Rabbit In Mediterranean Sauce Food

RABBIT IN MEDITERRANEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• The day before you intend to cook the meal, soak the rabbit pieces in lightly salted water for at least 12 and up to 24 hours.
• Remove them and dry them well with paper towel. Coat the joints on all sides with the mustard and leave covered in the fridge overnight.
• Coat the joints with the seasoned flour.
• Melt the butter in a casserole dish and brown the joints on all sides, then add the diced bacon, chopped onion and crushed garlic.
• Cover and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Then add the diced tomatoes, seasoning and stir.
• Transfer the casserole to a moderately slow oven (160°C) and cook for another 45 minutes.
• You may want to top it up with water, stock or red wine.
• Serve this with white rice or baked potatoes. A garnish of finely chopped parsley looks good too.
• Alternative:.
• This casserole can be cooked on a campfire in a heavy based casserole dish with a lid.
• After adding the diced tomatoes, move the casserole dish to a cooler part of the campfire and simmer very gently, again you may want to top it up with water, stock or red wine. Test whether the rabbit is tender with a skewer after 45 minutes, though it may take a little longer.

SICILIAN BRAISED RABBIT, ROSEMARY POTATOES, FIERY PILACCA SAUCE

Steps:

• Add the rabbit to a mixing bowl that's easily big enough to hold all the pieces. Pour the white wine vinegar over the rabbit and use your fingers to give the pieces a thorough coating of vinegar. Let the rabbit sit for ten minutes with an occasional mix in the vinegar. Then drain the rabbit in a colander and keep as much of the vinegar as you can - it's going to join the rabbit a little later when you start to braise it.
• Once the rabbit has drained, use some kitchen towel to pat the pieces dry.
• Time now for some gentle frying of the rabbit. For that, I used a big cast-iron Dutch oven, and fried the rabbit in two batches. It makes sense to use a big pot like that right from the start because that's where all the rest of the ingredients are going to braise the rabbit.
• Set your big pot on a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Let it heat for a minute or so and then add your first batch of rabbit in an evenly spaced single layer. Drop the heat to low-medium and fry the pieces to give them a pale gold color on both sides. That'll take about 5 minutes at a slow sizzle on each side.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the rabbit and set it aside on a big plate. Try to leave as much oil as you can in the pot and repeat the gentle frying process for the second batch of rabbit.
• Now add the onions, carrots, bay leaves, and salt to the pot and set the heat to medium-low. You're aiming to fry the mix so that the onions soften, and the carrots pick up a little browning color. That will take about 7 minutes with a few watchful stirs on medium-low.
• Turn the heat to medium, and stir in the serrano peppers, garlic, celery, bell peppers, oregano, and thyme. Let the mix fry for 3 minutes with a couple of stirs. You want the peppers and celery to soften a little, but not to start picking up any color. That's important because you want the peppers to keep their bright colors, and, along with the celery, to retain a fair amount of their body.
• Stir in the vinegar you kept from the rabbit and turn the heat to high. As soon as the vinegar starts to bubble, drop the heat to medium and add the water, sugar, capers, olives, and black pepper. Give the lot a good stir and then carefully add your rabbit and all the juices from its plate. Don't stir the pieces of rabbit into the pot, but rather set them on top of your braising mix.
• Keep the pot on that medium heat and let it come up to a slowly bubbling simmer. As soon as that happens, drop the heat to low, cover the pot and let it simmer away gently for 25 minutes.
• Now carefully - and I mean carefully - stir the pot so that the rabbit gets covered as much as possible by its braising mix. Good. This is a good time to check for saltiness and adjust to suit your taste. Cover the pot and give it another 20 minutes of that slowly bubbling simmer on its low heat.
• Turn off the heat and let your covered pot sit and cool for a few hours. Once that time's up, all you have to do is stir in the lemon juice and warm the pot for a few minutes over a medium heat - so that it's all nicely hot for serving.
• Start to finish, these take about 45 minutes to cook. So, it's a good idea to get them underway about an hour before you want to serve the rabbit.
• Set your oven to 350F / 180C. Add the olive oil to a baking dish that's big enough to hold all the potatoes in a single layer, and set the dish in the oven while it's heating.
• Put the potatoes in a saucepan with a level teaspoon of ground sea salt and just enough cold water to cover them.
• Set the pan on a high heat and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and allow the potatoes to simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, drain the potatoes and return them to their pan. Cover the pan and let the potatoes steam there for 5 minutes.
• Remove the baking dish from the oven, and quickly add the potatoes, red onions, garlic, 2 heaped teaspoons salt, and black pepper. Stir the dish so that everything gets well coated in the sizzling oil.
• Now slide in the sprigs of rosemary so that they sit underneath the potatoes on the bottom of the dish.
• Cover the dish with a sealing sheet of silver foil. Return the dish to the oven on a high shelf and increase the heat to 425F / 220C. Roast for 15 minutes. (That tight foil covering matters because it ensures the potatoes become infused with the wonderful flavors of the rosemary, garlic, and onion.)
• After that first 15 minutes' roasting, remove the dish and give all the potatoes a quick turn in the oil. Return them to the oven - uncovered - so they can roast to a fine golden color for 15 minutes or so. Done.
• I'd make this while the braised rabbit is resting in its big pot. Once all the pilacca's ingredients are mixed together, it certainly pays to let the sauce stand for a couple of occasionally stirred hours and allow its flavors to really meld together.
• Start by heating half the olive oil in a heavy skillet over a high heat. Once the oil just begins smoking. stir in the whole chilies. You now want to give them a scorching, blistering char by stir frying them over that high heat for about 3 minutes. Take a bit of care here - as the whole chilies expand in that very hot oil, they can burst and cause the oil to spit, so it's wise to bear that in mind as you're charring them.
• As soon as the chilies are darkly scorched, remove them from the heat and lift them out of the skillet with a slotted spoon. Let the oil cool and then turn it all into a pretty serving jug that will hold all the rest of your sauce's ingredients.
• Once the chilies have cooled enough for you to handle them, chop them very finely, seeds and all.
• In your serving jug, thoroughly stir the chilies together with the other ingredients - that's all the olive oil, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and orange zest. Make sure to stir thoroughly so the sugar dissolves completely. And give it few more stirs as it sits and waits to be served alongside the braised rabbit and rosemary roasted potatoes.

RABBIT WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over the rabbit pieces.
• Brown rabbit pieces on all sides. Add additional oil if necessary (I had more than enough for our small rabbit); transfer to a plate when done.
• Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the remaining olive oil in the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened. Add wine and broth.
• Bring to a boil, and return rabbit to the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hour .
• Remove rabbit to a plate.
• Boil sauce until it is reduced by about half. Whisk in mustard; season to taste.
• Return the rabbit to the sauce for a few minutes to reheat it.

RABBIT WITH MUSTARD & BACON

Steps:

• Mash the butter with the herbs, garlic and lemon zest, then chill. This can be done up to a day in advance. Use a small sturdy knife to scrape the meat away from the thigh bone part of the rabbit leg. Try and create a pocket around the bone rather than cutting into the actual meat. When you get to the joint, cut or snap the bone away.
• Halve the butter, roll into two logs, then stuff into the cavity of each rabbit leg. Wrap the slices of pancetta around each leg so that they join underneath. The rabbit can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Place the rabbit on a shallow roasting tray and roast for 20-30 mins (see tip below), then leave to rest for 5 mins. While the rabbit is cooking, make the sauce. Heat the crème fraîche with both mustards and simmer for 2-3 mins until thickened slightly. Season to taste, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.
• To serve, spoon some sauce onto each plate and carve the rabbit into thick slices. Arrange the rabbit on top of the sauce with some steamed new potatoes on the side.

MEDITERRANEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare tomatoesand set aside.
• Saute onion and garlic in olive oil untilonion is transparent.
• Add all remaining ingreients.
• Bring sauce to a boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour sauce over pasta, toss and serve.

LAPIN A LA BOURGUIGNONNE (RABBIT WITH RED-WINE SAUCE)

Steps:

• Sprinkle the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper.
• Put the salt-pork cubes in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer about one minute. Drain thoroughly.
• Heat the butter in a large, heavy casserole and add the salt-pork pieces. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about three minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, about two minutes.
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, about two minutes. Transfer the onions, mushrooms and salt-pork pieces to a bowl and set aside.
• To the fat remaining in the casserole, add the rabbit pieces in one layer and cook, turning the pieces as necessary, until lightly browned all over, about five minutes. Scatter the mushrooms, onions and salt pork over the rabbit pieces and stir to blend.
• Cook about five minutes and sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper. Add the wine and cloves.
• Tie the parsley, thyme and bay leaf into a bundle and add it. Bring to the boil, cover closely and cook over very low heat about one hour. Remove and discard the herb bunch. Uncover and cook about three minutes to reduce the sauce.

RABBIT IN MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• As indicated in the introduction I have doubled the sauce of the original recipe. You may therefore halve it if you are not as partial to sauce as I am.
• Preheat oven 180°C / 355°F / gas 2.
• Remove any visible fat from the rabbit meat. Rinse rabbit meat under cold water and drain well with kitchen paper.
• Brush pieces with mustard, but do not use too much of it, as it otherwise will burn during the frying process. Generously salt and pepper the meat.
• Fry the meat pieces in portions in hot olive oil in an oven-safe pot until they have a nice colour. Use more oil if necessary. Put browned meat aside.
• Fry onions and bacon in the pot you fried the rabbit for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with flour and stir. Add wine and stock and bring to a boil while you keep stirring. Add meat and thyme leaves.
• Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 75-90 minutes or until tender. Remove pot from oven and put on stove. Add cream and 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Mix and check if you want to add another tablespoon. Season to taste. Cook for a few minutes on the stove until the sauce is creamy.
• Serve on individual plates with mashed potatoes and vegetable of your choice. Garnish meat with thyme sprigs or thyme leaves.

WHITE WINE-BRAISED RABBIT WITH MUSTARD

Steps:

• Lay rabbit pieces on a baking sheet and season each piece generously with salt and pepper. (If you are using a pepper mill, adjust it for coarse grind.)
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Put a deep, heavy-bottomed, oven-safe saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add lard or oil.
• Put 1 cup flour on a wide plate. Dip seasoned rabbit pieces in flour and dust off excess. Gently set them in the hot oil in one layer without crowding; work in batches if necessary. Adjust heat to keep them from browning too quickly. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until nicely browned.
• Remove browned rabbit from pan and set aside. Add diced onion to fat remaining in pan. Keep heat brisk and cook onions until softened and lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Sprinkle onions with 2 tablespoons flour and stir until well incorporated, then cook for a minute or so, until mixture starts to smell toasty. Add wine and 1 cup broth, whisking as the sauce thickens. Whisk in remaining broth and the whole-grain mustard and bring to a simmer. Taste for salt and adjust.
• Return browned rabbit pieces to the sauce. Add thyme and sage. Cover pot and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until meat is fork tender. (Alternatively, simmer over low heat, covered, on the stove top, for about the same amount of time.)
• Using tongs, remove rabbit pieces from sauce, set aside, and keep warm. Put saucepan over medium heat and bring contents to a simmer. Whisk in crème fraîche, Dijon mustard and capers and simmer until somewhat thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste sauce and adjust.
• Transfer rabbit to a warmed serving bowl and ladle the sauce over. Sprinkle generously with chives and a little freshly ground pepper. Accompany with noodles if desired.

ITALIAN-STYLE BRAISED RABBIT WITH ROSEMARY AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Cut the rabbit into 9 pieces (or ask your butcher to) as follows: with a sharp cleaver, cut the saddle (center portion) into 3 pieces, leaving the kidneys attached. Cut the front portion (front legs) in half through the backbone. Chop each hind leg into 2 pieces. Reserve the liver and heart to sauté as a snack.
• Heat .25 inch of olive oil in a Dutch oven or deep, wide heavy skillet over medium heat. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with flour. Lightly brown the rabbit for about 3 minutes on both sides, working in batches. Drain on kitchen towels, then transfer to a baking dish in one layer. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Pour off the used oil, wipe out the pan and add 2 tablespoons fresh oil. Heat to medium-high, add the onions and cook till soft, about 5 minutes. Add the leek, garlic, rosemary and mushrooms. Season generously with salt and pepper, and add red pepper flakes to taste. Cook for 2 minutes more, stirring.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and wine, and let the mixture reduce for 1 minute. Add the broth, bring to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings.
• Ladle the mixture evenly over the rabbit. Cover the dish, and bake for 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.