Rab­bit, Three Ways

Rab­bit, Three Ways: Ril­lettes, Loins and Liv­er Parfait

(serves 3 as appe­tiz­ers or a light lunch)

1 rab­bit, joint­ed (I learned how at my butch­ers on the spot)

for the con­fit legs for rillettes:

1 cup white wine

1/s cup goose or duck fat

4 bay leaves

sea salt and fresh black pepper

for the loins:

2 tbsps butter

sea salt and fresh black pepper

for the liv­er parfait:

2 tbsps butter

1/2 small shal­lot, minced

2 tsps brandy

splash Tabas­co

2 tbsps double/heavy cream, or to attain prop­er texture

sea salt and fresh black pepper

For the ril­lettes: In a fry­ing pan, heat the wine and fat togeth­er until fat melts, then add the bay leaves and salt and pep­per.  Place the rab­bit legs in this mix­ture and cook over a very low heat, the liq­uid just sim­mer­ing, for 3 hours.  Remove the legs and allow to cool so you can han­dle them, then shred the meat off the bones and mix with just enough of the hot cook­ing liq­uid to attain a nice juicy tex­ture.  Set aside and sea­son if necessary.

For the loins: Just before you want to eat, melt the but­ter in a fry­ing pan and fry the loins until just cooked, per­haps 4–5 min­utes, turn­ing fre­quent­ly.  Sea­son and set aside to rest for a minute before serving.

For the par­fait: In the fry­ing pan from the loins, melt the addi­tion­al but­ter and add the rab­bit liv­er, sea­son­ing gen­er­ous­ly.  Cook until just pink, per­haps 3 min­utes, turn­ing twice.  Place the liv­er in a small food proces­sor and pour in the cook­ing but­ter.  Add the shal­lot, brandy, Tabas­co and cream and process until very smooth.  Sea­son to taste and serve either at room tem­per­a­ture or chilled.