All from scrach



I had so much fun the other day when I was asked to make a mash potatoes for our lunch... Lapin au Moutarde. Yes..in France we eat rabbits, we eat frogs and snails (escargots) are delicacies. In Asia, rabbits are pets so the first time when rabbits were served I did felt sorry for these cute-cuddly-little-fury balls.. but after 10 years of living with a French. I now cook very good Lapin au moutarde (Rabbit with mustard sauce).

This feather friend of mine has notthing to do with my recipe :)

So here is the recipe for Lapin au moutarde (sorry, I don't have a good picture of the dish cause my hands were full of the gnocchi dough..ahh just too messy)

Ingredients:

1            Rabbit (cut into serving pieces, including the head..yes, head..and is the best part just like    fish head for Malaysians)

4 Tbsp or more   Mustard (Strong Dijon/ Moutarde forte)

1            Leek (sliced)

1            Onion, chopped

2            stalks of leafy celery (sliced)

3            Carrots (medium, cut wedged)

100ml    Dry white wine

300ml    Chicken stock

1           Bouquet garni (1 bay leaf and 5 or 6 thyme springs)
6           peppercorns
3 Tbsp  Creme Fraiche (heavy cream)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Marinate rabbit pieces with sea salt, ground pepper and coat them in mustard. To make sure the success of this dish, I always use a new pot of mustard.
2. In a heavy pot, heat a couple table spoons of olive oil over medium heat, brown rabbits pieces.
3. Now add all the vegetables and brown lightly, stiring for 5 to 10 mins. Add the bouquet garni, pepper corns and pour in chicken stock to just slightly over the rabbit pieces. Bring to a boil. Skim if necessary.
4. Simmer for an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 240C.
5. After an hour, discard the bouquet garni and transfer the heavy pot into the oven and bake the rabbit uncover for 30 mins.
6. After 30mins, open the oven and pour in the white wine. Bake for another 20 minutes.
7. Then stir in some creme fraiche and bake for another 5 mins.
8. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and serve with mash potatoes or some tagliatelle.

I served mine with some homemade Gnocchi.



Homemade Gnocchi




Recipe for Gnocchi

2 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into large cubes)
2 cups flour ( 2 cups flour to 2 medium potatoes)
salt to taste

1. In a pot place potatoes cubes, cover with water and bring to a boil.
2. Once potatoes are cooked through but still a little firm. Mash it with potato masher and season with salt and let cool.
3. Add flour into cooled mash potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon then knead with hand. It can be very sticky.
4. In a bowl, put some extra flour. Spoon out a big table spoon of the mixture and drop it into the flour then take out and roll it into a sausage then cut them into about 2 cm long.
5. Use a fork, lightly press and drag the little dough ball towards you. It will form a little curved up dough ball with the fork mark.
6. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi. As they cook, gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water.
7. Then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.
8. Serve immediately, tossed together with your favourite sauce or just lightly brown them in a pan with some olive oil and serve as a side dish.

Note: It is important not to add too much flour cause too much flour will make the cooked gnocchi heavy and tough, while too little flour will cause gnocchi to disintegrate during cooking. This is why I drop table spoon full of dough into a bowl of flour to make it easier to handle. The kitchen may be a little messy but its worth the extra work.