Man Attacks Wild Boar

So a couple of weeks back, I cooked wild boar shoulder for the very first time. The resulting dinner was scrumptious, therefore I decided to memorialize it for all eternity in blog form.

Wild Boar (like most game meats) is extremely low in fat, probably because they spend all day rooting through the woods for sustenance, rather than sitting on their collective butts eating bonbons in a stable while ranchers cater to their every whim. The leanness of the meat needs to be taken into account to avoid over-cooking.

What I Did:

I sautéd some mushrooms and shallots in olive oil, then turned the heat down and let them simmer in a cup of merlot for about 10 minutes. At the end I tossed in about a ¼ cup of butter that turned the cooked down merlot into a creamy sauce. The butter was sliced and diced for quick, easy melting.

When the mushrooms got to the simmer stage, I turned my attention to the wild boar meat. I’d marinated it overnight, adding some herbs, a bit of garlic, and a splash (or two) of red wine to the plain marinade. I seared the cuts at high heat in a frying pan, just a couple of minutes per side. I poured the marinade into a roasting pan, plunked the wild boar cuts in when the searing was done, covered the pan in foil, then slid it into the oven (preheated to 400 degrees) where it sat (eating bonbons) for ten minutes.

One thing I should mention is that wild boar shoulder is normally a meat you’d slow cook at low temperature for a long time. But with the aid of a very sharp knife, I turned the plump, round shoulder roast into cuts that looked like tenderloin. So really, the way I cooked this is meant for tenderloin, not shoulder. Just so you know…

The asparagus & tomatoes were drizzled with olive oil then lightly sprinkled with salt & pepper. I roasted them for ten minutes right alongside the wild boar. The asparagus was nicely firm. If you prefer your veggies a bit mushier, you could bump the time up to fifteen minutes but hold the tomatoes out if you do — they can’t take much more than ten minutes in the oven at that temperature. You want them in there just long enough for the skin to pop.

And here’s what it looked like ten minutes later. That was good eatin’!