Hare Soup

Ingredients

• 1 front quarter of hare
• 1 hare leg (cuisse)
• butter
• carrot
• onion
• celery
• white of leek
• lean ham
• parsley stems
• thyme
• bay leaf
• 30 grams arrow-root
• 2 liters consommé (ordinary stock)
• 3 tablespoons basilic infusion
• 1 pinch Cayenne pepper
• 60 grams butter
• 3-4 tablespoons port wine

Instructions

1. Cut the hare front quarter and leg into pieces. Sauté in butter with a fine mirepoix (brunoise dice) of carrot, onion, celery, white of leek, lean ham, parsley stems, and fragments of thyme and bay leaf.
2. Dust with 30 grams of arrow-root. Moisten with 2 liters of consommé and cook gently for 2½ hours.
3. After 2 hours, remove the leg pieces. Cut the meat into small dice and keep warm with a few spoonfuls of strained cooking liquid.
4. Ten minutes before the cooking is complete, add the hare liver, sliced thin (escalopé).
5. When cooking is complete, remove all hare pieces. Strain the cooking liquid and let it settle (dépouillement) for 20 minutes to skim and clarify.
6. Meanwhile, bone the hare pieces, pound the meat and liver together, pass through a fine sieve (tamis fin), and place the resulting purée in the soup tureen.
7. Just before serving, enrich the strained liquid with 3 tablespoons of an infusion of basil, marjoram, and rosemary; a pinch of Cayenne; and 60 grams of butter, whisked off the heat (monté au beurre).
8. Pass this liquid through a fine chinois (conical strainer) over the hare purée, whisking constantly with a whisk to blend smoothly. Finally, add the reserved diced meat and 3–4 tablespoons of port wine.