Espresso Lacquered Venison Chop & Civet Stuffed Cabbage, Sweet Potato, Crab Apple

In the latest version, the civet is filled inside of the cabbage and also serves to prop up the venison chop.

The venison utilized in the preparation is farm raised ‘cervena’. Based in New Zealand, cervena venison is raised without hormones and in a free roaming environment. By regulation, all deer are brought to market at less than 3 years of age.
The first cut we use is the rack – this is marinated with silan (mid-eastern date molasses) to which a small amount of red wine vinegar is added and brewed espresso to thin. The racks are marinated whole overnight, cut into 2 bone portions, bound with twine and seared over high heat in a black steel pan and cooked rare to medium rare.
The second cut is the shoulder. This is cut into large cubes and cooked ‘civet’ style. Civet is a preparation usually made with game meats and classically its sauce is thickened with the blood of the animal (no, we are not doing this). It is always marinated for a day or two in red wine with aromatics. It is then dusted with flour and braised with bacon, red wine, aromatics and stock until tender and served like a stew with its sauce. Once this is removed from the oven, the pieces of venison are picked out and the sauce is reduced to the proper consistency. The venison civet itself is then shredded with a fork, moistened with the sauce and then bound with a small amount of herbed bread crumbs. The venison is then filled inside of Napa cabbage leaves that have been blanched, formed into a ball, and wrapped with caul fat. It is then seared and warmed gently in a seasoned veal stock.
It is essential for the sweet potato puree to be at the proper consistency for the best results. Whole sweet potatoes are tossed in olive oil and salt and wrapped individually in aluminum foil. They are baked, cooled, peeled and pureed. They are then transferred into a Vita-Prep blender and seasoned with salt and brown butter and then blended. Thin out with chicken stock to achieve the best results and blend on high speed for about 3 minutes while continuously plunging.
The crab apples are poached in honey and peeled and the sauce is from the civet with a small amount of the espresso marinade for seasoning.