As we all know, back in the 19th Century, this succulent dish use to be called le lapin à la dijonnaise. These days I find there are more rabbit dishes than there are rabbits. Rabbit stew takes me back to those days when, as a child, we would spend our holidays, en famille, at our house in the Brittany countryside, it was colder than… well lets just say it was pretty cold. But when our delightful housekeeper and cook made her famous rabbit dish it was guaranteed to bring smiles to everyone and we quickly forget about our then rather spartan surroundings and the cold and damp. I will spare you the details of the early morning execution of said “wabbit” other than to mention that he didn’t stand a hare of chance of ever being proven innocent. To the sound of a slow drum beat, he was un-ceremoniously marched down the gravel path to the back garden and from there ten paces to ye old apple tree where he was offered his last Gauloise cigarette. The country cook’s weapon of choice was a long, menacing looking, razor sharp kitchen knife with a well worn handle; it might well have been left from another century perhaps it was brought back by the Knights Templars. The deed was swift and I, ever the lucky one, was offered a now limp rabbit to carry back to the kitchen. Country living at its finest.
Rabbit in Mustard Sauce
This recipe (modified) comes from David Tanis, a chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California.
Ingredients:
2 rabbits (about 2 1⁄2 lbs. each),each cut into 6–8 pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
1⁄2 lb. pancetta or unsmoked bacon, cut into 1⁄4″-thick strips
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 1⁄2 cups crème fraîche **Note: If you do not have any CF use 1/2 cup each of sour cream and whipping cream (for 1 cup) and let stand for 12 hours; or use Mascarpone cheese as an alternative.
1 cup Dijon mustard
1 – 2 cups white wine
2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh sage
2 tsp. black or yellow mustard seeds, crushed
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 bay leaves
Serves 8
Directions:
1. Season rabbit generously with salt and pepper and place in a large bowl along with remaining ingredients. Don’t go stingy on the mustard as some of the flavor will get lost in cooking.
Comme vins, je vous propose:
Chinon Val de Loire
Coteaux du Langedoc
Tardieu-Laurent 2007 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, Les Becs Fins
Terrasses Chateau Pesquie 2008- Ventoux Rhône Valley
Savigny-les-Beaune Cote de Beaune