Christmas Rabbit, Exotic Style
27 December 2009
Just a quick note in the midst of our busy Christmas and New Year travel schedule. After visits to my parents in Austria and Simon’s parents in Switzerland we’re back in Munich today for a brief stopover before leaving again tomorrow, this time to Spain, where we’ll spend New Year with a bunch of friends, followed by a week of skiing in Lech, Austria, in early January.
This little gap today is indeed the first opportunity for me to post this recipe I cooked a few weeks ago, when Simon and I celebrated our private little mini-pre-Christmas before all the travelling started. It was a lovely piece of rabbit rack, which I prepared in a somewhat exotic manner, seasoned with ginger, soy and curry, in the style of a dish we had in San Francisco during our California tour last summer. The dish at the "Slanted Door" was cooked with chicken, and the idea of trying something similar with rabbit had been on my mind ever since.
Funnily, the waiter in San Francisco recommended us a German Riesling Spätlese wine called "J2" to go with our food, which, though we are usually no big fans of such sweetish-fruity flavours, we deemed an ideal match for this exoticly-spiced dish. In fact we enjoyed it so much that back in Germany we went to visit winery (which by the way is run by a really nice young and innovative couple) and bought a few bottles. We still found it a really good combination when we opened the first bottle at the occasion of this dinner.
Enough random talk – I have to finish packing now for Spain.
Happy New Year!
Ginger & Curry Spiced Rabbit Rack
| serves 6 |
| 4 filets from rack of rabbit (about 600g) |
for the marinade: |
| 1 teaspoon curry powder (medium spicy) |
| 3 dents of garlic, mashed |
| 5-6 tablespoons soy sauce |
| 1 tablespoon honey |
| 3-4 laurel leaves |
| about 10 juniper berries |
for the stew: |
| 80ml soy sauce |
| 150ml mirin |
| 150ml white wine |
| 2 teaspoons honey |
| 4-5cm of an average-sized ginger root |
| 1 stick of lemon grass |
| 3-4 teaspoons curry powder (medium spicy) |
| 2 carrots |
| 1 parsley root |
| 2 red peppers |
| some fresh basil |
to go with: |
| basmati rice |
Chop the rack of rabbit into bits of about 3 cm and place in a bowl. Season with a teaspoon of curry powder and 3 mashed dents of garlic and rub well into the meat. Combine the about 5-6 tablespoons of soy sauce with 2 tablespoons of honey and stir well until the honey has dissolved. Use to marinate the rabbit, and add about 10 juniper berries as well as 4 laurel leaves. Mix well, close the bowl with a lid and let rest in the fridge for at least a few hours.
In a saucepan, heat some oil. When hot, briefly sear the marinated rabbit while stirring heavily so the pieces get evenly browned. When golden, remove the rabbit from the pan and set aside.
Lower the heat and add the soy sauce, the mirin, the white wine and the honey to the pan you seared the rabbit in, and bring to a boil. Peel the ginger root and slice it as finely as possible. Slice the lemon grass just as finely and add both to the juice. Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Peel and slice the carrots and the parsley root and add to the sauce together with the marinated rabbit. Season with some medium-spicy curry powder, close the lid again and let simmer. Chop the red peppers and add after about 10 minutes to balance the cooking times. Let simmer with closed lid for another 15 minutes. Finish with some fresh basil and enjoy with basmati rice.