Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Walk to Rivendell - Week 11 Report


The weather continues to be despicable, so I’m opening with this photo of the June Roomasaare Regatta to remind myself and you that summer and good weather does come.


I earlier posted the photograph of this in a forum on Live Journal – Food Watch and a watcher requested the recipe. So, as I have almost noting else of interest to write about, here, forthwith, what to do with a kilo of fresh wild boar meat (metsasika in Estonian) if you should be fortunate enough to find yourself with such an item.



Recipe for Wild Boar Braised in Red Wine


Cut the meat into largish chunks, maybe 3 cm’s square-ish.


Marinate at least overnight. I used a mixture of half a bottle of Sangiovese, a good glug (as Jamie Oliver says) of olive oil and a mixture of the herbs and spices in the photograph.


Garlic, sea salt, whole peppercorns, dried sage, 2-3 whole cloves and 3 juniper berries.


These grow prominently on Saaremaa.


The next day remove the meat from the marinade and wipe dry. Roll in flour and brown in some olive oil and remove.

Add more oil and gently sweat 1 medium onion julienned, 1 large carrot julienned and a good cup full of quartered mushrooms.


Add the meat to the pot. Strain the marinade and add this along with enough good red wine to cover and 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.


Cover tightly and simmer 3 hours or until the meat is soft.


As you can see I served this with pureed potatoes to soak up the sauce.




I know I swore I wasn’t going to post any more winter pictures… but…


I think these women in the forest are doing a ritual to encourage spring to hurry up and get here. I don’t think it’s working as it’s snowing – AGAIN – today.




Weekly STATS

4 days walked

Miles = 14.7

Kms. = 23.7

Totals walked: 153 / 239

Still to go 319 / 479

In relation to Frodo &Co: Heading east from Chetwood. Ground dropping slowly. Quiet and peaceful.


11 comments:

Rachel Green said...

Fascinating ritual. We do something similar.

martha said...

Yes, but you are not carved from logs, I think.

spacedlaw said...

Thanks for the recipe. It's "rolled in flour", I guess.
Interesting statues. Do you have close up pictures?

martha said...

Yes, rolled in flour is right.

I couldn't get close to the ladies as the ground was too wet and slushy, but I will be going by there again soon and I will get some close ups.

They look a bit like the Witches Hill carvings on the Courland Spit in Lithuania. One time when you are visiting up here we should try and get there as well. The Courland is as interesting geographically and historically as Saaremaa.

Adam said...

That sounds delicious and there is plenty of wild boar in France. I think the roll in floor part sounds quite fun too - perhaps that is linked to the ritual carvings! :-)

martha said...

Splurf! The first laugh of the morning award goes to..... 'roll in flour' - indeed.
I know that many of my friends in France and Italy have the possibility of getting wild meat, so..... especially for you. Are there meat shops in Paris that sell game in season?

Unknown said...

I think it's time for some wild game over here as well! That looks divine.

Loved the forest ladies. I'll wait for the close ups like everyone else. :)

Good on you for keeping up with the walk!

martha said...

'Good on you for keeping up with the walk!'
I have to - Steph, now that I've been written up in the local newspaper, people are watching.

We may get forest ladies this week...maybe...maybe.

Jennifer said...

Love wild boar in red wine! Made it last year (or was it two years ago?) and it was heavenly.
Hope your weather warms up soon!

martha said...

It's a good dish for this kind of weather. And we have an awful lot of the tufted buggers. They need culling in the winter.
The weather boffins are promising sun and warmer temperatures tomorrow, but they've been promising tomorrow for weeks. Thanks for the good wishes.

sonia said...

forest ladies look great, look forward to seeing more of them.