Not so lucky

We eat the same meats again and again: pork, salmon, chicken, beef, and shrimp repeat.

I fall victim to the easy, familiar and accessible though I have cooked and eaten: frog legs (does not taste like chicken), alligator (does not taste like chicken), kangaroo (definitely does not taste like chicken) and guinea pig (most definitely does not taste like chicken). However, I cannot claim that any of these alternatives occurs with any regularity on my dinner table even with my desire to less the burden on the genetic and environmental stress by consuming a mere fraction of the animals available to us.

I am trying to expand the repertoire of our nightly meals incorporating duck, goat, and buffalo. And, most recently rabbit. I remember the first time I was served rabbit. I was eighteen and on a solo trip to Paris, right out of High School. I accepted an invitation to dinner at a friend of a friend’s apartment. I bought a bottle of vin de table feeling all French and sophisticated, and climbed the four flights of stairs to the tiny apartment.

We chatted awhile and not once did I feel the sting of disdain due to my lack of any native language skills. Then dinner was served – Lapin au Moutard. Sounds delicious. Then I was offered the translation, and all I could think is that is a bunny’s foot is not all that lucky. I eat the meal, being a polite guest and not wanting to tip my hand as being a culinary Neanderthal. It was good; reminded me of chicken.

I have cooked rabbit since then on numerous occasions in kitchens from San Francisco to New York to Nice. Though be warned the rabbit in France comes with the head and feet still attached so you better be ready for it. It is not a meat that takes to the grill, and is definitely best braised, making this time of year the prefect time to put it on my shopping list. If you are fortunate your butcher will break it down for you though don’t go looking for the wings.

Braised Rabbit – yeilds 4 servings

Appox. 2-1/2 pound rabbit -cut into 6 pieces

2-tablespoons all-purpose flour

3-tablespoons coconut butter

1-large onion – sliced thinly

1 fennel bulb – sliced thinly

4-small carrots – sliced julienne

¼-cup freshly chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme leaves

2-tablespoons roughly chopped loveage

½-teaspoon lavender

2-heaping tablespoons Dijon-style mustard

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss the rabbit with the flour and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a 10-inch skillet over a high heat, and add the coconut butter. Brown the rabbit on both sides – doing this in two batches. Remove the rabbit from the pan to a bowl and hold.

Add the onions, fennel and carrot into the skillet, and cook until the vegetables start to wilt. Then mix in the parsley, thyme, loveage, lavender and mustard. Return the rabbit to the pan, and pour over a ½-cup of water. Reduce the heat to low, and cover with a lid.

 

Braise the rabbit for 75 to 90 minutes. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve hot over polenta. 

a little cake

Now that Thanksgiving has been completely digested, including leftovers that got reincarnated into soup, croquettes and of course, sandwiches and the hyperbolic mania of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a note on an accounting spreadsheet I can think about the next holiday that is descending upon us.

I will actually be cooking a Christmas Feast this year for my Swedish spouse, and ideas are spinning around. It should not be that difficult to transform someone with Ukrainian Jewish roots into the prefect Norse host. I am going my research, and seeking advice from my mother-in-law. I still have twenty plus days, no panic and until then there are other parties to prepare for and batches upon batches of cookies to be made. This is my favorite part of the holidays -- all the cookies you get to consume. These little cakes speak to the most basic pleasure in all of us – our all-too-often forgotten inner child. Though for me that child never like chocolate chip cookies – way too pedestrian. I could not stop myself from eating way too many of my mother’s apricot rugelach. Today, a batch of macadamia/white chocolate is a basic comfort, but for this holiday I am going with a pistachio/lavender biscotti. In part because this twice baked cookie has a good shelf life, and a large batch has you prepped for a cookie swap at a moments notice.  I had a hefty lavender harvest earlier in the year, and looking at my jar of lavender sugar and dried buds I felt compelled to include them in the festivities.   

I may not have a cookie sprinkled with holiday jimmies but they will standout as I probably will later this month serving the Christmas smorgasbord.

Pistachio Biscotti - yields approx. 3 dozen

1/2-cup whole shelled pistachio - roughly chop

2 cups plus 2-tablespoons flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8-teaspoon salt

4 ounces unsalted butter

¾-cup sugar

2 eggs

1-tablespoon orange juice

1-teaspoon orange blossom water

2-teaspoons crushed lavender buds

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy in a standing mixture or with a hand held beater.  Add in the sugar and beat for a few minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is thoroughly incorporated before the next addition.  Mix the orange juice, orange blossom water and lavender into the butter.  Add the flour mixture into the butter and work until just combined.  Then mix in the pistachios. 

On a lightly floured surface form the dough into four logs, and then place a lined baking tray.  Bake the cookies in the oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until the logs are golden brown and set.  Let cool slightly, and then slice the logs into ¼-inch pieces on an angle.  Place back on a baking tray and bake again about 15 minutes to dry out.  

You may want to turn the cookies over in order to insure that both sides dry out well.

Pistachio Bisc