Read In the Hands of a Chef Online
Authors: Jody Adams
In the Hands of a Chef (45 page)
This dish works perfectly well without a sauce, but I had to include one. A sauce made with rabbit parts is such a rare treat that I always take the extra step, making it a day ahead if necessary. Fresh rabbit is almost always sold packed in Cryovac in this country. If there’s a butcher on hand, he may be willing to cut the rabbit in pieces for you as described in Step 1, but if not I’ve included instructions for cutting it up.
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
2 rabbits (about 3 pounds each)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
About ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour for dredging
1 extra-large egg
⅓ cup dry bread crumbs
⅓ cup finely chopped lightly toasted hazelnuts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small ripe peaches
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
Riesling Sauce (recipe follows; optional)
DO AHEAD:
Marinate the rabbit for 12 hours. The peaches can be prepared a day ahead and reheated before serving (as can the sauce, if you decide to make it). The legs can be breaded 3 hours in advance.
1.
Have your butcher cut each rabbit into the following pieces: 2 forelegs, 2 back legs, 2 loins trimmed of all silver skin, and the carcass. If you have to do it yourself, think of the process as similar to removing the leg/thigh pieces and wings from a chicken. In addition, you need to remove and trim the loins. The loins are the two thick strips of meat that run along the backbone. A sharp boning knife with its thin blade makes the task easier than using the wide blade of a chef’s knife. Be sure to remove all the silver skin from the loins. Set the forelegs and carcasses aside if you’re going to make the sauce.
2.
Combine the lemon zest, basil, ginger, and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a bowl large enough to comfortably accommodate the rabbit pieces. Toss the rabbit loins and back legs in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 12 hours.
3.
Remove the rabbit from the refrigerator. Put the flour in a medium bowl. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water in another medium bowl. Combine the bread crumbs and chopped hazelnuts in a large bowl. Season the back legs with salt and pepper and toss them in flour. Dip the legs in the egg and coat completely. Roll in the nut and crumb mixture.
4.
Heat 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the back legs and cook on both sides until done, 10 to 15 minutes per side. The trick here is to cook the legs slowly so the crumb crust and rabbit meat finish more or less at the same time. At a higher temperature, you risk finishing the crust when the rabbit meat is still quite rare. The crust should be a deep golden brown. Transfer the legs to a plate. Season the loins with salt and pepper (the loins do not have a crumb coating), sear on both sides, 5 to 8 minutes, and then cook to desired doneness.
5.
Meanwhile, as soon as you get the rabbit legs into the pan, start the peaches. Split the peaches and remove the pits. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the peaches, skin side down, and cook until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon pepper, the balsamic vinegar, and sugar. Flip and cook on the second side until browned, about another 4 minutes, then remove from the heat. If you’re not going to use them immediately, keep them warm in a low oven (200°F) until ready to serve.
6.
To serve, slice the loins against the grain into diagonal pieces ½ inch thick. Arrange 2 peach halves, a leg, and a sliced loin on each plate. Drizzle with the sauce, if using, and serve immediately.
A
lthough the rabbit can be served
without a sauce, I’m the sort of obsessive cook who can’t bear to discard perfectly good rabbit parts—not when I know they can be turned into a great sauce. Put the main pieces of the rabbit in the marinade, reserving the forelegs and carcasses for the sauce. Either make the sauce then and refrigerate it, or wait to make it the next day.
MAKES ABOUT ¾ CUP
2 rabbit forelegs
2 rabbit carcasses
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 shallots, thinly sliced
½ celery stalk, chopped
½ medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 cup Riesling (or 1 cup dry white wine in which you’ve dissolved 1 tablespoon honey)
4 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or 8 cups high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth, reduced to 4 cups (see page 32)
1.
Season the forelegs and carcasses with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Sear the carcasses and forelegs. Transfer to a plate.
2.
Add the shallots, celery, and carrots to the pan and cook until they just begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Add the wine and continue cooking until it reduces to a glaze, about 20 minutes.
3.
Add the chicken stock and reduce it until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, to about ¼ cup, about 45 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and strain it. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate if using it the next day, then reheat before serving; or keep it warm if serving soon.
T
he use of chocolate in
savory cooking almost always calls to mind Mexican
mole
, but southern Italians have also used chocolate and spicy chiles to flavor meat dishes. Chocolate thickens and enriches the sauce without sweetening it. My recipe combines the best of the New World—chocolate and chile pepper flakes—with the Old—juniper berries and pancetta. Serve with wide noodles, spaetzle, or rice.
When purchasing the rabbits, ask your butcher to cut each of them into 6 pieces, as described in Step 1. The rabbit is wonderful the day it’s made, but if you refrigerate the rabbit pieces in the braising liquid for a day before serving, the meat will absorb more of the flavor of the chocolate and chile. Reheat, covered, on top of the stove over low heat.
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
2 rabbits (about 3 pounds each)
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
⅓ teaspoon mace
About ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed
¼ pound thickly sliced pancetta, chopped into ¼-inch dice
1 small onion, cut into ½-inch dice
12 shallots, peeled
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
2½ cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or 5 cups high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth, reduced to 2½ cups (see page 32)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup Marsala
¼ cup red wine vinegar, or more to taste
¼ tablespoon crushed fennel seeds
¼ tablespoon crushed juniper berries
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1½ ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1.
You can ask the butcher to cut up the rabbits for you when you purchase them; otherwise, it’s no more difficult than cutting up a chicken. Remove the front and rear legs of one of the rabbits where the joints meet the body. A thin-bladed boning knife is the ideal tool for this task, but you can use just about any sharp knife. Remove the neck and discard, or use for stock. Using a cleaver or heavy chef’s knife, cut the body in half crosswise. You will now have 6 pieces—2 hind legs, 2 forelegs, and 2 halves of the body. Repeat with the remaining rabbit.
2.
Combine the red pepper flakes, cinnamon, allspice, mace, and flour in a large bowl. Sprinkle the rabbit pieces liberally with salt and
pepper, then toss them in the seasoned flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and brown the rabbit pieces on all sides. You will have to do this in a couple of batches—don’t crowd the pan. Place the browned rabbit in a large Dutch oven or cast-iron casserole. If the sauté pan is covered with blackened bits of flour, wipe it out and add another few tablespoons of vegetable oil.
3.
Add the pancetta to the sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the fat turns translucent and starts to render, about 1½ minutes. Add the onion, shallots, and garlic and stir them about until they start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 more minute. Transfer the vegetables to the pot with the rabbit.
4.
Deglaze the sauté pan with the chicken stock: bring the stock to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spoon to dissolve any crispy bits in the hot liquid. Pour over the rabbit.
5.
Melt the sugar in a nonreactive small saucepan over medium heat. Watch the sugar closely, and remove it from the heat as soon as it caramelizes. Stir in the Marsala and 2 tablespoons of the red wine vinegar in a slow stream (if you add the wine too fast, it will splatter). As soon as the liquid is blended with the caramelized sugar, pour the mixture into the pot with the rabbit.
6.
Add the fennel seeds, juniper berries, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf to the pot and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the rabbit is tender but not falling off the bone, about 30 minutes.
7.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°F.
8.
Transfer the rabbit to a heatproof platter and place in the oven. Reduce the braising liquid over high heat until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Lower the heat to medium, add the chocolate and the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, and stir until the chocolate melts completely. Taste—the flavor should be a balance of sweet and sour. Add more vinegar if necessary. Discard the bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper.
9.
Ladle a light coating of sauce over the rabbit. Present the platter at the table and offer the remaining sauce on the side.
V
enison is a great argument
for keeping things simple. Few cooked meats are as capable of making as striking a visual impression as three or four slices of unadorned venison on a plate. Venison’s low fat content almost guarantees that it is prepared only rare or medium-rare, which preserves its deep port-like color. Even without its rich, meatier-than-meat flavor, venison’s color would earn it a billing on many menus. This recipe involves a simple oil-based marinade that helps to form a peppery crust when the venison is cooked. Pedro Jiménez, a fine, slightly sweet sherry, long a European tradition in sauces for game meats, adds a fruity note to the sauce. The Dried Fruit Chutney elaborates on this theme and adds a lovely visual component to the dish.
Cooked venison will keep for several days, but it’s so lean that a quick sear in a sauté pan is as much as I dare reheat it for fear of overcooking it. I’m quite content to eat leftover venison cold, accompanied by Herbal Mayonnaise (page 14) or some of the cold chutney.
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
SVENISON
Four 6-ounce venison steaks from the leg or loin
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
¼ cup vegetable oil
SHERRY SAUCE
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 juniper berries, crushed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
½ cup Pedro Jíménez or other high-quality sweet sherry
4 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or 8 cups high-quality low-sodium canned chicken broth, reduced to 4 cups (see page 32)
¼ teaspoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Dried Fruit Chutney (recipe follows; optional)
DO AHEAD:
Marinate the venison for 12 hours. The Dried Fruit Chutney can be prepared up to 10 days in advance.
1.
Trim the sinew and silver skin from the venison steaks. Refrigerate the trimmings for use in the sauce. To make the marinade, mix the pepper, shallots, thyme, and sage with ¼ cup of vegetable oil in a bowl or plastic container. Add the venison steaks and marinate, covered, for 12 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.
2.
To make the sauce, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the reserved venison trimmings and brown them all over. Lower the heat to medium-high, add the shallots, and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 3 minutes. Do not let them burn; lower the heat further if necessary.
3.
Add the thyme, juniper berries, sage, and sherry. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid reduces by half, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and reduce to ¾ cup, about 30 minutes. Strain and return to the sauté pan.
4.
Add the sherry vinegar to the sauce and heat over medium heat until hot. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
5.
Warm the chutney in a small saucepan. While it heats, remove the venison from the marinade. Do not pat the venison dry—you want to leave as much of the marinade on it as possible. Season the meat on both sides with salt.
6.
Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Sear the venison for 5 minutes on both sides for rare. With its low fat content, venison tends to dry out and become tough if cooked to more than medium-rare. To cook the meat more than that, lower the heat to medium and cook to the desired doneness.
7.
To serve, slice the venison steaks
½
inch thick across the grain. Arrange the slices on warm plates. Drizzle with sauce. Place a spoonful of the chutney, if serving, on one side of each plate. Offer the remaining sauce and chutney on the side.