Cook It Rare, Rest It Long
Kangaroo fillet is so lean that it is genuinely unforgiving — taken past medium-rare it becomes dry and livery, but cooked correctly it is tender, clean-tasting and closer to venison than to beef. The rules are simple: very hot pan, very short time, and a rest that is at least as long as the cooking. A red wine jus built on bone broth supplies the richness the meat lacks.
Ingredients
Serves 4 | Cost: $8.50 per serving | Total: $34.00 | Ready in 25 min
- 700 g (1½ lb) kangaroo fillet, in two pieces
- 2 tablespoons beef tallow
- 250 ml (1 cup) red wine
- 350 ml beef bone broth
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly
- 1 tablespoon cold butter
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Bring to room temperature. Take the kangaroo out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead. Pat it completely dry and season all over with sea salt and cracked black pepper just before it goes into the pan.
- Sear fast. Heat the tallow in a heavy pan over the highest heat until smoking. Sear the fillets for 2 minutes per side, turning to colour all surfaces, for no more than 6 minutes total. The centre should still be distinctly rare.
- Rest properly. Transfer the fillets to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil, and rest for a full 10 minutes. Carry-over heat will bring them to a perfect medium-rare while the juices redistribute.
- Build the jus. Pour the red wine into the hot pan and scrape up all the browned residue. Reduce by two-thirds, then add the bone broth, thyme and redcurrant jelly and simmer for 8 minutes until it lightly coats a spoon.
- Finish and slice. Off the heat, whisk the cold butter into the jus until glossy and strain out the thyme. Slice the rested fillet thickly against the grain, fan onto warm plates, and pour the jus over.
Nutritional & Dietary Notes
Dairy-Free
There is no milk, cream, butter or cheese in this recipe. Richness comes from the meat, the cooking fat and the aromatics rather than from dairy, which makes it a comfortable choice for anyone who is lactose intolerant or avoiding dairy altogether.
Gluten-Free
Every ingredient in this recipe is naturally free from wheat, barley and rye. If you are cooking for someone with coeliac disease, double-check any stock, sauce or spice blend you buy in, as gluten-containing thickeners and malt derivatives are common hidden additions in commercial products.
Keto
Carbohydrates are kept deliberately low here. The bulk of the energy in this dish comes from quality protein and natural fats, so it slots neatly into a ketogenic day without pushing you out of ketosis. If you are tracking closely, weigh any starchy vegetables and adjust the portion to suit your own daily carbohydrate target.
Featured HOTRO.ca Product
This recipe is built around Kangaroo Fillet from HOTRO.ca. We source premium BC-raised and ethically farmed meats and slow-simmered bone broth, so the quality of the core ingredient does most of the work for you. Substituting a lesser product will change the result more than any other single change you could make to this recipe.
Rare-seared kangaroo fillet sliced over a glossy red wine and bone broth reduction.