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Venison, Saddle Of, Crusted

A saddle of venison is simmered with aromatics, coated in an egg and breadcrumb mixture, then baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Basil and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 688 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Venison, Saddle Of, Crusted

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the venison

  1. Hang the venison for a short time, then wash it.

  2. Place the venison in a broad pan and cover it with cold water.

  3. Add vinegar, carrots, onions, bay leaves, sweet herbs, salt, pepper, juniper berries, pimento, and cloves.

  4. Bring to a scalding heat, skim, and simmer for 2 hours or until tender.

Crust and bake

  1. Remove the venison and spread a beaten egg over it.

  2. Mix bread crumbs with sugar, cinnamon, and pounded cloves, then sprinkle over the venison to form a thick coating.

  3. Skim off some fat from the cooking liquid and drizzle over the crumbs.

  4. Bake the venison in the oven at 400°F (200°C) until nicely browned.

  5. Serve with fruit sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Marjoram + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Venison saddle
Is the main meat, cooked gently in liquid until tender before crusting.
Bread crumbs
Form the crust that browns and crisps in the oven.
Beaten egg
Acts as a binder so the crumb coating sticks to the meat.
Moist sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
Vinegar
Acidity in the cooking liquid helps tenderise the meat.

The step that matters

Bake until nicely browned. The crust is already cooked, so the oven step mainly browns it. Watch it closely, since sugar in the crumbs can scorch before the coating is evenly golden.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, vinegar, carrot, basil, marjoram, pepper, clove):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, vinegar, carrot, basil, marjoram, pepper, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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