Text 13805, 137 rader
Skriven 2008-09-15 18:14:08 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
  Kommentar till text 13731 av Carol Shenkenberger (20109.cooks)
Ärende: picnics and stuff 920
=============================
 CS> Smile, I will *never* get over my liver aversion.

I'll never get over my blue cheese aversion, so I
understand you.

 CS> xxcarol---running away!

You can run, but you can't hide!

Alpine Rabbit Stew
cat: game, main, Italian
yield: 1 text only

Gorgeous traditional Italian stewed rabbit in a fragrant
sauce. Serve over polenta to forget any winter blues!

Rabbit is often dry and boring. In my beloved Swiss canton
of Ticino as in most Northern Italy, rabbit is stewed with
herbs and tomatoes until the meat nearly falls off the
bones. It makes a delicious, tender, comforting dish that
reminds of woods and mountains and springs.

The rabbit should come with its head and guts. You can do
with a headless heartless rabbit but at the very least get
the liver. It is most important in building up the flavor
base.

To make this dish a success you need a good rabbit. Here I
used a farm rabbit from the Gruyere, and the flesh is juicy
and delicious. Of course you might not have access to such
quality rabbit, or just don't like to idea of eating the
flesh of such a friendly furry animal. You can definitely
substitute the rabbit by a well-fed pampered city cat.
Choose one that has led a happy life of leisure- the last
thing you want these days is to be accused of animal
cruelty.

Even the finest rabbit needs a proper aromatic base to make
an outstanding braise. Clockwise from the left : onions,
celery stick, air-dried bacon, bay leaves, juniper berries,
garlic and a large stick of cinammon. Not pictured - finely
diced carrot.

The herbs, thyme, marjoram or oregano and rosemary.

Here is the mise en place (layout of the ingredient before
you start cooking, known as the meeeeez in US kitchen
jargon). Clockwise from the left: half a bottle of Ticino
red wine, a can of tomatoes, herbs and aromatic garnich, the
pot and finally the rabbit cut into large pieces along with
a pair of kitchen tongs.

Gently fry the finely diced bacon with a little butter for
about 3-5 minutes or until soft (photo)

Carefully lay the rabbit into the pot so that each piece of
meat will lay on the pot bottom. If they don't fit, do this
in as many batches as it takes. Add the remaining rabbit
pieces and continue to sautO over high heat. This process
does not "seal the juices in" or other nonsense. What you
are doing is create new flavors through the browning of the
meat using the Maillard reaction. If the pot is not hot
enough, or you put too much meat or there is too much meat
and it gives off its juices, then no browning will occur and
all you will have achieved is drying out the meat.

Salt the rabbit and add a few dried herbs if you have them.
Toss and reserve the rabbit in a covered dish.

Add the aromatic garnish to the bacon. Do not use the herbs
at this stage. Fry over medium-high heat, moving constantly.

Add the chopped rabbit liver and let it color. It will turn
from red to grey.

When the liver has turned in color, add the wine and let it
bubble.

If the alcohol content is high you can even light it with a
match and flambe for a moment. When the flame subsides
you'll know all alcohol has evaporated and you can move on.
Otherwise just smell from time to time and proceed with you
can no longer smell any alcohol.

Add the tomatoes. I am a shameless user of canned tomatoes,
but like fresh tomatoes, they come in all kinds. These are
slow-food approved San Marzano tomatoes from the slopes of
the Vesuvio in Naples, Italy. A fine can indeed.

Now we add our herbs, possibly tied in a buch to facilitate
later removal. Let the rabbit dive in and join his garnish.
Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the flame to obtain a very
gentle simmering. Let it cook for at least one hour or as
long as it takes for the rabbit to be really soft.

Meanwhile let's prepare the polenta, here with commercial
coarse polenta. Just bring to a boil 2 liters of water with
a tbsp of salt. Add the polenta and mix so that the polenta
does not pile up at the bottom.

You need to have a smooth mixture and in the first 30
minutes of cooking that means you need to vigorously mix it
with a kitchen whip or a wooden spoon every couple minutes.
Reduce the flame to a low simmer, cover and let it cook for
at least one hour.

When the polenta has turned into a yellow paste that falls
off the sides of the pot and is no longer grainy. Remove
from the fire, add a large piece of butter and mix it in.
Add as much freshly grated Parmesan as you like and mix it
in.

When the rabbit is cooked through, remove all the large
spices and herbs. Bay leaves, cinammon stick, peppercorns,
juniper berries and herbs. Their job is done.

You can finish the sauce in 3 ways:

Natural style - Just serve the rabbit with the rustic sauce
with its chunks of bacon and vegetables. It is quite
impressive for the guest as he sees what's inside. You can
even leave the cinammon and juniper berries for effect.
Sophisticated style - Filter the sauce with a conical sieve
(chinois) and emulsify some butter to make it shiny.
Rustic - Use a plunging mixer mash to a pulp all the chunks
left in the sauce. This is the option I have taken today,
the result is quite rustic but the guests no longer see how
the sauce was made (photo)

Serve on a bed of polenta. The rabbit's meat falls off the
bones, making this a rich, fragrant Alpine comfort food.

fxcuisine.com
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