No. 2172

Venison Cutlets a la Financiere

Cotelettes de Chevreuil a la Financiere

Prepare some venison cutlets the same size as those of mutton (No. 1590); lard them on one side only, but all on the same side, with the handles on the right; put them into a buttered sautoir with the larded side uppermost and cook them in a hot oven; finally drain off the butter from the sautoir, glaze the cutlets with a brush, trim them with paper frills (No. 10) and dress in a circle on a low venison quenelle forcemeat border; fill the center with a financiere garnishing (No. 667).

← No. 2171 Venison Cutlets a la Cauchoise Venison & Large Game No. 2173 Venison Cutlets, Deviled →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already knows the cross-references; stripped down, this is small venison chops roasted hot and fast, ringed around a rich Madeira garnish. The hinge is internal temperature — lean venison loin is ruined by the extra two minutes that would be harmless on lamb.

Doneness above allVenison rib cutlets have almost no intramuscular fat and go dry and livery past medium rare. Pull them at 125-130F internal and rest five minutes; in a hot oven that is a matter of six to ten minutes depending on thickness.
"A hot oven"Ranhofer gives no temperature; a rough modern equivalent would be in the region of 425-450F. The cutlets are meant to colour on the larded side while the interior stays pink.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow pan, not a deep casserole. Any heavy oven-safe skillet or shallow braiser does the job; the low sides let the surface brown rather than steam.
LardingThreading strips of chilled pork back fat through the surface with a larding needle, all on one face so the presentation side self-bastes. Back fat and larding needles are specialty items now; barding — laying a thin sheet of fat or pancetta over the top — gives most of the benefit.
GlazingNot sugar. Brushing with glace de viande, a brown stock reduced to a syrup, for gloss and savour. A few spoonfuls of heavily reduced veal or game stock stands in.
Financière garnishingThe classic version (Ranhofer's No. 667) is cockscombs and cocks' kidneys, truffles, mushrooms and small quenelles bound in a Madeira-scented sauce. Combs and kidneys are effectively unobtainable; a garnish of sauteed mushrooms, truffle or truffle paste and small poultry quenelles in a Madeira demi-glace keeps the character.
The forcemeat borderA low ring of game quenelle forcemeat piped onto the platter and poached or set in the oven, holding the sauce in the centre. Optional for home service — a shallow warmed platter with the garnish spooned into the middle does the same work.
Paper frillsPurely decorative cuffs slipped over the exposed rib bones. Skip them or buy them; they contribute nothing to the eating.
QuantityRanhofer gives none, as usual. A full rack of venison yields roughly eight cutlets, or two servings as a main course, three or four as part of a longer menu.

A Little History

Chevreuil in Ranhofer's French means roe deer, a small European species; The Epicurean (1894) was written from the kitchens of Delmonico's in New York, where the venison at hand would more often have been American deer. The financiere garnish is one of the grand nineteenth-century classical assemblies, often associated with the elaborate service of the Restoration and July Monarchy period and said, by a traditional explanation, to be named for the wealth of its components rather than for any particular financier: cockscombs, cocks' kidneys, truffles and quenelles were expensive trimmings even then. Its appearance here shows how completely Delmonico's operated inside the French repertoire.