Francois Olyff, an experienced Chef and Account Manager at Entegra in Belgium, shares his passion for the culinary arts and his flagship recipe for Autumn, Saddle of hare with spices, cocoa sauce and roasted witloof.

Francois has spent the vast majority of his career behind the stove as a private chef, and then as a caterer for small and large groups, whilst creating a wine sales company! 

When asked what he loves most about being a chef, Francois says it is "the pleasure of giving, of receiving and always finding a solution to meet the demands of the guests."

As we welcome Autumn, Francois thought it fitting to share one of his favourite seasonal recipes, Saddle of Hare with spices, a cocoa sauce and roasted witloof. Francois explains why he chose these ingredients for the dish, "I love cooking Hare this season, Autumn brings the undeniable return of game to our plates. Chocolate because it is an ingredient that makes up our gastronomic culture and vegetables as they are a simple delicious pleasure."

Our Chef's Recipie:

Ingrédients :

• Saddle of Hare
• Spice mix; cinnamon-clove-mustade-black pepper-cumin
• Mycryo (100 % pure cocoa butter, in fine powder form)
• 1 1/2 bottles of very tannic red wine
• 1 l "fond de gibier"
• 1 large tablespoon of the spice mixture
• As many large squares of chocolate as there are guests (dark 70-80% cocoa)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 large knob of butter
• Chiconette ; mini witloof
• Lemon zest
• Butter
• Light candy sugar
• Poultry stock

Preparation:

The Sauce

• Melt some onions with a little butter until they become translucent; add the wine. Heat the wine and flambé to burn off all traces of alcohol.
• Add the "fond de gibier", shallots and spices and cook until reduced by half.
• Filter the sauce and squeeze the onions and shallots, to get all the juices.
• Reduce the filtered sauce to the desired volume (depending on the number of guests). Taste, and if necessary, adjust the seasoning (salt, sugar if necessary if the wine is too acidic after cooking).
• Once the creaminess has been obtained, you can make it 'silky' by adding 1 large square of dark chocolate (70-80% cocoa) per person. Melt over a low heat.

Chicory

• Lightly brown off the chicory in butter in a pan
• Sweeten and zest the chicory
• Cover with game stock and a sheet of baking paper
• Roast in the oven

Hare

• Mix Mycryo and spice mixture
• Roll the saddle in this mixture
• Cook rosé on the grill

The chef's choice to accompany this dish, a glass of Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes, Chateauneuf-des-Papes.