Flambéed saddle of hare in a herb coating

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 fillets (hare loin fillets)
• 1 pack of puff pastry, frozen
• salt and pepper
• 5 juniper berries
• 8 sprigs of thyme
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 5 sage leaves
• 6 cl cognac
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 egg white
• 3 tbsp condensed milk
• Clarified butter

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 35 minutes

Thaw the frozen puff pastry. Pluck the herbs from the branches and finely chop. Crush the juniper berries in a mortar and pestle and add them to the herbs, mixing well. Spread the herb mixture evenly among the puff pastry sheets, stacking two on top of each other and rolling out to create four larger sheets. Season the saddle of hare fillets with salt and pepper. Briefly fry on all sides in very hot clarified butter, then remove from the heat. Gently heat the cognac in a ladle with a lighter, pour over the saddle of hare fillets, and flambé. Place one saddle of hare fillet on each sheet of pastry, brush the edges with egg white, fold the pastry over, and press firmly. If necessary, decorate the edges with a fork and cut two steam holes into the top of the pastry. Cut out decorations from any leftover pastry and adhere them with egg white. Mix the egg yolk and milk together and brush the parcels with it. Cook in an oven preheated to 180-190 degrees Celsius for about 20-25 minutes. I recommend these with corn cookies (stir a can of corn into a small amount of thin pancake batter, add 2 tablespoons of this batter to the pan in rounded blobs, and fry, turning once), and mulled wine pears (cook peeled whole pears in mulled wine for about 30-45 minutes, depending on the ripeness of the pears, and let them cool in the mulled wine).