12380 Civet of Hare Serves 5 to 6 Wed Aug 06 01:05:21 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 03 03:02:53 -0800 2009 Licensed http://www.chow.com/recipes/12380 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:02:53 GMT In 1983, i was asked by the New York Times Travel Section to describe my most memorable bistro meal in Paris. It wasn't difficult—the memory of one of the most famous dishes of the French Southwest had been with me for years, and it was a delight to share it. This is what I wrote:

Basically my favorite bistro is L'Ami Louis. The floor is concave, as if thousands of people have trod back and forth. There are long tables, and the feeling is like a mess hall. The walls have a patina of aged dirt. To quote Gault and Millau, the kitchen is from the Paleolithic age and the toilets are Neanderthal.

The 82-year-old Antoine Magnin has a long, white beard; he may at times appear hostile toward the customers, but he has the right attitude about food. Eat the foie gras; it comes out like thick slices of black bread. Then order the civet of hare, and out comes the whole pot. It is enough for four people—they give you the whole animal, and they even serve the shot in the sauce. And it's really thick sauce—there's nothing like it. You scoop up the sauce with your bread. Then you can have potatoes béarnaise, fried in goose fat, the walnuts flown in from the Périgord. Drink Jurançon with the foie gras, the house Fleurie with the hare.

The now-deceased Monsieur Magnin did not like to share his recipes, but my friend Aude Clément knew him well, had eaten the hare many times at the restaurant, and offered to teach me how to make it. With her advice and a recipe in La Bonne Cuisine de Périgord by La Mazille, one of my favorite female food writers from the 1920s, I worked up a version that's pretty close to what I ate in Paris that memorable day.

The success of this civet relies on:

Cutting the hare properly so that the flesh will not dry out during cooking;

Slow cooking, which inhibits toughening of the flesh;

Using plenty of pork fat to lubricate the flesh;

Using a good, full-bodied red wine, solid enough to hold its flavor during the long, mostly unattended cooking; and

Enriching the sauce with the hare's blood and liver, which will give it a strong, earthy taste.

Hare is a wild rabbit. While domestic rabbit has white flesh and is very mild in flavor, wild hare has reddish-brown flesh and is gamy. For this recipe, I use Scottish hare, which is now imported to the United States. D'Artagnan sells Scottish brown hare in season (see Mail Order Sources, pages 415–417). American jackrabbit is in the same family and can be cooked in the same manner.

Since not many people have access to a freshly killed young hare, you can adjust the recipe and make it with large duck legs. A sumptuous dish like this is at its best with a simple salad, pureed lentils, or rounds of French baguette toasted in the oven and rubbed lightly with crushed garlic.

Because the hare is marinated, begin one to two days in advance.

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  • Place the hare pieces in a large ceramic or glass mixing bowl. Add 2 of the quartered onions, the carrots, celery, herb bouquet, peppercorns, red wine, and Armagnac. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for about 24 hours.
  • The following day, remove the pieces of hare to a rack set over a bowl to drain. Meanwhile, pour the marinade liquid and vegetables into a medium nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain the marinade through a fine sieve, pressing down on the solids.
  • Cut the rind off the salt pork. Dice the salt pork; blanch the dice and rind for 3 minutes in boiling water; drain, and cool. Sliver the rind and scatter it over the bottom of a 5-quart earthenware daubière or enameled cast-iron casserole.
  • In a sauté pan, heat the duck fat and cook the cubes of salt pork over moderately low heat, stirring often, until they are golden brown and a great deal of their fat has rendered out, about 10 minutes. Transfer the salt pork to the casserole.
  • Preheat the oven to 300°F. Dry the hare with paper towels; rub it with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Over moderately high heat, reheat the fat and, working in batches, brown the hare on all sides, then add to the casserole.
  • Stick the cloves into 1 of the remaining onion quarters. In the same fat, lightly brown the quartered onions and the julienne of prosciutto; add them to the casserole. Pour off all the fat in the skillet. Add l cup of the reserved marinade and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan; pour the hot liquid over the hare. Add the remaining marinade, the sugar, garlic, shallots, quatre épices, and dried cèpes. Cover with stock. Bring to a boil, cover with a round of parchment paper, cover tightly with the lid, and cook in the oven for 3 hours without disturbing.
  • Remove the casserole from the oven; transfer the hare to a cutting board. Discard the rib-cage section, remove any loose bones, and cut the meat into generous serving pieces. Season the meat with salt and pepper and cover tightly with a sheet of foil. Skim all the fat from the cooking liquid. Puree the liquid and solids in a food processor and strain. Return to the casserole. Bring to a boil, set the casserole half over the heat, and cook at a slow boil, skimming on the cool side, for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced to about 3 cups. Adjust the seasoning. (The recipe can be prepared to this point up to 8 hours in advance. Refrigerate the hare and sauce separately.)
  • About one hour before serving, preheat the oven to 300°F. Skim any congealed fat off the sauce. Combine the hare and sauce in a clean flameproof casserole. Place in the oven and reheat slowly until hot, about ¾ hour. Remove from the oven. Arrange the pieces of hare on a heated platter and cover to keep warm. Set the casserole on the stove over very low heat.
  • In a food processor or blender, combine the cream with the liver and the mixture of blood, wine, and vinegar if you're using it (see Note below); puree for l minute. Add ¼ cup of the hot sauce to the processor and blend well. Slide the casserole half off the heat. Scrape the liver mixture into the cooler part of the sauce. Stir carefully until all the sauce becomes thick and creamy, about 5 minutes, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the hare. There will be a generous amount.
  • Often hare is sold without blood and liver, both necessary to thicken the sauce of a true civet. One very fresh large chicken liver can substitute for the hare's liver. Omit any substitution for the blood. If the sauce does not thicken to the desired creaminess, combine 2 to 3 teaspoons arrowroot with cold water, add to the sauce, and cook gently until thickened.
  • If you have a fresh hare with its blood available, put 1½ tablespoons aged red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons red wine in a deep glass or ceramic bowl. Place a rack on top and set the hare on it. Let all the blood fall into the bowl below, then beat it with the wine and vinegar until well blended. Cover and keep refrigerated until needed.

    • To Cut Up a Hare or a Rabbit Cut off the front legs. Separate the hind legs at the joint and chop each leg into 2 pieces. Cut the saddle across the backbone into 4 pieces. Remove the lungs and heart from the chest cavity and discard. Leave the kidneys in place. Remove and clean the liver; wrap it in plastic film, and refrigerate.

    ]]>     http://www.chow.com Paula Wolfert 50 Main 1 hare, 5 to 6 pounds, cut into 10 to 12 portions, liver and blood reserved separately (See To Cut Up a Hare or a Rabbit, at right, and Notes on page 222 for handling the blood and liver)

    ]]>     5 medium onions, quartered

    ]]>     2 carrots, sliced

    ]]>     1 celery rib, sliced

    ]]>     Herb bouquet: 3 sprigs each of thyme, parsley, rosemary, and 1 imported bay leaf, tied together with string

    ]]>     1 teaspoon freshly cracked black peppercorns

    ]]>     6 cups hearty red wine, such as California Petite Sirah

    ]]>     2 tablespoons Armagnac or Cognac

    ]]>     2 tablespoons rendered duck fat

    ]]>     8 ounces salt pork with rind

    ]]>     Salt and freshly ground pepper

    ]]>     Flour, for dredging

    ]]>     3 whole cloves

    ]]>     4 ounces (1 cup) julienne strips of prosciutto

    ]]>     1½ teaspoons sugar

    ]]>     4 large garlic cloves

    ]]>     5 large shallots, peeled

    ]]>     Pinch of Quatre Épices (page 231) or ground allspice

    ]]>     ¼ cup dried French cèpes or Italian porcini, crumbled

    ]]>     3 cups rich game or poultry stock

    ]]>     1 tablespoon heavy cream

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