When I first looked at Bistro by Alain Ducasse, I laughed. The subtitle is Classic French Comfort Food. I guess “classic” translates to “very elegant.” The book vibrates with festive, intense dishes. Most of us would just buy rabbit or duck confit. But, but, you can make your own. It’s going to be gorgeous and delicious. The happy fact is that making this dish takes some time, a list of ingredients, but is quite doable.
This recipe calls for bilberries. That’s not a type. They are available across the planet. They are similar to, but not identical to, blueberries. And, here in America I’m sure blueberries would be an adequate substitute. You find them online, but you’ll experience sticker shock. Go Blue and just enjoy the rabbit.
You can, of course, make the confit, cut it up, and put it into a stew: cook diced vegetables in rich broth, add the rabbit pieces when the veggies are cooked, and serve with lots of French bread and French wine.
Rabbit Confit Lyon Style
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
For the rabbit:
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 shallot
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 4 large rabbit legs
- 1 tablespoon flour
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 10 fennel seeds
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon dry white wine
- 1 ⅓ cups bilberry-flavored beer
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons veal stock
For the garnish:
- 8 cloves pink garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 25 green and yellow dandelion leaves
- 8 new onions
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- Fleur de sel
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon spring water
For finishing:
- 20 bilberries
- 3 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Fleur de sel
- Freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
To make the rabbit, peel the carrot, onion, and shallot. Halve the vegetables lengthwise, and again crosswise. Heat the peanut oil in a Dutch oven (cast iron casserole). Lightly dredge the rabbit legs in flour and season with salt and pepper. Brown the legs on all sides. Add the butter, onion, shallot, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and fennel seeds. Color a little, then add the wine and reduce* by half. Add the beer and veal stock. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 40 minutes. Stop the cooking process when the legs are soft.
Transfer the legs to a dish. Filter the cooking liquid through a strainer (sieve) into a bowl. Wipe out the Dutch oven and return the strained cooking liquid to it. Reduce the liquid to a sauce that is almost thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set aside.
To make the garnish, peel the garlic cloves, put them into a saucepan, and cover, withcold water. Bring to a boil. Drain and let cool. Repeat the operation another two times. Put the olive oil into a saucepan and gently confit the garlic for 1 hour 30 minutes at 80°C – 175°F, until soft but whole. Wash and gently dry the dandelion leaves. Cut off the bases of the new onions and two-thirds of their leaves. Heat the peanut oil in a saucepan and sweat the onions. Season with a little fleur de sel. Gradually add the spring water, cover the pan, and cook until soft.
To finish, return the legs to the pan with the sauce and gently heat. Add, berries, garlic confit, and onions, followed by the dandelion leaves dressed with the olive oil. Season with fleur de sel and pepper at the last minute.
Source: Bistro: Classic French Comfort Food by Alain Ducasse [Rizzoli, 2018]