Lapin

[Teamedup]

All this talk about rabbit has made me realise that it is years since I've seen rabbit in that 'black' sauce on the menu. I used to really enjoy it and also realise that I don't know what that strange textured black sauce is either, I 'd forgotten all about it and if I ever knew, don't know what it is called, does anyone know. 

Am I asking in vain, is this a local dish as it is usually served with polenta.

[Dick Smith]

Is that the sauce that is thickened with the rabbit's blood?

[Teamedup]

 It could be blood, judging by the texture of it, then perhaps sieved. It must be at least 15 odd years since I ate it though.

[letrangere]

Dick, what is the dish where rabbit is cooked with blood called?  I can't any reference to it anywhere, including Larousse.  Have come across several recipes for rabbit in dark red wine though.  Am fascinated about this blood business, tell me more please.  M

[Dick Smith]

I don't know - I saw it on a Keith Floyd programme - as TU says it was sieved, and may well have also included the liver. I'll dig around.

[0Helen]

'Jugged Hare' is made by thickening the gravy by using the hare's blood.  I suppose it is possible with rabbit but is not usual.   To obtain the blood, the freshly killed hare is bled into a jug to which a little red wine or port is added to prevent the blood congealing.  This mixture is added to the dish at the end of cooking - it is important not to boil after the blood is added as it goes lumpy - the same principal as overcooking egg custard.

[Diana]

The few times I have tried to make a rabbit casserole they were digusting, very tough and tastless.  The rabbits came from a well trusted country butcher so I think it was the cook and not the meat who was at fault.  Does anyone have a tried and tested recipy thay will share.  I have plenty in my own cookery books but I would like one that that comes personally recommened. 

Two dishes I have had in resturants and really enjoyed where, rabbit with prunes in beer, this was in the east of France and rabbit cooked in cidre in Normandy.

Thanks

Diana

[Iceni]

At the risk of asking a silly question - was yr rabbit "well hung" ? - tough/tasteless meat can often be the result if not.

John

p.s. now awaiting all sorts of silly comments

[Dick Smith]

Nyaaah, whats up, doc?

[letrangere]

Diane, it’s a shame your butcher can’t provide you with good tasting rabbit. If I remember rightly (been gone a long time), I think I used to buy frozen rabbit in England, and doesn’t this often come from China? In France, I buy either fresh or frozen from Carrefour.

Now don’t all laugh, but the first rabbit recipe I ever tried and liked came from a 1970s M&S book of "British Cooking" by Caroline Conran. This book ran to over 240 pages incidentally. Over the years I’ve made a few changes so that I now have a sort of "rabbit Normandy". Try this:-

Toss jointed rabbit in seasoned flour. Saute onion, garlic and some smoked lardons. Add rabbit pieces, seal. Throw in generous slug of Calva (or brandy), set fire to it (or not), as is your preference. Deglace pan. Add to flame proof casserole. Add couple of handfuls of chopped apple. Cover with strong, dry cider. Throw in fresh bay leaf. Cook in oven or on top of stove until meat starts to come away from bone. Need to stir it regularly to break down the apple and thereby make a thick textured sauce. I usually stir in a tablespoon of crème fraiche at the end.

Alternatively, the most reliable recipe for a definitive a la moutarde comes from a Marie-Pierre Moine book:-

Toss jointed rabbit in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and this time a crumbling of dried thyme. Saute onion and garlic (no lardons) as before, add rabbit pieces and 2 cloves. Add 2 tsp Dijon mustard and enough white wine to cover. Cook on top of stove until done. When it is, add glass of brandy. Remove rabbit pieces, place on warmed serving dish. Make sauce in separate bowl by mixing 1 to 2 tbsp of grainy mustard (quantity to taste) with 4 tbsp of crème fraiche. Combine this carefully with the remainder of the cooking sauce, warm through and pour over rabbit. Serve.

Isn’t it funny how the mind works. Suddenly I’m back in this little restaurant in the old part of Domfront, it’s early September 1979, I’m with my parents (both long dead now) and we’re eating rabbit a la moutarde, my father picking every morcel of meat of the bone.

Enjoy. M

[Patf]

I remember making jugged hare years ago and the recipe said to thicken the sauce with bitter chocolate, which obviously made it a dark rich brown colour.Pat. 

[letrangere]

Pat, for years I've been adding a small piece of dark chocolate to the sauce just before serving coq au vin and always assumed it was for the same reason, ie colour.  Then I read somewhere recently that it was actually to counteract the possible acidity of the wine.   M

[Teamedup]

Yes, I add very bitter to chocolate to a couple of recipes I have, but I didn't think that it was in with the black sauced rabbit..........however, maybe it is........

[La MancheLa Manche]

[quote]Diane, it’s a shame your butcher can’t provide you with good tasting rabbit. If I remember rightly (been gone a long time), I think I used to buy frozen rabbit in England, and doesn’t this often come ...[/quote]

It's Sunday morning and I am happily sitting in France. I had to reregister hence the name change to La Manche. I just wanted to thank MJW for the rabbit recipies. Yesterday I bought what the butcher ensured me was a very good rabbit and have it cookig away happily as I write. As I am in Normandy I have sone the one in Calva and it smells very good!

Thanks again

Diana - La Manche