Okay Veeky Forums, today we're making Flemish rabbit stewed in beer...

Okay Veeky Forums, today we're making Flemish rabbit stewed in beer. First we marinate the rabbit (2 hind legs in this case), in pic related;

-2 white peppercorns
-2 black peppercorns
-2 large bay leaves
-teaspoon sea salt
-2.5 cups/660mL Belgian brown ale or dubbel
-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
>Originally, this recipe calls for Flemish "Oud Bruin", a low-ABV sour-ish ale. Since I really don't like the ones on sale here, I chose to get Westmalle dubbel, which I do like, and sour it with red-wine vinegar. I got raspberry infused red wine vinegar, since I really like the tang of raspberry in rabbit dishes.

Let sit for two to six hours, while you go out and enjoy autumn. I'm going to go for a small hike while awaiting the Redskins - Bengals game. You can also prep veggies ahead, I'm using a pound of carrots, two large onions, four stalks of celery, and 3 cloves of garlic, but parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, chestnuts, celeriac, cabbage, etc also work. You'll also need about a stick of butter, and I really prefer adding in some cubed smoked pork belly to enhance the flavour of the rabbit.

Other urls found in this thread:

jamieoliver.com/videos/jamie-s-perfect-roast-potatoes/#HQuSyjS1Mos9qw1s.97
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

lurking

Well, it's marinating now, still a bit foamy, but that'll subdue in a while. I've been told adding a crushed juniper berry to the marinade makes the foam disappear quicker, something to do with the oils in the juniper, but I really fear the juniper will overpower the taste of the rabbit. If it were hare, squirrel or muskrat, the juniper would've been a no-brainer.

I'll be going for a walk to get an Irish coffee, autumn bock or quadrupel in town, but I'll be back in a few hours to continue the dish.

Waiting with baited breath...

OP living the dream

I am wondering how good that will look.

This sounds perfect.

One of my favorite Belgian dishes.
Cooking with Belgian beer is fun, there is a restaurant I recently went to that had every dish on its menu cooked with a different kind of beer.

Relevant to my interests

Well, had me one of these, time to prep side dishes now. Thyme and garlic roast potatoes.

You want some quite floury spuds, about 1/2 pound for each person. Peel them and cut them into 3x3 inch pieces, or leave them whole if they are around that size. We're gonna parboil them to 10 minutes before roasting, to slightly cook and loosen the outer layer, so it absorbs flavours more easily.

jamieoliver.com/videos/jamie-s-perfect-roast-potatoes/#HQuSyjS1Mos9qw1s.97

Clean your veggies...

Peel and trim them...

And coarsely dice them, in 1/2 to 1/4 inch pieces.

You want them to cook in the stew, without overcooking them. I'm stewing this for about an hour, so the veggies will keep some firmness if cut to this size.

There's no proper Belgian food without mayo, so we're gonna make some. Get an egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar, 1 teaspoon of mustard, and 3/4cup/200mL of oil.

If you like your mayo more acidic or spicier, you can add some more acid or mustard, it'll be fine as long as you don't triple the amount.

Whisk the egg yolk, acid component, and the mustard together.

Then whisk in the oil about 1/4cup/50mL at a time, until it comes together. You'll need to whisk quite firmly.

For a proper Belgian touch, add some chervil to the mayo. I don't have that on hand, so I just seasoned the mayo with salt and black pepper. It'll keep a few days in the fridge.

Lurking OP. Looks good so far! I've only had rabbit once, and it was delicious.

Good thread OP. Lurking as well.

lurk more

Thanks lads. If it works out well, I'll make it into an infographic/recipe with pics. My phone tends to turn every picture I post sideways, so I'll post more pics when I'm near my PC.

That would be cool. I've got a couple of my favorite recipes off Veeky Forums. Lurking until the dish is done.

>If it works out well, I'll make it into an infographic/recipe with pics.
I would appreciate this.

While it sounds tasty I hope you know that rabbit is very bad for you and has very little nutritional value.

Yeah, I'm aware that if I were to eat only rabbits for a prolonged amount of time, I'd start becoming malnourished. I don't really expect that to happen on the occasional rabbit stew in an otherwise balanced diet though.

Rabbit is fine unless you eat it on a regular basis or exclusively.

Nice OP, interested in how this end

Well, here's the big one;

Before parboiling the potatoes, rinse them until the water runs clear to remove excess starch. Then, parboil them for 10 minutes in salted water.

Drain the boiled potatoes, toss them in a colander to loosen the outer layers, then place them in an oven safe dish, coat them in olive oil, salt and pepper.

This thread is maximum comfy. Well done OP

Stick the potatoes in the oven at 190C for half an hour. In the meantime, heat a large Dutch oven over low heat, and fry the cubed pork belly, until there's a thin layer of rendered lard at the bottom of the pan.

While the pork belly is frying, remove the rabbit from the marinade, pat it dry, and season it with salt and pepper. You'll notice that the acids in the marinade have slightly 'cooked' the outer layer of the meat already. Save the marinade, you'll need it later.

Lurking

Remove the pork belly from the pan, add a pat of butter, amount depends a bit on the amount of rendered lard, and fry the rabbit over medium heat until browned on both sides. Remove the rabbit from the pan onto a plate.

Now, you want to turn the heat down low and soften your onions and garlic (didn't say this earlier, garlic can also be coarsely chopped). Don't brown them, but they will lose some moisture, which will start to sort of deglaze the pan already.

After the onions and garlic have softened, which will take about 5 minutes, pour the marinade, including the bay leaves and the peppercorns, into the pot and turn up the heat. Use whatever you're using to stir to loosen the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let it boil on high heat for a few minutes, to lose most of the alcohol.

Add the diced veggies and pork belly to the pot, bring to a boil again while stirring, and reduce the heat after about a minute of boiling.

Add the rabbit to the pot, and make sure it's about halfway submerged in the liquid.

I have no idea what pic related is called in English, but place one over the smallest burner on your stove.

Put the lid on the pot, place it over the lowest burner on lowest possible heat, and don't open the pot for about 30 minutes. This'll keep the heat in, and also reward you with an amazing smell all over your kitchen when you finally do open it.

Now there's 10 minutes where you're not doing anything, so you can relax for a bit. Clean the kitchen for a bit. Or, to quote a wise man;

>"I love cooking with booze. Sometimes, I even put it into the food."

After the potatoes have been in the oven for about 30 minutes, and they are lightly browned, remove the dish from the oven. Lightly crush the potatoes with a potato masher.

I'll be the first to admit I should've been more subtle while crushing the potatoes. Lesson for next time. After crushing the potatoes, sprinkle them with herbs, and add in some halved cloves of garlic. Place back into the oven for 30-45 minutes.

That's Julia Child.
"I love cooking with wine–sometimes I even put it in the food."
Good thread so far!

Lurking and learning. I'm eager to see the result.

I'm also waiting on the infographic.

After about 20 minutes, open the Dutch oven, enjoy the smell, and turn over the rabbit, so the other side is submerged. Leave it to stew until tender, about 20-30 minutes, depends on the size.

After the rabbit is done stewing, add some olive oil to a thick-bottomed skillet, and place it over low heat. Add the rabbit to the skillet carefully, and slowly brown it. Remove the aforementioned 'thingy' from under the Dutch oven, place the Dutch oven over high heat, and while stirring, reduce the stew down a bit.

This'll take about 10 minutes, try to time it with the browning of the rabbit, taking into account that you should rest the rabbit for a few minutes after browning it.

Remove the bay leaves from the stew, place the rested rabbit back in the Dutch oven, careful not to submerge it.

Serve the stew in a deep dish, and place the rabbit on top. Serve the roast potatoes on a plate on the side, to prevent them getting soggy. Put a nice, large scoop of mayo on the side of the potatoes. The mayo works amazing with the potatoes, but also works on the rabbit very well.

That's a sexy bunny. Thanks, OP!

Infographics are for people with learning disabilities.

Godmiljaar that looks nice

Well a good proportion of Veeky Forums is alcoholic and in practice that's not much different from a learning disability.

>Remove the aforementioned 'thingy' from under the Dutch oven
Is it, perhaps, a heat diffuser? You use it when your hob won't go to a low enough temperature (a problem I often have with stews).

Do you live in an old house?

great thread op, this makes me want to try rabbit.

OP, thoughts on La Trappe Quadrupel? Would you use it to cook?

looking nice

Ah, fuck it, I'll just share the result in HD. Few learning points, after having eaten the dish;

-Choose a lower IBU, sweeter beer. Sure, Westmalle is good for drinking, but after boiling it has a quite overpowering hop flavour, which doesn't work well with the rabbit.

-The acidity in the mayo will develop over time. If you want the mayo more acidic, wait until slightly before serving to add more vinegar or lemon juice.

-Half a pound of potatoes per person seems reasonable when you eat it with a heavy stew, but it isn't. Those things are goddamn delicious. You'll easily be able to finish a pound. This'll also make it less likely to over-crush the potatoes, since the dish will be fuller. And, very important; don't forget to eat the garlic. It's amazing.

thank you for this delicious looking meal

Yeah, the literal translation from Dutch would be 'simmering plate', but I imagined it to be the sort of thing that has a very unlikely translation in English. Snapping a pic was faster than Googling for the translation.

It's actually my GFs house, she lives in student housing, with 8 persons. That's why the stove is filthy and the paint on the table is chipped, among others. It's not as if you're gonna clean a stove just so a Chinese housemate can splatter fish heads and chicken feet all over it.

As I said here , I'd recommend against using beers with very complex flavours. A strict demand of Trappist beers is that they should have a very distinctive character, which leads to quite complex beers. I absolutely love La Trappe Quadrupel to drink, or to use in desserts with chocolate, but I wouldn't want to heat it. Just use a simple beer, Leffe Brune or Kasteel Donker.

gotchu senpai

im planning to do a multicourse meal during christmas for the family. any particular recipe that you'd recommend? (especially a dessert with latrappe :D)

>senpai
wait wtf, i wrote f a m
not senpai ffs

>I make my own mayo

>It's not as if you're gonna clean a stove just so a Chinese housemate can splatter fish heads and chicken feet all over it.
Why are the Chinese such disgusting people? I've talked to students from all over the Western world and without failure the Chinese students are insular, unable to speak even basic English and downright unhygienic. I've even heard other East Asians claiming the same thing.

ugh dont say no more mate. i was in georgetown university for the summer and the chinks were the worst

>mayo is difficult to make.
Americans are this dumb.

OBSESSED
B
S
E
S
S
E
D

Honestly the poor experiences are so fucking universal it can't be a coincidental. They are the gypsys of the university world: everyone who has ever dealt with them hates them and with good reason but we have to pretend otherwise it's racism.

looks incredible, great thread OP, thanks, twas fun

I am obsessed with your stupidity, I'm happy to admit it.
I love laughing at you sub-educational, diabetic retards.
Post more please.

>It's actually my GFs house, she lives in student housing
I see, I also live in student housing, but I only have to share my flat with one other guy.

Chinks along with the Vietmong are basically the niggers of asia.

Great thread. Five whole internets will be awarded to you.

+1 OP.

...

I realise that this is a nooby question, but do you have any advice for rinsing rice/veg?

For rice and starchy veg, rinse until the water coming of is clear. For nonstarchy veg, just gently scrub dirt of them with a soft brush before peeling them.

if peel why wash?

Making mayo requites literally no effort and is far tastier than store bought mayo.

Not very necessary, but I dislike getting stuck in large chunks of soil when peeling my carrots or potatoes.

Are you going for the "oud bruin" because it is sweet? Why didn't you use trappist or something dark like Gulden draak or Kasteel donker? Great thread btw

Fucking A+ thread

I explained it a bit more here , you essentially want a beer that would be boring if you drink it, since you don't want a very pronounced hop or yeast flavour in the finished dish. I did use Westmalle, which is a trappist, but it was quite overpowering compared to the flavour of the rabbit.

I think Gulden Draak would also be too complex, but Kasteel Donker is mainly sweet, so that works really well. Used Kasteel Donker to make lots of syrups and glazes for desserts, actually.

I really like beeramisu, basically shortbread soaked in dark beer, covered with chocolate mousse, coffee jelly, Dutch spiced shortbread, and lots of dark chocolate sprinkles.

Thanks OP. When will it be done. Can I come over for a bite?

Had it yesterday, actually. I'll drop the full recipe with pics in a while.

Well, here it is, full recipe. Enjoy.

I love you, OP.

Add it to the booru

And where would I find that?

Thanks a lot OP! A contribution of worth! By coincidence, I'm also having Rabbit & Beer stew with my Aunt today :^D

As for the choice of 'cooking' beer, I usually opt for dark Piedboeuf tablebeer. It's way to sweet to drink, but simple enough to cook with.

t. fellow Vlaming

ck.booru.org

Simmer plate

Wonderful, thanks.

>t. fellow Vlaming

Hollander, actually.

Would love to be able to get Piedboeuf here, I was hoping it'd travel here with the AH-Delhaize fusion, but the only thing we've got this far is Gust beer. It's good stuff, but I still prefer Duvel.

Now there's a Vlaming in here; any good stuff you gained in Belgium from the fusion?

We had Dutch AH-supermarkets alongside the local Delhaise for a while now, so nothing really changed with the fusion.
I did enjoy the fact that AH introduced more Asian Conimex products over here. I would feel incomplete without my big jar of sambal.

If I were in this thread earlier I would've advised against using a Trappist ale to cook with as well. Beer in general is tricky to cook with if you aren't using an American macrobrew lager or something like a British brown ale. A lot of it depends on what you're cooking, of course, but generally I've had better results just using wine or liquor in my recipes.

At work I use young bourbons quite a bit in my baked goods and substitute some vanilla in recipes for it. Not only does it affect the flavor, but using bourbon is also cheaper than vanilla.