Ingredients

• 400g sour cherries 
• 250ml red wine
• 100ml red port wine 
• 100ml orange juice
• 3 EL honey
• 400g celery
• 250ml poultry stock 
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg 
• 100g butter
• 1 slice toast
• 150g chestnuts, cooked 
• 100g soft butter
• 4 (approx. 150g) venison cutlets 
• Salt, pepper
• 30g clarified butter 
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 thyme sprig
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly pressed

Autumnal leaf salad with saddle of wild hare, blackberries and oranges venison cutlets with a chestnut crust, celery purée and wild cherries in alcohol

Directions:

1. Wash the sour cherries and place them into a preserving jar. Bring the red wine and port to the boil with the orange juice and honey and pour, boiling hot, over the sour cherries into the glass. Seal the jar and keep covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Before serving, boil down the juice by half and thicken slightly with starch.

2. Peel and dice the celery. Bring the stock to the boil, add the diced celery. Cover the vegetable and cook until tender for about 15 minutes. Then drain the liquid, finely purée the celery together with the butter in a food processor. Season the purée with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Keep warm.

3. Cut the crust from the toast, dice and grind finely with the chestnuts in a food processor. Beat the butter until fluffy, stir in the chestnut toast mixture. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat the oven to 160C°. Season the venison cutlets with salt and pepper and sauté on both sides in hot clarified butter with rosemary, thyme and garlic. Place everything on a baking sheet lined with aluminium foil and cook in the hot oven for about 10 minutes.

5. Switch on the oven grill. Spread the chestnut mixture evenly with a thickness of about 5 mm onto the venison and grill until golden brown under the oven grill. Allow the meat to rest briefly afterwards and serve with the celery purée and sour cherries in alcohol. Steamed savoy cabbage makes an ideal accompaniment.