Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [104]
8. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Spread the toasted baguette slices with the liver mixture, and broil the toasts until the topping is cooked.
9. Spoon the sauce and vegetables over the rabbit and serve with the toasts.
Herb-Roasted Rabbit
Farmed rabbit does have some fat around its kidneys and on its back and legs, but it is not enough to keep it moist enough while roasting. Wrapping the rabbit in bacon bastes the lean meat and adds flavor, while the herb and bacon stuffing adds both fat and flavor. It is important not to overcook the rabbit, and you will need a long roasting pan for this, since a whole rabbit is not as compact as a chicken. Ask your butcher to remove (and save) the head, heart, lungs, and liver but leave the kidneys attached. The liver is cooked with the rabbit, and you can use the other pieces for stock (page 207).
1 rabbit, liver reserved (see headnote)
Olive Oil Marinade (page 212)
¾ cup (60 g) fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
3 tablespoons chopped marjoram
5 bacon slices
1½ cups (375 ml) Rabbit Stock (page 207) or Poultry Stock (page 130)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (60 ml) white wine vinegar
1. Pat the rabbit dry, place it in a glass dish, pour over the marinade, and turn the rabbit to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the rabbit from time to time. Finely chop the liver, cover, and refrigerate.
2. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Remove the rabbit from the marinade (reserve the marinade). Mix the bread crumbs, liver, shallot, and 2 tablespoons of the marjoram in a bowl. Finely dice 1 slice of bacon, and mix it into the bread crumb mixture, along with ¼ cup (60 ml) of the stock. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon the stuffing into the rabbit’s cavity, covering the kidneys. Skewer the belly closed with 1 or 2 small metal skewers. With two pieces of string, first tie the back legs together, then the front legs. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper. Wrap the center section of the rabbit in the remaining bacon slices, and wind a long piece of string around the bacon to hold it in place.
4. Put the rabbit on its side in a roasting pan, and pour over the reserved marinade. Roast the rabbit for 10 minutes, basting twice with the marinade. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C), turn the rabbit onto its other side, and roast for 15 minutes, basting 3 times.
5. Turn the rabbit onto its back and roast for another 15 minutes, basting 3 times. Turn the rabbit back onto the first side and roast, without basting, for another 15 minutes, or until it is cooked. To check, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer—the juices should run clear. Transfer the rabbit to a platter and let it rest, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for 10 minutes.
6. Discard any fat in the roasting pan. Pour in the remaining 1¼ cups (310 ml) rabbit stock and the vinegar and bring to a boil, deglazing the pan by scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Boil hard to reduce the liquid by half. Season with salt and pepper, strain into a sauceboat, and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped marjoram.
7. Cut the rabbit into serving pieces and serve with the sauce.
BONE CHINA
An Englishman, Josiah Spode, created bone china toward the end of the eighteenth century. Bone china does indeed contain bones—about fifty percent of its composition, in fact, in the form of calcined bone ash. To make this ash, animal bones are stripped of meat, then heated to 1832°F (1000°C), which alters their structure (and sterilizes them). They are then ground into a powder that is added to the porcelain clay. Bone china is not only stronger, but also less likely to chip than regular porcelain. The biggest advantage of bone china when first introduced, though, was its very white color and translucency.