[some young guy]

So for tonight we have chicken marinating in buttermilk with bay, onion, garlic and cayenne. This will be coated in flour, and then fried up gb&d. It'll be served with the standard corn on the cob, green beans and mashed spuds and gravy.



Next up: New York strip. These are marinating in olive oil, oregano, lemon verbena, lemon zest and black pepper. They will be grilled outside and served with tomato salad and chive-potato gnocchi that are baked in creme fraiche.



Last, but certainly not least: Rabbits! These are curing with salt, sugar, black pepper corns, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, sage and garlic. After two days, they'll be tempered with and cover in duck fat. Then they'll spend about 6 hours in a very slow oven, never breaking a bubble, until they're fallin' of the bone tender. Once they cool a bit, I'll remove the meat from the bones, mix in the garlic, emulsify the mixture with some of the duck fat and pack it all into a terrine. At a later date, this will be consumed with my 3 onion marmalade, mustard and crusty bread.

[some young guy]

I love making rabbit rillets! Mostly for two, no three reasons... (1) I'm a duck fat freak. (2) I know how good they taste. (3) It smells so good in my house! The smell of nutty duck fat, mixed herbs and garlic is so intoxicating!  Here's a few pix of the process (see the above pic for a shot of the rabbits on cure):

The rabbits covered with duck fat and tempering before they hop into the oven.



Just in the oven at 265 degrees... the fat is just starting to melt.



It's all starting to happen now. Only 6 hours to go.



I wish I could post the aroma...

[Canyoneagle]

That looks incredible!

[some young guy]

Here's the final assembly...

This is the rabbit meat picked from the bones, the garlic squeezed from the bulb and some duck fat to emulsify.



Here's the rillet mixture being placed into the terrine. You can see that I've rolled the loins in black pepper and placed them in the center, which will make a nice presentation when it's sliced.



Here's the finished terrine (although I'll cover it in duck fat as a preservative before refrigerating it). I'll try to remember to take some pix in a week when I unmold and slice it.

[Turnandcough]

Good stuff.
Whether pork, duck or wabbit - rillettes are great. Another thing I like is cretons. Similar to rillettes(but less refined) they're made with ground pork, onions and spices(cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger, pepper, etc.) A thick slice of country bread cooked on top of a wood stove with some cretons and ballpark mustard(save the Dijon for the rillettes) is at the top of my list of Québec comfort foods.

Great topics so far on the culinary circle. I've got to get myself a digital camera and start contributing.   

[some young guy]

Well, it's been a couple years since I've made them, but I put them on a menu for this weekend so last night I spent an hour remembering how it's done. I figured while I was at it, I might as well take a couple pix for all of you folks here.

One grade A foie gras (makes you hungry just lookin' at it)



One lobe, split open, ready for dissection.



Same lobe, cleaned layer by layer with a butter knife until all veins are removed.



Same lobe, now rolled up in a cylinder.



Both lobes cleaned and rolled.



One lobe on the cheese cloth, ready to roll.



Using a spatula to get it nice and tight.



Both lobes rolled and tied.



On a bed of rock salt.



...and finally covered up for the night...14 hours actually.



...and there you have it boys and girls: foie gras au torchon, cured in salt. I'll be serving this with armagnac prunes, baby arugula, hazelnuts and toast.

[kyrill]

wow

i wish i was yr neighbor
thx for the pictures, more worth to me than 1000 words
greetz from Holland.

[Ericus Rex]

NO DUCK IS SAFE IN YOUR TOWN!