[rec.food.recipes] RABBIT: Terrine de Lapin mon Oncle

nr1886@euclid.math.colostate.edu (Nenad Rijavec) (07/16/90)

Someone wanted a rabbit recipe. Well, here goes: the following recipe is
from the excellent book `American Charcuterie' by Victoria Wyse, Penguin,
1986. I think it's out of print (what a shame). I haven't tried this recipe,
but everything else from the book was excellent.

TERRINE DE LAPIN MON ONCLE

Ingredients :

1 large rabbit, 3.5 to 4 lbs

For the stock :

the rabbit bones
1 small bay leaf
2 juniper berries
1 cup white wine
3 cups water

2 oz French bread, about 3 in piece of baguette
1 egg
1/4 cup brandy
1 chicken liver
3/4 Toulouse sausage meat, not in casing

For seasoning

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp pate spice
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup rabbit stock

1 bay leaf
3/4 lb bacon, blanched 5 minutes, for lining the terrine

To prepare rabbit, pull out the kidneys and liver from cavity and set aside.
Use a curved boning knife to remove meat from legs and tighs. Set aside with
kidneys and liver. Sever leg/tigh bones and place in medium size pot. Next,
sever front leg joints at shoulder on both sides. Remove meat from front
legs, set aside with rest of the meat and add bones to the pot. Insert the
boning knife into meat right next to bone at top of the back and cut down
back and out along ribs on both sides. Add meat to meat pile. Remove small
fillets next to the bone on the underside of the rabbit and add to meat
pile. Break carcass in half and add to pot. You should wind up with a pot of
bones and a pile of meat, kidneys and liver.

To make stock, add bay leaf, juniper berries, wine and water to bones, set
over medium heat and simmer for one hour. Strain into bowl and set aside to
cool. Discard the bones.

To make forcemeat, cut up French bread and place, along with egg and brandy,
in a bowl large enough to hold meats. With chef's knife, cut rabbit into 3/8
inch wide strips - doesn't matter how long - and add to bowl. Roughly chop
kidneys, liver and chicken liver and add to bowl. Add sausage, seasoning
ingredients and 1/2 cup of strained rabbit stock. Mix well with hands,
breaking up the sausage and bread. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To assemble, line 2 quart terrine or loaf pan
with blanched bacon strips. Pack forcemeat into terrine, top with bay leaf
and cover with remaining bacon, enclosing neatly. Cover with lid or foil.

To cook, bake in bain-marie (water bath?) 1 hour, then then remove lid or
foil. Continue cooking 30 to 45 minutes, or until instant reading meat
thermometer registers 165 degrees. Remove from oven and cool to room
temperature. To allow flavors to blend, refrigerate at least overnight, up
to 2 days. Will keep wrapped and refrigerated 5 or 6 days, but will dry out
after that.

Enjoy!

Nenad

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Nenad Rijavec                           nr1886@euclid.math.ColoState.edu
Dept. of Mathematics,                   (303) 491-8093
Colorado State University.