Fried Rabbit
Guillermo Veloso’s Cuban-accented cuisine includes this unusual dish in which rabbit is braised, then deep-fried. It is served with an avocado-studded salad and an unusual sauce which includes a touch of chocolate.
Ingredients
- Hot Sesame Oil
- Sesame Oil - 1 cup
- Thai Pepper - 4, roughly chopped, or 1 habanero pepper
- Rabbit
- Rabbits - 2, dressed, cut into quarters
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Flour - for dusting
- Clarified Butter (see Basics) - 1/4 cup
- Carrots - 2, chopped
- Onion - 1, chopped
- Red Bell Pepper - 1, seeded, deribbed, and chopped
- Garlic Clove - 1, minced
- Red Wine - 1 cup
- Chicken Stock - 2 to 3 cups
- Spicy Chocolate Demi-glace
- Red Onion - 1 small, minced
- Garlic Clove - 1, minced
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Lime Juice - 1 lime
- Cilantro Sprigs - 2, stemmed and chopped
- Rioja or other red wine - 1 cup
- Godiva chocolate liqueur - 1/2 cup
- Rabbit or Veal demi-glace - 4 cups
- Tomato - 1, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- Bitter Chocolate - 1 ounce, shaved
- Salad
- Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup
- Dijon mustard - 1/4 cup
- Watercress or Assorted mixed greens - 3 cups, cleaned
- Avocado - 1, diced
- Tomato - 1, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- Olives - 1/2 cup, mixed, pitted
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Canola oil - for deep-frying
- Garnish
- Yellow Bell Pepper - 1, peeled, deribbed, seeded, and diced small
- Red Bell Pepper - 1, peeled, deribbed, seeded, and diced small
- Caperberries - 12 to 16, drained
Instructions
To infuse the oil: Place the oil and peppers in a small non-aluminum, non-plastic container. Let stand for 2 days. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and store in a glass jar. When ready to use, put in a squeeze bottle.
To prepare the rabbit: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Season the rabbit with a little salt and pepper and dust lightly with flour, spanking off the excess. Heat the clarified butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and saute the rabbit until lightly browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn and brown for another 3 minutes on the other side. With tongs, remove the rabbit and set aside. Add the carrots, onions, peppers, and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Return the rabbit to the pan. Pour in the red wine and stir up the browned bits from the bottom. Cover three-fourths of the way with chicken stock, adding water if necessary to bring the liquid to the right level. Roast 1-1/2 hours, or until tender. Remove from oven and pat dry. Set aside to cool.
To make the demi-glace: In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until translucent. Add the lime juice and cilantro and stir to blend. Pour the wine into the pan and stir up the browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the liqueur. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the demi-glace and chopped tomato and cook until the sauce thickens to the consistency of syrup. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.
To prepare the salad: Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together. Toss the greens with the dressing. Add the avocado, tomato, and olives and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To finish the rabbit: Heat the canola oil to 370 F in a deep-fat fryer or deep pan. Fry the rabbit, a few pieces at a time, until crisped, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain on paper towels. Let the oil return to temperature between batches.
To serve: Mound salad in the center of four serving plates. Position rabbit pieces around the salad on each plate. Spoon sauce over the rabbit and around the salad. Sprinkle the dishes with pepper dice and garnish each with caperberries. Drizzle hot sesame oil over the top.
