So today we made rabbit. Cordon Bleu has made me question my attitude towards slaughtering animals...fish, chicken, beef have all been okay, but todays rabbit tested my limits. Here is a picture of what we started with:
Lets start with the fact that the eyeballs and heads are still there!!! This looks like some of my friends pet's minus their fur. So I winced all through demo. The practical was much better because its stressfull enough that I didn't have time to think of what I was doing to the poor rabbit... and ten minutes into practical, the rabbit turned into four legs and three pieces of unrecognizable torso.
The recipe turned out very well. And unlike the previous 3 or 4 times that I have cooked meat, it wasnt overdone!! In addition, this recipe did not use nearly as much butter as some of our others and can be easily replicated to be used with chicken rather than rabbit (the rabbit actually tastes a lot like chicken). I did not bring my recipe book home with me today (It is HEAVY!!!) But I promise to give a recap of it in a later post. (Secret Ingredients are mustard and rosemary) Here is my finished product:
( The rosemary skewer has the wabbit's liver and kidneys on it)
One of the reasons I like this recipe is because it uses much less butter than our previous recipes. In some previous recipes each student would use at least a stick of butter...if not more. (we usually make portions for 4, but in reality they are probably 2 or 3 "real" portions... so a quarter stick of butter in each serving!!) Some of the students have even started calling the school "Cordon Beurre" or Cordon Butter in French. As one New Yorker columnist wrote:
"Waverley Root once divided all Gaul into three fats -- lard, olive oil, and butter -- and said that they determined the shape of French cooking. That you might be able to cook without putting any fat in the pan at all was an unthinkable notion. The charcoal grill, the brick oven, and all the other nonfat ways of cooking now seem normal everywhere except in France..."
This attitude is very true in our kitchens. Even the vegetable soup, and vegetqble garnishes get butter. (Sometimes, if its "mediterranean" its only oil....) But in true french cooking, a meal is a two hour affair with many smallish dishes, starting with an apperatif, then an entree (this is the word for appetizer in French), maybe a second entree, then a plat (main course), then possibly cheese, then a sweet dessert, and then finally perhaps a cigar. In two hours, this leaves you feeling full but not stuffed...and since the portions are fairly small, the fat content is not as large as it would otherwise be in the US. After the meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) though, there is NO MORE eating.... no snacks, no chips, no candy... nothing. This has worked remarkably well for the French as most people are normal or a little overwheight, but I have yet to see someone French who is obese.
French attitudes towards food to be continued....
Bissous,
Daria
(And for people who like pictures, here are Patricio and Sarah looking particularly evil before practical today)
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