Coulis de Lapereau au Currie

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •10-inch sauté pan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small skimming ladle
• •2-quart saucepan for the rice
• •Kitchen twine

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the rabbit

   Ask the butcher to cut the hind legs through the joints and heavier bones into small pieces; a home knife is not the tool for chopping rabbit bone. Pat every piece dry. Measure 8 cups of the white consommé into a heavy saucepan and reserve the remaining 1 cup for the despumation.

2. 2

   Raidir in butter

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat until it foams. Add the rabbit in one uncrowded layer, working in batches if necessary, and raidir it, meaning firm the surface in hot butter without developing the dark crust wanted for a brown braise. Turn the pieces until they are opaque and faintly golden on every side, about 5 minutes per batch. If the butter begins to brown quickly, pull the pan from the heat and add the next cold pieces; their temperature will calm it.

3. 3

   Simmer with aromatics

   Put all the rabbit into the heavy saucepan with the carrot roundels, onion roundels, bouquet garni, and 8 cups of white consommé. Bring the liquid slowly to the first tremble, then lower the heat and skim away the grey foam that rises. Cook uncovered at the barest simmer for 50 to 65 minutes, until the meat is tender and registers at least 160°F or 71°C near the bone. A hard boil emulsifies fat into the liquor, so keep only an occasional bubble breaking the surface.

4. 4

   Strain and slice

   Lift out the rabbit and strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a clean vessel, pressing nothing at this stage. Discard the carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. When the rabbit is cool enough to handle, remove the meat carefully from the bones and cut 36 very small, neat slices, about 225 grams in all. Moisten them with 2 tablespoons of the strained liquor, cover, and keep warm. Check carefully for fine bones.

5. 5

   Build the curry base

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a clean saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle over the fécule and curry powder, then stir for 1 minute so the starch loses its raw taste and the curry opens in the butter without scorching. Add the strained rabbit liquor a ladleful at a time, whisking each addition smooth before the next. If the starch gathers into lumps, take the pan off the heat and whisk in one ladleful of cool liquor; the sieve will catch what remains.

6. 6

   Simmer and sieve

   Bring the coulis to a boil while whisking, then immediately lower it to a gentle simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean, narrow saucepan, pressing the softened onion through with the back of a ladle. The original tammy gave an exceptionally fine texture; a good metal sieve is its honest home equivalent.

7. 7

   Despumate the coulis

   Hold the sieved coulis at the faintest simmer for 20 minutes. Skim the surface repeatedly with a small ladle, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of the reserved consommé down the side of the pan every few minutes; the fresh liquid encourages foam and fat to gather where you can remove them. Do not stir. If the coulis boils hard and clouds, take it off the heat for 3 minutes, return it to a lower flame, and resume skimming. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Cook rice apart

   While the coulis despumates, rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Bring the 2 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil, add the rice, and cook uncovered until tender but still separate, about 11 to 13 minutes. Drain thoroughly, return it to the dry warm pan over the lowest heat for 1 minute, and shake gently until the surface moisture disappears. This is Rice à l'Indienne in the classical service: loose, dry grains presented separately, not left to swell in the soup.

9. 9

   Finish with cream

   Take the coulis off the heat. Whisk a ladleful into the cream, then return the warmed cream mixture to the saucepan in a thin stream. Add the rabbit slices and warm them gently without allowing the soup to boil. If the cream begins to look grainy, remove the pan from the heat at once and whisk in a tablespoon of cool reserved consommé. Taste before adding salt, since a properly seasoned consommé may need none. Ladle into warm bowls and pass the Rice à l'Indienne separately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The hind legs matter. They have enough connective tissue to flavour the consommé and remain succulent through the gentle cooking; the saddle would dry before the liquor had gained its character.
• •If wild rabbit is unavailable, use young farmed rabbit hind legs of the same weight. The flavour will be milder and the meat may become tender sooner, so begin checking it after 40 minutes rather than forcing it to obey the clock.
• •Choose a mild, balanced curry powder built around coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fenugreek. Curry paste and garam masala carry different moisture, heat, and perfume; they do not behave like the dry powder in this entry.
• •The white consommé is the foundation. A clear, lightly salted chicken stock is the practical home equivalent, but strain it well and avoid dark roasted stock, which turns this pale coulis muddy and overwhelms the rabbit.
• •Serve with a dry or barely off-dry Riesling. Its acidity cuts the cream, while a little fruit meets the curry without pushing the rabbit aside.

Advance Preparation

• •The rabbit can be cooked and the liquor strained one day ahead. Refrigerate the meat in a little liquor and keep the remaining liquor separately covered; remove any firm surface fat before continuing.
• •The coulis can be completed through the despumation several hours ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate, and reheat gently before adding the cream and rabbit.
• •Cook the Rice à l'Indienne near serving time. If it must wait, cool it promptly, refrigerate, and reheat it covered with a spoonful of water so the grains remain separate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)