a rich, quick and complete dish. Rabbit is a low-fat white meat that is very healthy and very tender if stewed. For that we can use this mustard rabbit recipe, is a French bistro classic worth getting to know. Braising the rabbit in the rich and flavorful mustard sauce yields succulent, tender meat. You’ll want to slurp the sauce up with a spoon or soak it up with some crusty bread.
What Is Rabbit Meat Called ?
rabbit meat does not have a special name, it is simply called, « rabbit meat. » Despite it being a rarity on many North American menus, it is a very popular dish across different parts of the world.
Rabbit meat is unique from other meats in that it is entirely white meat. It has many nutritional advantages over other meats, such as a lower cholesterol amount than any other meat, more protein per serving than chicken, fish or beef, and the lowest amount of calories per serving. The USDA says that rabbit is the most nutritious meat known to mankind.
Why Is Rabbit Meat So Expensive ?
Why is it that the cost of rabbit meat is high compared to other meat? Rabbits are common, pretty easy to raise and don’t need expensive facilities to be raised in. Shouldn’t that make rabbit cheaper than other meats? Rabbit meat is expensive because fryers are not able to be effectively fed in large groups, require a more expensive feed ration than most other livestock and processing costs are higher per pound of meat sold. The cost of rabbit meat is high compared to other commonly available meats in the supermarket, however, compare rabbit to specialty meats that are not factory farmed and rabbit meat is right in line, price wise.
Cost of raising rabbits is higher
Because of the individual care the rabbits need, raising rabbits for meat takes up quite a bit of the producer’s time.
That extra time to raise the fryers (young meat rabbits) will be reflected in the price of the meat.
Why? There is no economical and productive way automate or mostly automate rabbit raising.
Anything that can not be automated or highly automated takes more barn space and people time for the animals raised.
The rabbits stay with their mom until they reach market size
One of the biggest disadvantages of meat rabbits compared to other quick growing meat animals, like broilers, is that with rabbits the doe (the mom) needs to stay with the baby rabbits (called kits) to raise them to market size. This means that a significant portion of the cage and the feed is going to the doe (who is not being sold). The feed still has to be paid for, but the rabbits being sold did not eat it!
Rabbits need more cage space than other animals
The second difference with rabbits compared to other animals is that rabbits, despite being in cages, end up needing more space per head (on a body weight basis) than a chicken or a pig.
Rabbits do not factory farm
As mentioned above, rabbits do not work out for a factory farm setting. While there are some very big rabbit farms, the needs of the rabbits remain the same as the needs of the rabbits on small farms. The pen size is the same. The feed (pellets of complete feed) is the same. Rabbit farms with loads of rabbits would have automatic watering set up and possibly even automatic feeders, but the care of the adults would still need to be done by hand. Things like putting in nest boxes, taking out the mom at weaning, putting the mom in with the buck again, all done by hand in rabbits.
Ingrédients
- 1 3- to 4-lb rabbit, cut into 6-8 pieces
- 1½ tablespoons butter
- 1½ tablespoons oil
- 1 medium onion or 4 shallots, diced
- 2 tablespoons flour or 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup dry white wine optional
- 2½ cups chicken stock or broth
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- a few sprigs of thyme
- 12 sage leaves
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped capers
- 1 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoons peper powder
- 7-8 saffron hair
- 3 bay leaves
- ginger (small pieces) about 10 g
- sliced chives for garnish
Instructions
- cut rabbit in 6-8 pieces
- Season the rabbit with salt and pepper.
- Heat a Dutch oven or large, deep, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil. When sizzling hot, working in batches, sear the rabbit, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Remove browned rabbit from pan and set aside.
- Add the diced onion/shallot and sauté until softened and lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Sprinkle onions with flour and stir until well incorporated, then cook for a minute or so until mixture starts to smell toasty. Add wine and 1 cup broth, whisking as the sauce thickens. Whisk in remaining broth and 1 tablespoon of mustard and bring to a simmer. Taste for salt and adjust.
- Return browned rabbit pieces to the sauce. Add thyme and sage. Cover pot and simmer until meat is fork tender, about 45 to 50 minutes.
- Using tongs, remove rabbit pieces from sauce, set aside, and keep warm. Put saucepan over medium heat and bring contents to a simmer. Whisk in crème fraîche, 1 tablespoon of mustard, and capers and simmer until somewhat thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning.
- Transfer rabbit to a warmed serving bowl and ladle the sauce over. Sprinkle with chives.