The Flavorful White Meat You Haven't Tried yet (But Should)
By Laura Holmes Haddad
Trying to re-create a favorite dish is a bit like trying to relive your first love: It's an often fruitless effort and never quite the same as the real thing. But I've been determined to duplicate a plate of rabbit in mustard sauce I tasted eight years ago just outside Dijon, France. It was perfection: two beautifully braised rabbit legs served in a creamy mustard and white wine sauce (a dish, I discovered later, that is traditional to the region: Lapin à la Moutarde, a nod the birthplace of Dijon mustard).
The delicate meat flecked with tiny, grainy mustard seeds inspired me to abandon chicken and order rabbit whenever possible.
Related: Looking for another rabbit recipe? Try rabbit ragout.
Rabbit is truly a spectacular meat. The flavor is more complex than chicken, but it lacks the pronounced gaminess of lamb. But convincing my fellow Americans that the other other white meat is worth trying has proved difficult. Maybe it's the white floppy bunny images that seem to permeate the media in March and April, but I beg you to put aside thoughts of the Easter Bunny and embrace this delectable meat.
Unlike other finicky poultry like guinea hens and duck, there is nothing particularly challenging about cooking rabbit. The only thing a cook should know is that it's extremely lean, meaning it will dry out easily, so braising and grilling are the best cooking methods.
Related: Are you game for pheasant? Cornish hen? Find a bird for all occasions.
Most good grocery stores can order rabbit for you, but look for it at your local farmers market. You can also order it from D'Artagnan, a specialty meat purveyor in New York City. Just be sure the rabbit is local or from the United States. A few sources are importing rabbit from China and the quality is inferior.
Related: Feeling really adventurous? How to cook a fox.
This recipe is my attempt to re-create the lunch I had in France. It makes a wonderful winter or early spring dish alongside a bowl of soft polenta or buttered noodles. I like to serve it with a white Burgundy or a German Riesling.
Braised Rabbit in Mustard Sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 (4-pound) rabbits, each cut into 6 serving pieces
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
⅓ cup good, grainy Dijon mustard
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 whole sprigs fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1½ cups dry white wine
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Directions
1. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper. Spread the mustard all over the rabbit pieces.
2. In a very large, deep enameled cast-iron pot, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add 4 of the rabbit pieces and cook over moderately high heat until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the pieces and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat in 2 batches with the remaining rabbit pieces, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil to the casserole for the last batch. Remove the rabbit pieces to the bowl.
3. Add the onion and shallots to the pot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and boil over moderately high heat, scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Add the stock and the two thyme sprigs. Nestle the rabbit pieces in the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat, turning the rabbit pieces a few times, until the meat is tender, 50 to 60 minutes. (The meat should feel somewhat firm when you touch it, but you don't want to overcook it.)
4. Transfer the rabbit pieces to a bowl and cover loosely with foil. Discard half the cooking liquid. Boil the remaining cooking liquid over high heat until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. Add the heavy cream and boil until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon or two of mustard to the sauce if desired. Return the rabbit to the pot and simmer on low for a minute or two to heat through. Sprinkle with the chopped thyme and serve.
Note: Your butcher will cut up the rabbit for you.
Zester Daily contributor Laura Holmes Haddad lives with her husband, daughter and son in Northern California, where she writes about wine and food and runs her website, gourmetgrrl.com. Her latest collaboration is "Plats du Jour: A Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country" with the girl & the fig restaurant in Sonoma, Calif., released in November 2011.
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