White Wine Braised Rabbit With Mustard Food

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.

RABBIT IN WHITE WINE AND MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Sprinkle the rabbit pieces,including the liver, with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Bring enough water to the boil to cover the salt pork pieces when they are added.
• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the rabbit pieces in one layer and add the salt pork cubes. Cook, stirring often, until the pieces are crisp and slightly browned.
• Remove and set aside the salt pork pieces.
• Set the rabbit liver aside. Add the remaining rabbit pieces to the fat in the skillet and cook about five minutes. Remove the rabbit pieces and pour off all the fat from the skillet. Return the rabbit pieces to the skillet. Add the onions, mushrooms and carrots. Add the garlic and stir to redistribute the ingredients. Cook about five minutes.
• Sprinkle with flour and stir so that the ingredients are evenly coated. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the wine, broth and bring to the boil, stirring from the bottom to prevent sticking. Add the mustard and stir to blend.
• Tie the thyme, bay leaf, parsley and rosemary into a bundle and add it. Cover closely and cook 40 minutes. Add the rabbit liver and the browned pieces of salt pork. Stir. Cover and continue cooking five minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

RABBIT BRAISED WITH MUSTARD, CREAM AND PRUNES

Steps:

• Cut rabbit into serving pieces, or have your butcher do this for you.
• Dust rabbit pieces with seasoned flour, shaking off excess.
• Heat the oil in a heavy-based flame proof casserole over medium heat.
• Add rabbit in batches and brown all over.
• Remove rabbit then add butter, bacon and shallots and cook for 6-8 minutes or until soft.
• Add white wine and cook until nearly evaporated.
• Add stock, mustard, bay-leaves, thyme and cream, season lightly, mix well.
• Add rabbit and stir to coat.
• Bring to the boil, cover and cook in 170c oven for 1 hour.
• Add prunes to casserole and cook for a further 30-45 minutes or until rabbit is tender.

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.

BRAISED RABBIT WITH GRAINY MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Rinse rabbit pieces and remove any fat, then pat dry and divide into 3 batches. Mix together salt and pepper in a small bowl for seasoning rabbit.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot. Season first batch of rabbit, then add 3 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown rabbit on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer browned rabbit to a flameproof roasting pan just large enough to hold all 3 batches in 1 layer. Season and brown remaining 2 batches of rabbit in same manner, transferring to roasting pan and adding more oil to skillet between batches if necessary. Reserve skillet.
• Add broth to roasting pan, then cover pan tightly with foil and braise rabbit in oven 15 minutes.
• While rabbit is braising, pour off any fat from skillet, then add onions, garlic, thyme, and 3 tablespoons butter and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Pour mixture over rabbit and continue to braise, covered tightly, until rabbit is tender when pierced with a fork, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Transfer rabbit to an ovenproof serving dish and keep warm, covered loosely with foil, in turned-off oven.
• Straddle roasting pan over 2 burners and boil braising liquid until reduced to about 3 1/4 cups, about 10 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup reduced liquid to a bowl and whisk in mustards. Add mustard mixture to reduced liquid in pan, whisking to incorporate. Dissolve cornstarch in water and whisk into sauce, then simmer, whisking, 2 minutes. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter to sauce and swirl pan until incorporated. Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over rabbit.
• *Available at butcher shops, specialty foods shops, and some supermarkets (may require special order).

RABBIT WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Finely chop onion. Pat rabbit pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. In a deep large heavy skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and brown rabbit pieces on all sides in 2 batches. Transfer rabbit as browned to a large bowl.
• In skillet cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by about half. Return rabbit to skillet and add broth. Simmer rabbit, covered, until tender, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer rabbit to cleaned large bowl and boil sauce until reduced to about 2 cups. In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup sauce and mustard and whisk mixture into sauce. In another small bowl stir cornstarch into 1 tablespoon cold water and whisk into sauce. Simmer sauce, whisking, 3 minutes, or until thickened. Whisk in remaining tablespoon butter, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Return rabbit to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, turning rabbit to coat with sauce, until heated through.