Stéphane Modat
Restaurant chef, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City
Ingredients
1 whole rabbit (with the liver)
1 bottle (750 ml) full-bodied red wine
1/2 cup (125 ml) cranberry juice
1 cup (250 ml) unsweetened dried cranberries
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 branches thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
2 tablespoons (60 ml) flour
2 tablespoons (60 ml) olive oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Cut the rabbit into 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 shoulders and the chest cut in 2 length -wise, then in 2 again). Put them in a big bowl with the red wine, cranberry juice, dried cranberries, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and cloves. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, drain the pieces of meat, dry them with a cloth, season them on both sides and flour them. Keep the marinade.
Preheat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F).
In a cast iron pan, heat the olive oil and color the pieces of meat on each side, then the vegetables that you have previously removed from the marinade. Set aside.
Then deglaze the pan with the liquid from the marinade, replace the pieces of meat and vegetables in the pan, cover and bake for 3 hours. The meat should come off the bones with light finger pressure, otherwise continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
Remove the meat from the cooking juices and set aside on a plate, covered. Keep warm.
Filter the cooking broth, discard the vegetables and return to the saucepan to make the sauce. Heat.
Blend the rabbit liver and cream until smooth.
Pass the mixture through a sieve and add to the hot sauce, without boiling again.
Place the hot pieces of meat in the sauce.
Serve with fondant potatoes or egg pasta and Vichy carrots.
