Day thirteen: Where we say “hello” and “good bye” to rabbit

Posted on | January 7, 2010

Got home early, too early: The mail carrier hasn’t come yet. Ah, what price the stunning luck of catching my ride home exactly on time?

Of course, there was a minor mishap. I accidentally misdirected tourists who wanted to see a local landmark. I only sent them one stop out of their way, and it was through a much nicer part of town. But, still, I am sure they are cursing my name.

Or they would if they knew it.

Still, nothing can mar my mood because I have stuffed rabbit saddle, braised rabbit forelegs, and perfectly sauteed polenta in my bag.

I bought salad makings at the market yesterday, so can you say dinner is ready? I can!

The cast iron skillet used to be a leading source of iron in the American diet
Today: Plate up day. Which means we finished cooking all the stuff we’ve been working on all week. So here is what I did:

Remember the rabbit saddle I stuffed with the world’s best stuffing (speaking of which, I’ll tell you what I did with the leftovers at the end of this post, as I promised yesterday) and dusted with meat glue (if you want to know what that is, see my last post)? Well, today I wrapped it in caul fat, browned it to a beautiful deep golden brown, and finished it in the oven. Then I cut it into thin medallions.
The legs I had braised I simply brought up to temperature.
I took my braising liquid from the forelegs and poured it into the pan I used to saute the stuffed rabbit saddle to capture the fond. I then added thyme and brandy and reduced the liquid to make a truly beautiful light, mahogany brown sauce.
I popped the purple, grilled radicchio into the oven to heat.
I cut the polenta with the shredded meat from the hindlegs into concentric circles. I then browned these in a saute pan until they were a rich golden brown.

And now, for the plating!

I used the polenta to create a tower, largest circle on the bottom, medium circle in the middle, smallest circle on top. I didn’t line them up; I wanted them to look casual.

Against this, I rested one of the rabbit thigh and legs, drumstick pointing toward the sky. Behind the rabbit and next to the polenta, I placed the purple raddichio, base side down, so the sharpest point on the wedge was facing skyward.

In front of the thigh, I fanned my stuffed rabbit medallions.

And, in front of that, I drizzled my sauce.

I was pretty pleased with my plate. While there were some other nice plates, too, I managed to get just the perfect, most inviting, colors on my foods. Sure, the design was good. But it was the colors that were great.

Good things!

Ketchup used to be sold as a medicine
What is not good things is we are supposed to get a new syllabus for tomorrow. See, they don’t give us the syllabus for the entire course, up front, as courses typically do. Instead, they drizzle it out, drop by drop. Sometimes. Or, sometimes, we don’t get it at all. Like today.

See, tomorrow is black box day. On black box day we are given a protein and whatever vegetables and starches happen to be around and told to make a dish out of it.

So, today, we were supposed to be told what the protein is so we can plan for it. Earlier this week, Chef Peacock had said he was thinking about scallops. I got all excited and grabbed a bunch of recipes (scallop fritters with blackberry puree; scallops with julienne apples; etc.). But, today, in the kitchen he said he still didn’t know.

But, no worries, he promised to let us know in the lecture.

Only, he did not.

So tomorrow I’ll have to cobble something together just to get it done, not because I have flavors or ideas I want to work with.

Sigh.

The first breakfast cereal ever produced was Shredded Wheat
Afterward, there was the usual lecture. We’re talking marketing and menu pricing and even alcohol. There will be a test on this tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it.

But, the interesting part is, before class, some of the students were complaining that they did not understand the teacher. I find her very clear, but, hey, I have an unfair advantage: I don’t talk incessantly through class as many of them do (which drives the poor chef nuts). So I told them to just ask her about anything they were unclear about. And what did they do in class? They complained. And not one student bothered to even ask a simple question.

I’m so glad I am not teaching this class. It is bad enough to simply be part of it.

The most popular topping for pizza at Domino’s in Japan is . . . Squid
Now, who wants to know what I did with the leftover rabbit stuffing I brought home yesterday? Okay, well, gather round, kids, and let me tell you.

First, I lightly whipped an egg and threw that into the stuffing. Then, I formed meatballs, yes meatballs, out of it.

I sauteed these in a dab of oil. the goal was not so much to cook the stuffing (it had already been cooked) as it was to brown and heat the meatballs.

They browned. And heated.

I also made white rice. To this, I added a julienned yellow onion I had caramelized and some peas I had sauteed in a bit of butter and sage.

It was a simple meal, but it was tasty and filling.

And a nice prelude to tonight’s feast where we will revisit the wee rabbit, this time, however, with polenta, brandy sauce, and some microgreens.

Bon apetit!

Comments

One Response to “Day thirteen: Where we say “hello” and “good bye” to rabbit”

Marie
January 8th, 2010 @ 9:44 am

I like your comment about cast iron skillets. I am battling a low iron count and I was a skeptic at first about a comment on a medical website about cooking in cast iron. But, I’ve since found out that it’s very true.