Lapin au Cidre – Cider Braised Rabbit

Lapin au cidre is a specialty from Normandy and, as in most of the Norman dishes, apple and cream feature prominently. The dual apple role is played here by calvados, an apple brandy, supported by a dry alcoholic apple cider. The addition of sour cream or crème fraîche creates a luscious sauce you’ll want to eat with a spoon. 

On the Hunt for deliciousness
As I mentioned in my preview post,  I am hosting Sunday Supper this week with my talented friend, Tara, from Noshing with the Nolands. Our theme is On the Hunt, so we are sharing recipes with ingredients that are hunted or foraged, including wild game like venison, boar and rabbit or vegetarian options like mushrooms, truffles, wild berries or even edible wildflowers and greens. And to make sure that our urban members could also take part, the recipes can even include a special ingredient that you have to source online or hunt down at specialty markets!

I grew up with a father and uncles and cousins who loved to hunt so game wasn’t unusual fare but if you didn’t hunt for it, you didn’t eat it. When we were living in Paris though, many moons ago, it was fun to go to the market or grocery store and see frogs’ legs right along side the chicken and rabbit as prominently displayed as the beef. The rabbits were either whole, minus the heads, or more commonly, only the thigh/leg pieces were offered. Those are what I tended to buy. We called them bunny haunches and I’d sing “Little Bunny Fufu” as they simmered. I know, I know, I have a perverse sense of humor. A thousand years as a Girl Scout will do that to you.

One day I opened my mailbox to find a big promotional envelope inviting me to join a recipe club. For a number of francs that escapes me now, I could get recipe cards by mail each month. The envelope contained sample cards, which I was free to keep even if I didn’t join. We never know how long we’ll live any place, so I didn’t sign up but I have used the sample cards many times through the years.

The reverse has the recipe and says in tiny letters: Cette fiche extraite de la collection Mes Recettes Préférées est un échantillon. 

Or This record extracted from the collection My Favorite Recipes is a sample.

Ingredients
1 large carrot
1 stalk celery
3 shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
6 rabbit thigh and legs (Mine weighed about 2lb 10 oz or 1.2 kg)
1/3 cup or 80ml calvados (Substitute cognac if you don’t have calvados.)
1 cup or 240ml dry apple cider (I used Strongbow Original which is still available in Dubai.)
1/2 cup or about 125g crème fraîche or thick sour cream
Several sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Good handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method
Peel the carrots, shallots and the garlic. Chop them finely, along with the celery.

Heat the butter and oil in pan large enough to fit all of the rabbit pieces in one layer without too much crowding.

Brown the rabbit pieces on both sides in the pan. Once they are browned, add the vegetables. Don't forget the shallots like I did. I added them later, after the calvados. You add them now, okay?

Fry them for a few minutes and then add the calvados. You are supposed to flame it at this point but I couldn’t get mine to light for a photo.

Add in the cider and season with salt and pepper.

Add in the thyme and bay leaves. Cover the pot and cook over a low flame for about 50-60 minutes.

At the end of the cooking time, add in the crème fraiche and mix well.

Cook for a few more minutes with the lid off so that the sauce can reduce in volume and thicken slightly.

Taste the sauce and add more salt or pepper if needed. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and sing a round of "Little Bunny Fufu" to serve.

Enjoy!

Have a look at all the fabulous On the Hunt recipes my Sunday Supper friends are sharing today! And scroll down for details on how to join us for the Twitter chat this evening that Tara will be hosting.

Spread it on Thick

• Homemade Mascarpone from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Sugar Plum Fairy Jam from What Smells So Good?
• Porcini Compound Butter from Nosh My Way

Nibbles and Sides

• Baked Rice with Mushrooms from Basic N Delicious
• Brie Blackberry Bites from Family Foodie
• Foie Gras Bites from Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Miso Risotto from Crazy Foodie Stunts

The Main Event

• Bourbon Butter Venison Bites from The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch
• Fennel Frond Pappardelle with Rabbit, Muscat, and Cream from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Korean-style Tripe from kimchi MOM
• Lapin au Cidre - Cider Braised Rabbit from Food Lust People Love
• Maple Bison Blueberry Burgers from Noshing With The Nolands
• Rabbit Braised with Kalamata Olives and Prunes from The Texan New Yorker
• Spicy Sausage Pasta Skillet from Nik Snacks
• Wild Venison Sausage Gravy from A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Turkey, Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Wild Boar Pacific Rim Sliders from Peaceful Cooking

Sweet Treats

• Blueberry Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce from From the Bookshelf
• German Fruit and Nut Bars from Magnolia Days
• Grilled Bananas/Toast Topped with Chocolate and Cheese from Brunch with Joy
• Lemon Blueberry Scones from Killer Bunnies, Inc
• Raspberry Muffins from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow from Pies and Plots
• Ultimate Chewy Brownies from The Perfect Brownie
• Vanilla Poached Tamarillos from Manu's Menu
• Wild Blackberry Scones with Lemon Glaze from The Foodie Army Wife
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Topped Waffles from NinjaBaker.com

Biscoff Cookie Butter Bundt Cake #NationalBundtDay

Cookie butter plus actual butter means a sweet, tender Bundt cake with a subtle gingerbread flavor. 

Happy National Bundt Day! I couldn’t let this great day go unrecognized so I scoured the interwebs for an appropriate cake to make with the last of my jar of cookie butter, otherwise known as Speculoos or Biscoff.

I adapted this recipe from A Beautiful Bite and then halved the amounts to fit in a smaller Bundt pan.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup or 145g Speculoos Cookie Butter or Biscoff Butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml buttermilk

To decorate: icing or confectioners’ sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Prepare a 6-cup Bundt pan (or larger) by spraying it liberally with the Baking Pam or greasing and flouring it. My Nordic Ware Bavaria Bundt pan is 10-cup so you can see that the batter only came part way up the side.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream together the butter, the cookie butter, and sugar together in a mixer until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk and beat well.

Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the top and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

Remove from oven, let cool for about 10 minutes.

Invert on a wire rack and cool completely.

To serve:  Sift powdered sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Heads up! This just in! To celebrate National Bundt Day, Nordic Ware is going to be giving away a new edition pan to one Bundt baking winner! As much as I'd like to keep this information to myself so I can win, Bundt baking is all about spreading the love, so here are the details:

Simply tag your prettiest Bundt Cake photos with the hashtag #NationalBundtDay on Instagram. Make sure you're following @nordicwareusa and show us your latest and greatest creations made with a Nordic Ware pan. Nordic Ware will choose a winner on Monday who will receive a brand new, not-yet-released 2015 Bundt shape before anyone else has access! So get baking and Instagramming, Bundt friends!

If anyone who saw it here first wins, please come back and let me know so I can do the happy dance with you! Meanwhile, I am going to be flooding my own Instagram feed (@foodlustpeoplelove) with Nordic Ware Bundt pan cakes! They are the best!

Click on the graphic to see a whole bunch of Bundt Baker links. 

Spicy Asian Noodle Salad with Lobster

With spicy dressing, juicy lumps of lobster and fragrant bean thread noodles this Spicy Asian Noodle Salad is like a vacation in your mouth.

AKA Vacation in Your Mouth

There’s just something special about lobster but you can also sub tiger prawns or shrimp.

Yes, please to Comfort Food
When someone offers to send you a copy of a cookbook called Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes from a Unique, Small-Town Restaurant, you do not turn them down. You say, “Yes, please!” After all, here we are coming into the cool season and comfort food is what it’s all about. This particular cookbook is full of recipes from chef and owner, Kerry Altiero, of the small town award-winning Maine restaurant Café Miranda, which brings comfort food up a whole bunch of notches, serving favorites like Lobster Mac and Cheese and Brussels Sprouts in Cream and dressed up hot dogs.

As Chef Altiero says in the introduction; “We offer a huge menu that mixes traditional American fare with Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Thai, vegan . . . whatever strikes our fancy. Our motto is “Because We Can.” We serve wonderful, surprising, innovative food that defies expectations and wins over all kinds of eaters. This cookbook will help you do the same at home, whether you are cooking for world-weary sophisticates or picky toddlers. Your kitchen may never be the same.”

And while I am under no obligation to tell you only nice things about this book, I must admit that I have only nice things to say. Most of the recipes have just a handful of ingredients and the simple preparations let the freshness and quality of those ingredients shine through. If that appeals to you as much as it appealed to me, I am pleased to tell you that I also have one copy to give away! Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post and enter the drawing.

Vacation in My Mouth
How these cookbook blog tours work is that we are given a list of recipes that can be shared. I was most intrigued by the dish called Vacation in Your Mouth, from the Party Food chapter, so that’s the one I chose. I mean, really. With a title like that, how could I resist?

Years and years ago, when I was living in Brazil, a dear Burmese friend taught me how to make a fresh and refreshing salad with softened bean thread noodles, crispy fried ground pork and dried shrimp, all tossed in a lime vinaigrette with chilies and cilantro. I used to make it all the time in a great big bowl, because it was a family favorite and then, because I struggled to find the dried shrimp, it got out of rotation.

This beautiful dish from the Adventures in Comfort Food cookbook reminded me of what we had been missing, albeit it on a fancier, smaller scale. And I realized that the dried shrimp are not absolutely essential. Lobster works too! Okay, I admit we may not have it with lobster every time, but I will definitely be serving this again, perhaps with shrimp or even crab meat.

I made the recipe pretty much as written, except for substituting a spicy pepper for the poblano, which was one of the chef’s suggestions, and I couldn’t find baby romaine so I bought a local green for scooping up the salad.

Serves 2

Ingredients
For the salad:
4 oz or 113g cooked lobster meat
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced (Or sub a spicy pepper of your choice.)
2 scallions, green and white parts, sliced on the bias
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons or 30ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon or 15ml Thai fish sauce
6 leaves basil, preferably Thai, shredded
4 sprigs cilantro
1⁄4 cup or 44g Thai bean thread or rice vermicelli noodles, soaked and chopped (I about doubled this because I couldn’t for the life of me get the bean thread noodles apart to weigh out only 44g.)

For garnishing:
Pinch kimchi flakes
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
2 sprigs cilantro
2 thin rounds of lime
10 leaves romaine lettuce

Method
Mix together everything but the garnishes.

Spoon the mixture into martini glasses.

Make sure to include all the good limey, salty juice. Sprinkle with the kimchi flakes, black sesame seeds and cilantro.

Garnish with a lime round on the edge of each glass. Place the glasses on a plate and arrange the romaine leaves around them, attractively.

Fill leaves with mixture—crunch!

The chef’s drink suggestion: A nice Moscato with a little bit of sweet goes well with the spicy flavors. Or perhaps enjoy with a nice simple beer such as a Sebago Saddleback Ale.

Tell me that doesn't look like a Vacation in Your Mouth?! 

Enjoy!

Buy your own copy of Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes from a Unique, Small-Town Restaurant by following this link.

*This post contains affiliate links. I received a copy of the cookbook for review purposes with no other compensation.*