No. 2175

Venison Cutlets with Chestnut Puree

Cotelettes de Chevreuil a la Puree de Marrons

Pare some venison cutlets the same as mutton cutlet No. 1590, season with salt and dip in oil or melted butter, roll in bread-crumbs, equalize the surfaces and broil to a fine color, trim the handles and dress in a circle, filling the center with a consistent and mellow chestnut puree (No. 712); serve with a half-glaze sauce (No. 413) reduced with Madeira and game fumet (No. 397).

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes in shorthand, leaning on four cross-references that a modern reader will not have at hand. Stripped down, this is breaded venison rib chops under the broiler, ringed around a mound of chestnut purée, with a Madeira-spiked brown sauce.

Do not overcook the chopsThis is the hinge. Venison rib chops are almost fat-free and turn dry and livery past medium-rare; pull them at 125-130F internal, which on inch-thick chops is roughly 3 minutes per side under a hot broiler or in a ripping-hot pan. The breadcrumb coat browns fast, so heat and speed have to match.
Chevreuil means roe deerEuropean roe deer is not generally available to American cooks. Farmed red deer, axis or fallow venison, or American whitetail loin rack, all give the same lean, fine-grained chop; figure two to three chops per person.
Paring the cutlets (No. 1590)The mutton-cutlet method means cutting the rack between the ribs, scraping the rib bone clean for an inch or two to make the "handle," and flattening the meat slightly so it cooks evenly. Ask a butcher to french a venison rack and you have the same thing.
"Equalize the surfaces"Press the crumbed chops flat with the side of a knife blade so the coating is even in thickness. Uneven crumbs scorch in patches under a broiler.
Chestnut purée (No. 712)Chestnuts simmered in stock or milk until soft, then passed through a sieve and worked with butter and a little cream. Vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts, about 1 lb for four people, save an hour of peeling; "consistent and mellow" means it should hold a mound but not be stiff.
Half-glaze, Madeira and fumetHalf-glaze is demi-glace: brown sauce reduced with stock until it coats a spoon. Game fumet is a concentrated reduction of game bones and trimmings. A workable version is good veal demi-glace reduced with dry Madeira and the roasted venison trimmings, finished off the heat with butter.
Broiling equipmentRanhofer would most likely have broiled on a gridiron over live coals. A gas broiler set high with the rack near the element, or a cast-iron grill pan, gets the same color; the crumbs need direct radiant heat, not a moderate oven.
ServingThe recipe builds the dish as a ring with the purée in the center; sauce can be passed separately or spooned around the base rather than over the crumbs. Paper frills on trimmed handles appear elsewhere in cookery of this period and are optional now.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its game chapter reflects a period when wild venison still moved through American markets before the state and federal restrictions of the turn of the twentieth century closed the commercial hunt. The pairing of venison with chestnut is long-established French practice: chestnuts are sweet, starchy and mildly astringent, and were treated as a customary accompaniment to chevreuil and wild boar. The heavy cross-referencing here is characteristic of the book, which was written for professional kitchens where the sauces and purées were already prepared; Ranhofer expected a reader to work through his numbered system rather than to find a self-contained recipe.