Bonsoir, Mes Amis!
I then turned the bunny over and removed the small loin, using the
sharp utility knife. After this, I cut
the rib cage away and removed all of the meat from around the ribs.
I was left with some rather yucky looking “Schmutz” (a technical
rabbit term), but in the interest of recycling and cooking with versatility I
decided to make a stock using the rabbit bones and off cuts that didn’t make
the stew.
Bienvenue à une nouvelle
journée trépidante avec nous ici en France , ses amis et disciples de Mangez.Voyage.Plongée.
This week has been filled with lots of work outside, lifting huge
old lumps of stone, digging holes, plus cleaning and clearing junk in the
cellar. Most importantly I’ve been
getting the chance to get stuck into lots of cooking, and kitchen fun-times.
I’ve had a go at anything foodie that’s come my way, and I’ve
learnt so much about cookery on my travels – the journey from single guy eating
pre-made box meals to making my own meals and having cooking fun with the
wonderful Winnie has been so cool. Today
I want to share with you my first attempt at butchery.
Whilst shopping for new and exciting local ingredients an
incredible idea popped into my head:
“...POP - French & Versatile!...”
Yes! French and Versatile; I would pick a cheap seasonal meat
(fresh from the hunt) and combine it into one of my tried and tested versatile cooking recipes…One thing I
had to change was herb/spice choices and a different local wine, since we are
in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. On
requesting a local deal on meat at the local supermarket charcuterie, I was
given a challenge/new option: Rabbit. It
had been skinned, and I would need to butcher it myself.
“…Challenge: Butcher My Own Rabbit & Cook It…”
So, With a Rabbit and a bottle (or two) of Languedoc “La Clappe” in
our groceries, I headed to the chateau’s herb garden to pick some fresh home
grown yummies to complement our ex-bouncing, carrot munching fluff-ball…I went
for some bay leaves (aka Laurier in France) and a sprinkling of seasoning and
paprika.
Step 1 – J’ai coupé le lapin
I cut up the rabbit.
What follows next is a fairly graphic demonstration (in photos) of
how I did this – this was my disclaimer.
You have been warned!!
Before beginning my first attempt at butchery, I washed the whole
rabbit and removed any remaining silver skin.
After this I went in for the “kill” and gave butchery a good stab! I took out my cleaver and chopped Mr Lapin’s
head from his body. This was the hardest
thing to do – having had a bunny rabbit as a family pet, and knowing that we
have family friends (The Banker, The Spot and Coco) who own bunnies called
Nimbus and Gucci. So, I brandished my
cleaver lined up for the first blow and with one firm downward stroke (and a
feeling of being a medieval executioner)….
“Off with his head!”
Winnie cried out as if I had just killed a family member, and made
mention to it being cute – how can a skinned pile of flesh and bones look
cute…although it did have large, sad looking eyes…
Next, I removed the front leg.
There is a definite point between the main joint on the leg and the rest
of the carcass that you can work the knife (I was using a small utility knife
to slice through this area then finished off the joint with the cleaver once
again). I was getting the hang of
this. The second front leg came off with
considerable ease, once I had remembered that I had read about there being a
soft tissue between the leg and the body.
With its head and front legs sitting in a bowl, Mr Lapin was
looking more like dinner and less like a family pet. Next, I used a similar technique to remove
the back legs. You have to work
carefully around the tail bone, but other to this it’s fairly simple.
Since the rabbit had kindly had its intestines (and I’ve been told by
a certain Aussie friend, Mr Main-iac,
that this can be a god-awful smelly mistake if you knick them) removed for me,
I carefully removed Mr L’s Kidneys, Lungs, Liver and Heart. When I removed the lungs I had to cut the
windpipe which was weird. The Liver,
Heart and other pieces were going into my stew later so I got rid of fatty
layers and placed them in my bowl.
Kidneys & Liver |
Heartless... |
Removing the meat from the ribs |
I then carefully went over my removed meat and removed those yucky
parts for the stockpot (I also need to point out that post stockpot the bones
were given to the dogs!). I next washed
the meat that made the grade and put it aside in a bowl ready for step 2….
Step
2 – J’ai cuit le lapin
I cooked the rabbit.
So moving back into my comfort zone, I proceeded to make a
sensational stew, or as the French call it “Ragoût Sensationnelle”.
Just so you know, here’s the ingredients list (you should have it
memorized now):
STEW
- 2 Carrots
- 2 Celery Sticks
- 2 Onions
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 2 Laurier Leaves
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 Freshly Massacred
Rabbit
- 500ml Languedoc “La
Clappe” Red Wine (Medium & Fruity Local Wine)
- 3 Field Mushrooms (I had
some left over in the pantry)
- Tomato Base
- Olive Oil
TOMATO BASE
- 8 Ripe Large Tomatoes
- 2 Large Knobs of Butter
- 1 Red Onion
- 2 Tbs Tomato Ketchup (or
if you have it, Tomato Pureé)
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 Cup Water
- Salt & Pepper
- Olive Oil
DUMPLINGS
- 250g Self-Raising Flour
- 125g Freezer-Chilled
Butter
- 2 Sprigs of Rosemary
- Salt & Pepper
Just because Winnie and I are trying to learn new things to broaden
our horizons and since Queen Sophie doesn’t buy tinned vegetables as a general
rule; I have been working on an idea to make my own tomato base to replace the
usual 400g tin of chopped tomatoes.
Simple, easy and with the regular stock of ingredients we keep at
home is what I’m aiming for.
Chop your tomatoes in to rough chunks, peel and finely slice the
red onion and your ready to go. Next
chuck a lug of olive oil into a pan and warm up your pot on a medium flame /
heat. Then chuck a knob of butter in
(let it melt). Add the prepped tomatoes
and onions, then give it a good stir.
Next add second knob of butter, tomato ketchup and paprika. Stir in the cup of water and wham up the
heat, bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 10
minutes. Don’t let the tomatoes break
down completely, just soften them.
Take off the heat and let it cool in the pan and the tomato base is
ready. I guess if you fancied you could
use basil, oregano or even some more lovely garlic to give the base a different
taste (but I have an abundance of paprika at the moment which is my reason for
choosing).
If you’re keen to see how I made the stew, check out my Sensational Stew Recipe which is talked
about in detail in an earlier blog post about Versatile Cooking. All you
need to know is that you can adjust your cooking time to about 1 hour and 30
minutes, with the lid on. Then 30
minutes with the lid off and the dumplings dunked into the surface. See the Sensational Stew post for details
about my Rosemary Dumplings.
I’m making an effort to be a food efficient role model to our
readers; recycling excesses and using / re-using the stuff we all have in the
cupboard. Left-overs can make such
interesting stocks, meals or bases for sauces.
I really want you to feel empowered or inspired to use the stuff
you already have in your pantry – Lets not waste lots of money that we don’t
have to waste on excesses. I’m hoping we
can all hoard a little less, allowing less of it to perish and let’s all try to
create a more abundant food stock for the future.. I can’t stand to see food wastage, so I
always try to work out recipes that work with what I have already, with just a
few items added to create new and exciting recipes.
“…Let’s create an abundance of food…yummy!”
Je veux
vraiment que vous vous sentiez habilités ou inspiré d'utiliser les trucs que vous avez déjà dans votre garde-manger - Permet de ne pas gaspiller de l'argent que nous n'avons pas à perdre avec excès. J'espère que nous pouvons tous thésauriser un peu moins, ce qui permet moins de lui à périr et nous allons tous essayer de créer
un stock
de nourriture plus abondante pour l'avenir .. Je ne peux pas supporter de voir le gaspillage de nourriture, donc j'essaie toujours
de travailler sur des recettes qui fonctionnent avec ce que j'ai déjà, avec juste quelques articles ajoutés pour créer des recettes nouvelles et passionnantes.
“…Nous allons créer une abondance de
nourriture ... Miam!”
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