Rabbit with Mustard Sauce
Gourmet (April, 1998)
1 medium onion
a 3-pound rabbit, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (13 3/4 fluid ounces)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Finely chop onion. Pat rabbit pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. In a deep large heavy skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and brown rabbit pieces on all sides in 2 batches. Transfer rabbit as browned to a large bowl.
In skillet cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by about half. Return rabbit to skillet and add broth. Simmer rabbit, covered, until tender, about 40 minutes.
Transfer rabbit to cleaned large bowl and boil sauce until reduced to about 2 cups. In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup sauce and mustard and whisk mixture into sauce. In another small bowl stir cornstarch into 1 tablespoon cold water and whisk into sauce. Simmer sauce, whisking, 3 minutes, or until thickened. Whisk in remaining tablespoon butter, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Return rabbit to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, turning rabbit to coat with sauce, until heated through.
Notes: As has become usual lately, I'm behind in posting updates. I actually made this two weeks ago. For reasons unknown to me, my local grocery store has suddenly added rabbit to their meat department. I'd never cooked it before, so I decided to give it a shot. I had only a partial rabbit, so I made about half the amount of sauce as well. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, very savory and extremely tender. This recipe is relatively simple compared to some of the others I'd found, and I think it was a good choice for a first attempt. But I'll likely try something a bit more complex the next time the opportunity presents itself. I may even get my hands on the recipe for the "Rabbit Stifado" at Molyvos, which is a very yummy dish.
Posted by Jennifer at May 16, 2004 3:38 PM