Recipe #1- Mustardy Braised Rabbit w. Carrots

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get a couple rabbits from a local breeder, but I haven't put any thought into what to do with them until now. The only other time I had made rabbit was over the grill after being marinaded in a bourbon sauce. The dish came out great, but bourbon rabbit didn't seem fitting for the season, and I wanted to try something new. A post about braising on Chowhound caught my eye last week, and I knew that this would be the perfect way to cook up the first batch. For some reason the concept of browning the meat then low cooking with wine, carrots, onions and celery seemed particularly "Autumn-y" to me, and seeing as today is the first day of fall, I decided to go for it.

In searching for a recipe I came across this one from the NY Times. It had just about everything I wanted: low fat and calories, high on flavor, and seemed to fit the current drop in the temperature. The mirepoix combination of onions, carrots and celery is one that I have been particularly fond of lately, and when I saw it paired with mustard I knew it would be perfect. I made some modifications, which are noted below in red. In opting out of some of the ingredients that I didn't have and using substitutes I was able to save a few bucks and buy a bit better of a wine than I would have normally used, without compromising the flavor of the finished dish.

Mustard Braised Rabbit w. Carrots

Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (used whole wheat)

2 thyme sprigs (used dried, to taste)

1 rosemary sprig (used dried, to taste)

1 whole clove

1 2 1/2-pound rabbit, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed and patted dry (reduced to two legs)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil

4 large leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned and thinly sliced crosswise (used one medium onion)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (used ~1/2 Tbsp dried ground)

1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

1 celery stick, diced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds

1 cup dry white wine (used Yellowtail Riesling)

About 2 cups chicken stock

1 to 2 tablespoons Di jon mustard, to taste (used full 2 Tbsp, 1/2 Dijon and 1/2 coarse grained)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (omitted)

Buttered noodles, for serving (optional). (served with garlic mashed potatoes as healthier alt.)
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First I preheated the oven to 325 degrees and assembled the vegetables. I wanted to have everything ready to go in the pan after the rabbit was done browning. I estimated the weights of the carrot and celery, and put in a little less seeing as I'm only one person.

My "mirepoix na hEireann" lol

I then set out to brown the rabbit. I put my Dutch oven on the stove at high heat and added some olive oil. After mixing the flour with the salt and pepper I dredged the rabbit in the mixture and then browned for ~6 minutes on each side.

This is as brown as I dared to go without setting off the smoke alarms in the building. Again.


My precaution against the smoke alarm.

After the rabbit was browned I removed it from the pan and added the vegetables and spiced. After cooking for a few minutes to brown them I added the wine. I chose Yellowtail Riesling because it was moderately priced, and several sources have cited Riesling as going well with rabbit.

After this reduced a bit I added the rabbit back to the pot, and added the chicken stock. I then covered the Dutch oven and then baked it for ~ an hour. It was supposed to take longer, but I think that the fact that I had such a small amount of rabbit made it go quicker. After it was done baking I took the rabbit out of the pan and thickened the sauce with some cornstarch and water. I served it with some red skinned garlic mashed potatoes that consisted of 2 red skinned potatoes mashed with a clove of garlic, a 1/4'' slice of butter and a dollop of lowfat yogurt. I have been using yogurt in place of cream or sour cream in several recipes lately and it works surprisingly well while cutting down on the fat and calories a lot. I served the rabbit topped with some of the sauce, a side of potatoes covered in sauce, and the carrots and onions on the side.

The Verdict

While the dish tasted great, there are a few changes that I would make. The coriander seeds were my least favorite part. The author of the recipe intended them to add crunch and flavor, but I found the crunching really unsettling. Next time I will probably place them in some cheesecloth before I add them so that I can remove them before serving. I also left the onion and celery part of the mirepoix a bit too coarse, the next time I make the recipe I will mince them rather than slice them. I did like the addition of the coarse mustard to the recipe rather than just the Dijon. All in all the recipe was a success, but would be make better without the coriander seeds being present in the final presentation.

For the original recipe, including the full instructions please visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/dining/041arex.html?ref=dining

Also, check out Melissa Clark's other articles and recipes. Among other things she has a gorgonzola creamed corn that I'll be trying later this week, and it looks great.