Home
Recipes
The Blog
Rabbit Stew, a French delicacy
2016-08-15
- This Recipe
- Chef: Madame D'aubery
- Cuisine: French Cuisine
- Course: Main Dish, Meat
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Category: Course
- Yield: 3 to 4
- Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking Time: 2 H
- Readiness Time: 1 Day
- This Post
- Chef : François
- Category: Recipe
- Posted on: Monday August 15, 2016
- Comments : 35 Comments
-
Languages :
English | 
Français
- Ingredients
- Garlic, Carrots, Mushrooms, Cognac, Tomato paste, Rabbit, Diced bacon, Laurel (bay) leaves, Onions, Thyme, Red wine,
La version Française se trouve ICI |
The rabbit stew, a French delicacy recipe that Madame d'Aubery taught me |
Source of the recipeOne of the first recipes that Madame d'Aubery taught me... A delicious dish that she used to cook perfectly !She actually got the recipe from a chef working at a top restaurant in Lyon, France. |
 |
 | Not sure how she was able to get the recipe ( during those times, recipes from top restaurants were such a secret that it was considered a real miracle to get them ). As she was a restaurant owner, I guess she used some sort of mafia amongst the cooks to steal those recipes ? |
Ingredients
 | 4 lbs 7 oz Rabbit (2 kilograms)½ Cup Olive Oil2 Tablespoons Butter (30 grams)2 tablespoons of Flour½ Cup Cognac or Brandy2 Onions5 Garlic Cloves½ Cup Bacon1 tablespoon of Tomato PasteA small quantity of ThymeA small quantity of Laurel (Bay) leaf4 ¼ Cups Red Wine (1 Liter)A small quantity of Water3 Carrots10 Button Mushrooms1 pinch of Salt1 pinch of Pepper |
You will need...
Steps
 | Cutting the meatIf yourRabbit doesn't come cut, you will need to cut it yourself, which is more complex than let's say, chicken...This video shows you how to proceed |
 Warm in a dutch oven the Olive Oil (½ Cup) and theButter (2 Tablespoons or 30 g) and then brown theRabbit (4 lbs 7 oz or 2 kg) until lightly colored |
 |
Brown on all sides, but do not fully cook the meat ! |
 |
Add the Flour (2 tablespoons) and stir |
 |
 | Deglaze with the Cognac or Brandy (½ Cup) |
 | Keep scraping the bottom of the dutch oven : this will release flavors and will avoid to burn the sauce.  The juices that stick to the bottom ('sucs' in French) are one the secret for a super tasty sauce : You have to continuously scratch the bottom to release them into the sauce, otherwise they stay, stick, and burn |
 | Add the diced Onions (2) and the dicedGarlic Cloves (5) and stir |
 | Add in the Bacon (½ Cup) and cook for5 minutes |
| Keep scraping... that will make your sauce tastier |
 | Add in the Tomato Paste (1 tablespoon) and stir |
Add in the herbs : Thyme ,Laurel (Bay) leaf and others... |
 |
Starts to smell delish in the house ! |
 |
 | The wineTime to pour in theRed Wine (4 ¼ Cups or 1 Liter) : lower the heat to low/medium. Make sure to cover the meat with theRed Wine , and if not fully covered with the liquid, pour in someWater . If you want to be super technical, you would follow Thomas Keller's advice (the Californian chef with 3 Michelin stars restaurants) : He recommends to boil and flambé the wine prior to using it. Madame d'Aubery was not doing it. Up to you ! |
 | Slice and add in the Carrots (3) |
 | Lower the heat, reduce to a simmer |
 | Make sure you are covering... |
Long cooking The stew must cook for 2 hours . Make sure the stew is on a simmer, you want to avoid cooking on a high heat if you really want to make the rabbit meat tender and falling off the bones !At some point, add the Salt (1 pinch) and thePepper (1 pinch) (but not at the very beginning as the salt and pepper could become overpowering after evaporation) You may bake in the oven as well |
 |
 | After the cooking timeAfter it is fully cooked, use a sieve to filter the juice |
 | The sauceTo make the sauce, place into a blender and blend :
|
Madame d'Aubery didn't add in the Button Mushrooms (10) directly... She would sauté them first in a skillet with butter |
 |
 | Then she put everything together in the dutch oven : the mushrooms, the blended sauce and the meat with the vegetables |
 | Rest Madame d'Aubery had a secret : she would not eat this delicious recipe the same day : she would refrigerate the dish overnight before serving it to her guests the next days : I tested and compared the tastes, and indeed, the sauce texture is thicker and the taste of the stew is more developed when you wait for a full day... |
| A real delicious treat... like in French restaurants |
Cooking with the same Chef ?
All recipes of Madame D'aubery |
Cooking with the same ingredients ?
What else to cook with Carrots |
     |
What else to cook with Mushrooms |
What else to cook with Cognac |
What else to cook with Tomato paste |
What else to cook with Diced bacon |
  |
What else to cook with Laurel (bay) leaves |
What else to cook with Onions |
  |
What else to cook with Thyme |
What else to cook with Red wine |
Recipes...
Conticini’s Chocolate Pound Cake
Easy Mexican Chicken Tacos
Homemade Honolulu style Poke Bowl
Pierre Hermé’s Orange and Grand Marnier Crepes
The Bilbao Brunch
Creamy Bacon Mushrooms Flatbread «French Tarte Flambée»
French Madeleines Recipe
Cyril Hitz’s French Fougasse Bread
Julia Child’s Sautéed Mushrooms in Madeira Sauce
Julia Child’s Leek Quiche (“flamiche”)
French Sausage in Brioche (“Saucisson Brioché”)
Nantua’s Tart (Rhubarb Raspberry)
French Saint-Michel Cookies
The Easy 10 Minute Classic Tiramisu Recipe
Jamie Oliver’s Indian Butter Chicken
Claire Heitzler’s Rhubarb Strawberry Tart
The Canelé Recipe («Canelé de Bordeaux»)
Salmon Lobster Wellington Recipe
The Fabulous Baked Alaska with Grand Marnier
Jacquy Pfeiffer’s French Gingerbread
Pierre Hermé’s Vanilla Crème Brûlée
Thomas Keller’s Chocolate Bouchons (French brownie cakes)
The Coca-Cola Ice Cream (only for my sister)
Other Blogs...
MJ's Kitchen
Blistered Shishitos With Garlic And Piñon
White on rice couple
Saucy Chicken And Broccoli Stir Fry
Erren's Kitchen
Split Pea & Ham Soup
4 lbs 7 oz Rabbit (2 kg)
½ Cup Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter (30 g)
2 tablespoons of Flour
½ Cup Cognac or Brandy
2 Onions
5 Garlic Cloves
½ Cup Bacon
1 tablespoon of Tomato Paste
A small quantity of Thyme
A small quantity of Laurel (Bay) leaf
4 ¼ Cups Red Wine (1 Liter)
A small quantity of Water
3 Carrots
10 Button Mushrooms
1 pinch of Salt
1 pinch of Pepper
Comments for This Recipe
Glad I found this on the internet.
Thanks for sharing.
1) I'm unable to use 4-1/4 cups of wine due to an allergy. What else can I use to replace it?
2) How much Thyme is used in terms of a teaspoon?
Thank you.
I am not sure how to substitue wine, as it is the esential ingredient for the taste here.
Are you allergic to Beer as well ? There is a Belgian recipe called "Carbonade Flamande" that is cooked with Belgian beer. You may replace the meat with rabbit as well.
hope this helps
Nice catch, I will add salt and pepper to the ingredients
But if it tastes good, nobody will complain !
My first attempt at preparing rabbit stew and I followed your recipe. My family loved it! Everyone had second helpings.
Thank you.
This website has a helpful list of substitutes for wine in recipes.
https://www.thekitchn.com/simple-nonalcoholic-substitutes-for-red-and-white-wine-tips-from-the-kitchn-184394
Ive never cooked rabbit, so wish me luck!
What side dish would you serve it with?
Lina
Trying any other liquor will change the essence of the dish, but it doesn't mean it will taste bad. For instance, Northern Europeans make this kind of dish with beer, and while its called differently ("carbonade” ), it's still very tasty, though different in taste.
So, as an answer to your question, you may try whiskey, but I would not advise it. Whiskey is good for "stronger" meats such as Beef or Pork. Can you try using Cognac instead ? Cognac can be expensive, but a cheap brand will do the trick...
Seems a lot!
Can I just add a kg of chicken thighs or something? What do you think?
Madeira
, or dryJerez
, or dryPort
: I'm sure the result would be only betterchicken
, yes, absolutely, go for it. ( but rabbit tastes so much better... )I like to serve this dish with tagliatelle pasta, or rice