As the seasons change from winter to spring, restaurants around the country will start to move away from cheesy, starch-filled comfort food and towards fresh flavors and lighter fare. However, until sunny seventy degree weather and a new crop of seasonal produce officially arrives it’s time to turn our attention to transitional dishes.
By Annelise McAuliffe
Located just outside of Washington DC, The Wine Kitchen on the Creek is serving up the perfect dish to take you from the snow and the cold into the warm weather months. This Char-Braised Wild Boar Shank is a satisfying dish that combines hearty winter vegetables and succulent protein with light fresh flavors and complex textures. The tender boar is paired with a light Celeriac Puree and Roasted Root Vegetables. It’s all topped off with tangy pomegranate and a flavorful jus.
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Char-Braised Wild Boar Shank
Description
This Char-Braised Wild Boar Shank is a satisfying dish that combines hearty winter vegetables and succulent protein with light fresh flavors and complex textures. The tender boar is paired with a light Celeriac Puree and Roasted Root Vegetables. It’s all topped off with tangy Pomegranate and a flavorful Jus.
Ingredients
BOAR
- 4 12oz boar shanks
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1/2 cup celery
- 1 cup Yellow onion
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. minced garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 2cups red wine
- 8 cups Ham stock or veal stock
- 1 tbsp. blended oil
CELERIAC PUREE
- 3.6oz butter
- 17.6oz Celeriac
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
- 1 cup diced rutabaga
- 4 medium sized beets
- 2 bunch baby carrots peeled or just washed
- 1 cup baby onions peeled
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 5 sprigs rosemary
- 6 cloves garlic
Instructions
BOAR
- Preheat the oven to 300*F, Season the boar shanks well on each side then place on the hot grill turning until you have a good char on each side
- Place the oil in a braising pan and heat on medium high, then add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic in the hot oil and cook until they begin to wilt,
- place the boar shanks in the braising pan on top of the vegetables, add the thyme and bay leaves and add the red wine, simmer the red wine for 3 minutes and then add the stock, the stock should cover 2/3 of the boar shank ( this can depend on the size of the pan, more or less stock can be used if needed), cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 4 hours until very tender.
- Reserve the liquid in the pan.
CELERIAC PUREE
- Peel and chop the celeriac and place in a pot with the butter and cream, simmer the celeriac until very tender.
- Season with salt to taste and then blend on high until very smooth. (Remember to start the blender on low and work up to high, this prevents the puree from exploding from the top of the blender.)
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
- Roast the beets in a separate pan. start with beats because they take the longest, roast the beets at 350*F covered with 1 sprig rosemary, 1 clove of garlic, and a little water for about 35-45 min until fork tender.
- While the beets are roasting toss the carrots with 1tblsp olive oil 2 sprigs of rosemary and 2 cloves of garlic and roast at 350*F for about 25 min until tender. Toss the rutabaga with the baby onions, remaining olive oil and rosemary and garlic roast at 350*F for 8 minutes until tender.
TO SERVE
- Place the roasted root vegetables in the bottom of a large serving dish or casserole dish. Then place the Boar shanks on top of the root vegetables.
- Strain the liquid you reserved from braising the boar and melt in 2 tbsp. butter and season with salt and pepper. Pour a little over the boar and save the rest to serve on the side as a gravy.
- Serve the celeriac on the side as well and scoop as needed, garnish the boar and vegetables with the seeds of one pomegranate.
- Category: Main
