thickness.
- Cutlet-batA flat, heavy metal paddle, often dampened before use. A meat mallet's smooth face or the flat of a heavy pan does the job; the point is to even the thickness, not to shred the fibres.
- Cook to temperature, not to the clockVenison is very lean and turns dry and livery past medium. Ten to twelve minutes suits cutlets a good inch thick over a gentle fire; for the half-inch cutlets most butchers cut, three to four minutes a side is plenty. Pull at 130-135F internal and rest five minutes.
- Crumbs on a grillButter the bars generously and keep the fire moderate, or the crumb coat sticks and tears away. A ridged grill pan or the broiler with the cutlets on a buttered rack gives a more reliable crust than open bars.
- Piquant sauceConventionally a sharp brown sauce — reduced stock with shallot, vinegar or wine, and chopped gherkins and capers. Sauce poivrade, the peppery game version built on the trimmings, is a classic partner and can be made while the cutlets rest.
- YieldA whole roe neck yields only a handful of small cutlets, enough for two or three. Reckon two rack cutlets per person if you are using farmed venison.
Cassell's belongs to a period when British kitchens still handled a great deal of game, and venison entries cover haunch, saddle, collops, pasty, and cutlets like these. Roebuck was the smallest of the native British deer, and its meat was reckoned finer and more delicate than red deer, which suited it to a quick-cooked cutlet rather than the long roasting a haunch demanded. The crumbing here uses clarified butter alone as the binder, rather than the egg-and-breadcrumb a l'anglaise coating, and it works because the butter sets on the cold meat and holds the crumbs while they toast. The insistence on turning frequently "to preserve the gravy" reflects the long-held belief that searing sealed juices inside the meat; the physics of that has since been disproved, though frequent turning does in fact cook thin cutlets more evenly.