Rabbit Moutarde

I tried this great recipe from the Balthazar cookbook. It looks long, but in the end it was delish! Remember to use regular rabbit (white meat) and not the wild rabbit. They have the wild rabbit here and I am not a fan. When making rabbit, it is important to make sure the meat is covered so it doesn't dry out. Because of this I adapted the recipe a bit so that I had enough liquid. Plus, I love sauce! I served this with egg noodles, but you could always just do rice. I also had a small Dutch oven so I had to fry my legs up in batches.

You could definitely do this with on the bone chicken. I would reduce the simmering time to about 30-45 minutes. Leave the liquid amounts the same and use about 10 drumsticks.

It will definitely add a hop to your step ;) !


Serves 2-4 ( I was very happy with one leg and some noodles)
Ingredients:
4-6 rabbit legs (6 will give you less sauce but will be just enough)
3/4 bottle of dry white wine (like a sauvignon blanc)
1 small onion, diced medium
2 carrots, diced medium
3 celery stalks, diced medium
3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 sprigs of thyme
Salt and Black Pepper
White Pepper
about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (enough to cover the pan during browning)
400 grams white Mushrooms, quartered
4 cups Chicken Stock
50 grams unsalted butter
2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Grind some salt and black pepper on the rabbit legs. Combine rabbit legs, wine, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme in a glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.


The next day remove the legs from the marinade and strain veggies from the wine. Reserve the wine in a bowl. Dry the legs with a paper towel and sprinkle with white pepper.

Heat up some vegetable oil (about 3 Tbsp.) in a Dutch oven (enough to fit everything- medium size) over a high flame. when it is hot add the mushrooms and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season with some salt and remove from pot and set aside.

Add more veg oil to brown the rabbit. Make sure it covers the bottom of the pan and then some. Heat the oil until it smokes and then add half the rabbit legs and brown well all around. When done, remove to a bowl and add a half cup of the stock to deglaze the pan. When finished pour the fat and stock over the browned legs. Give the pot a quick wipe.

Add more oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil until it smokes and add the other half of the rabbit legs. Brown as before. When done, add to first batch. I then deglazed the pan with some white wine and poured it off.

Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the marinated veggies and cook for 5 minutes or until softened and slightly brown. Add the flour until it disappear and becomes a bit thick. Add the wine marinade. Raise the heat, boil and reduce by half (about 10 minutes).

Add the rabbit legs and remaining stock. I made four legs, but just make sure you have enough liquid to cover the meat while simmering. I could have definitely fit two more legs in the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/4 -1/2 hours.



Remove the rabbit legs gently. Strain the liquid and get rid of the solids. Return the liquid to the pot and reduce by half. This took about 10-15 minutes.

At this time I started boiling my egg noodles.

Add the mustard and cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the rabbit and mushroom and simmer for another 5 minutes or until hot. Add parsley and serve with egg noodles.

Eat and enjoy!