Luc: Our vacation to Ibiza, Spain inspired this recipe for Le Lapin à la Moutarde  (Mustard Rabbit).  Foodies will recognize it as  an example of classic French bistro cuisine, just like Boeuf Bourguignon or Soupe à l’Oignon (Onion Soup), which I will cover in later food posts.

However, rabbit is a also classic Spanish dish,  normally prepared in a stew with tomatoes, cloves, onions, thyme, tarragon and celery. The rabbit dish that I ate in Ibiza at La Moorea Restaurante was simply grilled on charcoal and served with potatoes. Too bad they didn’t rub it with spicy paprika before grilling.  I found this version more refined in taste, tender and an easy recipe to prepare.

In my instructions,  I suggest you debone the rabbit before cooking. For someone who has never done this before, deboning might be a little difficult  and time-intensive. If you don’t feel up to it, just cut the rabbit in 4 pieces. It will be just as tasty. The drawback? You and your diners will have to deal with the small bones when eating their rabbit.

Note from Alison: If you do decide to debone, please don’t use the bony carcass to scare the wits out of your significant other while said other is working on her laptop or otherwise distracted.  The damn thing looks like something from Aliens, especially when accompanied by an evil “HHHHHCCCCHHH!”

Luc: LOL. Yes, that’s why I like to buy my rabbit with the head still attached. Quite spectacular.

Hope you enjoy this recipe. Would love to hear back from you.

And please share any variations or ideas to “improve upon perfection.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp herbes de Provence
• 2 Tbsp french shallots
• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 Tbsp parsley
• 2 Tbsp mustard seed
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fully debone the rabbit (lapin)
2. Mix mustard and herbs of provence
3. Generously brush the rabbit pieces with mustard mix
4. Salt and pepper
5. Heat olive oil and brown rabbit pieces, set aside
6. Lower heat and brown shallots
7. Add chicken stock and wine, bring to boil
8. Scrape brown bits
9. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
10. Return rabbit to the pan, cover and cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour (sometimes, I cook the rabbit up to 1 1/2 hour, until really tender)
11. Remove rabbit and strain sauce
12. Heat sauce and add parsley and mustard seed
13. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes
14. Add lemon juice; salt and pepper to taste
15. Pour sauce over the rabbit pieces and serve with either bow spaghetti or Hot Paprika and Cinnamon French Fries.

Luc: To be fair, this is not really my recipe.  It is taken from the amazing meal we ate at La Torreta Restaurante in Ibiza, Spain.  Chef David Norman is an inspiration.  Paprika on french fries isn’t much of a stretch, but many of you may hesitate adding cinnamon. Don’t.  The combination of flavors is amazing. And for even more of a novelty, instead of Idaho, or for us Canadians, PEI (Prince Edward Island) potatoes, try substituting sweet potatoes.  This is when you really get the full taste experience, the sweetness of the potato, the duskiness of the cinnamon, the explosion of spicy paprika.

Alison: You are making me hungry.  You know, writing about food is definitely not as fun as eating it …  so finish this post and go whip up some fries, man!

Luc: Giving credit to Alison, she is the one who did the layout, programming and populated the blog. My role is basically to argue, add personal commentary and as much as possible make fun of, hum…, insert some humor into it. This would be a good example. Alison was nice enough to prepare the copy of this recipe for me to complete. I think I will leave as is. And, maybe not… Well, at least I know I better sign off and go make those fries. As always, let me know if you liked this recipe and/or if you have some variation to share.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh potatoes, peeled and sliced into fry form (ideally PEI potatoes or for a tasty variation, substitute sweet potatoes) or a 1/2-pound bag of frozen french fries (ideally Cavendish)
• x amount olive oil (Luc: Well, enough for deep frying)
• x tsp spicy Spanish paprika (Luc: Just enough for sprinkling)
• x tsp ground cinnamon (Luc: Again, just enough for light sprinkling)
• 3 tsp coarse sea salt (Luc: Yes, “3 tsp” in Alison’s case, but for any normal individual, to taste)

Instructions

1. Luc does this
2. Luc does that
3. And yet something else
4. Prep work, heat oil, fry baby fry, paper towel drain etc.
5. Alison eats fries directly from bowl before being formally served
6. Goes well with Lapin à la moutarde another option: barbeque ribs