R is for Rabbit - A to Z Challenge

Rabbit used to be eaten a lot in England, don’t know about today, but I can certainly remember my mother cooking rabbit quite often. During the war years (WWII) Matt’s family used to keep rabbits to supplement their diet, other families did the same as meat was severely rationed along with everything else. We once came across rabbit in a restaurant nearby, but that was a while back. Matt ordered it and said it was the best rabbit he’d ever tasted. Just remembered another time going to a friend’s house in England and she had two shot wild rabbits on the kitchen table which had been given to her but she had to get Matt to skin them for her as she didn’t know how. Nor, I might add, did I. She gave us one of them. There are eight genera of rabbits and many different species throughout the world. Australia used to be overrun with rabbits and the illness myxomatosis was introduced to try and reduce the numbers. It was a pretty horrible disease and there was a lot of outcry against it’s introduction. I read that they have gradually become more resistant to the sickness.


Rabbit in Mustard Sauce

By Tiger Duck at Food.com

I came across this delicious rabbit recipe in the French section of a cook book about Mediterranean cooking. As my mother always pairs rabbit with mashed potatoes - which is also highly recommended with this recipe - I doubled the sauce. Who doesn't want extra sauce for the mashed potatoes? This has also the advantage that the dish can easily be reheated. I usually thin sauces with a little bit of water, wine, cream or milk if I reheat them. When I cooked this recipe, I reheated it several times, as it was only me who ate it and it always tasted delicious. You can of course halve the sauce if you are not as partial to sauces as I am. I also changed the recipe found in the book slightly in that I rubbed the pieces of rabbit in mustard before frying them. My mother always does it this way. For me rabbit cooked like in this recipe with plenty of mashed potatoes on the side is pure comfort food. I also recommend to serve some cooked carrots or steamed tomatoes with it. Yummy.

Ingredients

Servings 4-6  

• rabbit

• 1 ⁵⁄₈ kg rabbit, pieces (with bones, 3lbs 9oz)
• salt
• pepper, freshly ground
• 2 tablespoons mild mustard
• olive oil

• mustard sauce

• 4 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 6 slices bacon, thin slices, sliced into 3 cm pieces (1 1/5 inch pieces)
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup single cream (if the single cream in your country works well in sauces, otherwise use cream)
• 3 -4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• thyme (to garnish)

Directions

1. 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.
2. Preheat oven 180°C / 355°F / gas 2.
3. Remove any visible fat from the rabbit meat. Rinse rabbit meat under cold water and drain well with kitchen paper.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Serve on individual plates with mashed potatoes and vegetable of your choice. Garnish meat with thyme sprigs or thyme leaves.

Have a great day