Sous Vide Sandhill Crane Breast with Port Wine Reduction
Perfectly cooked sandhill crane breast drizzled with a luxurious port wine reduction. The port's fruity notes perfectly complement the meat's robust flavor.
Servings: 2
Calories: 471kcal
Ingredients
Crane:
- 1 sandhill crane breast (10-12 oz)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon pork lard (or other cooking fat)
Port Wine Reduction:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ⅓ cup shallots, diced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cups port wine
- ⅔ cup wild game stock (or beef stock)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Crane:
- Preheat the sous vide machine to 120°F.
- Season the crane breast all over with salt and black pepper.
- Place thyme sprigs, garlic, and butter in the vacuum bag then place the crane breast on top of the other ingredients.
- Seal the bag with a vacuum sealer. At this point, the bag can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before cooking.
- Place the sous vide bag in the preheated water bath and cook for 1 hour.
- When the meat has about 5 minutes left in the water bath, preheat a cast iron pan over high heat. Watch it carefully so it doesn't start smoking.
- Remove the bag from the water bath. Cut the bag open with scissors and remove the meat. Remove the thyme and garlic. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Re-season with salt and pepper if it looks like it has lost the seasoning.
- Once the pan is really hot, add the lard and let it melt. Immediately add the crane breast, presentation side down.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the outside is golden brown.
- Flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 125-130°F for medium-rare.
- Remove the breast from the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Slice the meat into ½" slices and drizzle with port wine reduction (instructions below). Enjoy!
Port Wine Reduction:
- The sauce takes about 45 minutes to cook. You can make it while the crane is in the sous vide bath or up to 1 day in advance.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add butter to the pan and let it melt. Add shallots and thyme and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the shallots are softened.
- Add port wine to the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Add stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to about ½ cup. Taste and season with salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer.
- Serve immediately or reheat in a small saucepan on the stove just before serving.
Notes
- Sandhill crane meat is unique and can't really be replaced. But, this recipe works with duck breasts or even a steak too if you adjust the searing time at the end.
- Port wine is typically a sweet red wine often served with dessert. The sweetness in the wine gives the sauce an almost syrupy quality that is so luxurious. You can use other red wines, but it won't be quite the same.
- A sous vide machine is also known as an immersion circulator. Using a machine takes the guesswork out of sous vide cooking by keeping the water at a precise temperature, but it can be done without one. Check out this resource on sous vide cooking without a machine.
- While it takes a little more work to use the sous vide method without a vacuum sealer, it can be done. The water displacement method uses water to remove the air from a resealable plastic bag instead of using a vacuum bag.
- A cast iron skillet is the perfect complementary piece of equipment for sous vide cooking. Since the meat is mostly cooked in the sous vide water bath, you need a very hot pan to quickly sear the meat without overcooking it. A cast iron pan holds heat better than most other pans.
- For best results, a fine-mesh strainer is used to strain the shallots and thyme from the port wine sauce. The result is a super smooth sauce which makes for a more pleasant eating experience and presentation.
- Allowing the pan to reach a higher-than-usual temperature before searing guarantees a beautifully browned exterior while keeping the inside perfectly cooked.
- To ensure perfect timing, consider preparing the sauce ahead of time and simply reheating it right before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 721mg | Potassium: 918mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 223IU | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 6mg
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