What's Pressoir Cooking?

January 5, 2022
by Justine Puaud

Wild boar tournedos with pears in spicy wine sauce

I haven’t spent Christmas in France with my family for the last 7 years. This year was kind of special as we were celebrating the first Christmas with my daughter Fleur and it also announced our official return to our home in France!

My in-laws are definitely the biggest food lovers and food connoisseurs I know. My mother-in-law spends her whole day in the kitchen, making fantastic slow cooked dishes, traditional French pastries and incredible sauces. She loves to cook wild boar around the holidays. This is a tradition in her family. I am often a bit nervous because in my opinion, wild boar tends to be too strong and rich in flavor. This time I was wrong. The wild boar tournedos were tender and delicious. The pear brings freshness to this heavy, creamy sauce.

For this occasion, we opened Château Giscours, Margaux 2001 and Roc D’Anglade 2011. Giscours was delicious and was representative of the great Bordeaux, with soft tannins. It took a while for the Roc d’Anglade to open. There was a delicate truffle nose and a fine and fresh palate.

Ingredients for 6

6 wild boar tournedos
12 slices bacon
6 pears
1 btl red wine (the sauce is really important in this dish so you MUST select a good wine)
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
black pepper seeds
1 cup of cream
5 ounces of butter
3 ounces of sugar
4 teaspoons of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liquor)
1 piece of dark chocolate
salt & pepper

Pears

Peel pears and core them. Gently heat the wine with spices and sugar. Plunge pears - to poach them - in this liquid for about 15 minutes over low heat. Leave pears in the poaching wine and macerate for two hours. Then drain pears. Surround each pear with a slice of bacon, place them in a gratin dish with butter and bake them for about 15 minutes (410F).

Sauce

Keep the maceration wine from the pear preparation and reduce to three quarters over medium heat for about 45 minutes. Once the wine is reduced, add whipped cream, black currant liquer and the piece of chocolate. Season with salt and pepper, then filter the preparation. Return the pan to low heat. Boil the whole mixture into a thick sauce, adding butter in small pieces while whisking.

Meat

Wrap each tournedo with a slice of bacon and tie up. Heat a knob of butter in a pan and quickly sear the tournedos on all sides including the sides. Turn off heat, put a lid on the pan and let stand for 1 minute. On each plate, put one pear, a tournedo and cover with the sauce.

It is delicious! Bon appétit.