Marinated hare with mushrooms

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Game season is well towards its end and I finally managed to put my hands on a saddle of hare (boned by my butcher, of course). Initially we had something else in mind. Basically a filled saddle like for the rabbit ... but it did not seem a good idea once we got the meat. Therefore, I picked up an old Italian recipe (hare in civet), changed a little bit and came out with this recipe. We liked it so much that we are already considering a repetition. Full hare taste with a bit more depth.

Serves: 2 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 9

Suggested wine: we had a fiano with it. Probably a nice old barolo would do as well.

Ingredients:
- 1 saddle of hare (in two halves)
- 4 thin slices of bacon
- 200g wild mushrooms
- 250g potatoes
- 250g celeriac
- 300ml red wine (possible matured in American oak)
- 20g butter
- 2 dried Bay (Laurel) leaves
- 1 tsp of dried rosemary
- 1 tsp of saffron
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- oil, salt and pepper as needed

How-to:
1. Put the meat in a deep bowl with the wine, saffron, 1 tbsp oil, bay leaves, rosemary, some salt and pepper. Stir and let it marinate for at least 4 hours.
2. Remove the meat from the marinate, roll it lenght-ways and wrap it in the bacon (two slices per half saddle). Grease a baking tin with 1 tbsp of oil and place the meat on it.
3. While the oven is pre-heating, peel and boil the potatoes and celeriac. As soon as ready, make a mash with them using all the butter. Clean and chop the mushrooms in medium pieces. Finely chopped the garlic.
4. Place the meat in a hot oven at 180C for 12' turning it once half way through. In the meantime, saute the garlic and mushrooms in the remaining oil. Once the mushrooms have browned pour in the marinate. Keep cooking until the marinate has not mostly reduced.
5. The meat will be ready before the marinate has fully reduced. While waiting, start composing the dish by making a first little tower with the mash and the hare roll on top. Once the marinate has reduced, distribute the mushrooms around it and the sauce on top of the hare.
6. You might want to drizzle some additional oil on top or use more wine in order to end up with more sauce for the dish. I prefer the former approach.