. . . Also, I only have about 3 hours from the end of an all-day meeting (on Saturday, sheesh) to dinnertime, to shop and cook. So I can't do anything too time-consuming. No all-day projects.

Most traditional recipes would tell you to cook the rabbit in the oven either with white wine or stock for an hour, having browned the pieces in oil first, and softening shallots and garlic too. Finish with mustard and creme fraiche.
You can serve it with mashed potatoes - aligot is probably too rich with the rabbit - it has a very strong taste that would fight with the delicate rabbit.
It is often served with noodles.Rabbits like carrots so perhaps serve vichy carrots?
Yum!

Okay, standard mashed potatoes not aligot, and Vichy carrots. Pas de cuisine minceur, alors tant pis.

made some duck confit and then forgot about it - it has been in the refrigerator, sealed in the duck fat and covered, for 3+ weeks now. D'you think it is still "good"?

NO

The confit is fine. If it was made correctly.
Duck "confit" means preserved duck.

Rabbit, tastes like "chicken", in fact, you can use many chicken recipes.

Duck, pork, goose, confit, yes, preserved. No salt, one month. Lot's of salt, six months in the refrigerator.

If you can't use up the confit this time, cook it again and you can keep it once more.

dcarch

NO salt, Dcarch? Salt is an important part of the preserving process.

Posted by cloudy_christine "NO salt, Dcarch? Salt is an important part of the preserving process. "

Salt and duck fat are what confit is all about.

However, for those who are on a low sodium diet, don't use salt, or use very little salt.

and for those who are on a low fat diet, use olive oil.

It is the same? no it isn't.

dcarch

That was rather okay.

I made the rabbit a little differently than how islay described. After painting the rabbit with Dijon thinned with a little white wine, I browned the meat in olive oil and butter, then set it aside and cooked onions and garlic, then added white wine, rabbit stock, and more Dijon mustard. That got reduced for about 20 minutes, then the rabbit was added and the pan covered on lowish heat for half an hour. The meat came out, all the solids were strained out of the pan (I wanted a smooth sauce without all the mustard seeds), I mixed cream into the remaining smooth liquid, simmered it another ten minutes. Then the rabbit went back in to coat and warm. It was very good. I guess creme fraiche and shallots would have been better, but oh well.

The duck confit was a little salty but pretty good. Carrots slowly cooked in butter and sugar. The carrots were topped with eggs, beaten with duck fat and chives then lightly scrambled, and confetti spinach strips. My mashed potatoes were kind of lumpy but truffle salt made it tasty nevertheless.

My friend made dessert. Dried cherries, rehydrated in simmering port wine and sugar, with sliced pears and crumbled Stilton cheese.

We had a 2007 Pommade, a 2000 Zinfandel, and a 2005 Chablis Premier Cru. I am not a wine connoisseur, especially with French wines, so all I can say is that they were all "fine". The bottles are empty, anyway. The Pommade is a mystery. We have half a case of this, which I don't remember buying. The others were randomly picked from the pile of bottles in the basement.

My new iPhone is acting odd, but I'll try to post pictures later from the Mac.

Okay, the Photobucket app is working now.

Rabbit in progress.

Duck confit being browned.

Finished, plated.

I didn't even blow my diet too badly, because I didn't eat much. The wine and dessert may have been an indulgence, though.

It sounds delicious, though maybe a bit salty for me! And looks very elegant. I've never eaten rabbit. The dessert sounds divine as do the wines.

Looks absolutely delish!

Looks delicious! I've only had rabbit once, I believe at Mario Batali's "Babbo", but the description with the mustard sauce has me thinking I'll try making it myself. Time to google recipes.

So in your opinion was the duck confit worth the time, effort and expense? I've been thinking about trying it ever since that thread came up.

The dessert sounds really good. Your friends obviously care about food, too. Good times.

It is interesting that you can actually tell from looking at a picture of a dish that if it is tasty or not. Everyone will agree that is a deliciously made rabbit dish. Beautifully plated too.

One of my favorite use of salty duck confit:

I make my rice mostly using the pressure cooker because it makes perfect rice and nothing can go wrong. After the rice is made, I put the duck leg on the rice and steam cook it again without the pressure valve on. The beautiful duck juice and flavor will completely infuse the rice and much of the salt will also be drained to flavor the rice.

dcarch

Duck confit - worth it? I think I'd want to do a mess of duck legs at a time, at least a dozen. That raises the issue of getting enough duck fat. The stuff is not cheap, I think $6 ish for a 6 oz tub, if I remember right, and I needed 12 oz to do four legs. Then again it seems to be reusable almost indefinitely?

Anyone know, what is the best way to store duck fat for later use, so that it lasts for months? Strain out solids then freeze?

Rabbit - it is kind of pricey, at least fresh rabbit from a neighborhood butcher was. $29 for a bunny, and I didn't ever get the head or paws. I need to check out frozen rabbit in the grocery stores. I gather that at one time, Anericans ate almost as much rabbit as chicken, but then chicken decisively won out. The bird does seem more suited to commercial production. I'd have it more often if it were easily available.

That looks wonderful, John. Even before I saw the photo, I could tell it was a memorable dinner.

It sounds like you and your friends had a lovely dinner and visit. It's nice that you have friends that enjoy food along with you.

Sally

Okay, I'm working on Sunday dinner now. French last night, so Chinese tonight. We have some more friends coming, so 7 people.

Tentatively
- Shao mai and maybe some other appetizer
- A soup, either egg drop or hot & sour
- Roast pork belly
- Roast duck with green onion pancakes - this is the only "definite" item, it has been hanging in my basement for a day now, drying out
- Maybe a stir fry of some sort
- Rice, of course - but I might do congee

Nice work, John.

Sunday dinner was indeed Chinese.

Pork and shrimp dumplings. No pictures though.

Hot and sour soup. Very standard recipe.

Green onion pancakes. This was just like my grandma made. You make a basic dough from flour and hot water. Roll it out to a square. Coat with sesame oil, cover with chopped green onions, salt and pepper. Roll it up into a spiral log, wrap, and refrigerate. When you want a pancake, cut off a 1" section, place it cut side down on a board, and use your hand to mash it into a pancake. It will look sort of like a messy spiral of dough and green onions. Fry until browned. Comfort food, from my childhood. No picture. I didn't even get one.

Roast duck. Duck was coated with a mixture of boiling water, soy sauce, and honey, then hung in my basement to dry, then was inflated with a bicycle pump, painted with a mixture of hoisin sauce and mirin, and roasted until the skin was sweet, caramelized, and crisp.

Pork belly. My usual process.

Stir fry with marinated chicken, green onions, caramelized walnuts, fried grapes, and sauce which was a reduced rabbit stock. I should have used red grapes and coated them in melted sugar. Next time.

My son made dessert! Yum.

Let's see. Wine was Oregon. Two bottles of Scott Paul 2006 Pinot, a cab, something white. And some Scotch and cooking wine (hic).

Some people. My friend who is visiting this week (on the right). She is the best cook I know, and the person I love more than anyone outside of my immediate family. When SWMBO and I lived in SoCal, she adopted us as her children, and there never was a cooler mom.

Cooking is our love language, and we love to cook for each other.

On the left is another friend who has awesome bone structure. I want to look like her when I grow up.

Incidentally, everyone in and behind this camera is intoxicated. As we should be. Tommorrow, it's back to canned tuna and celery for me.

This post made me smile. :) Thank you for sharing. All of it.

note I didn't once ask where the diet had gone hahaha!
Lovely food.

VERY impressive! I'm sure you WOWed everyone.

John - lovely posts! So nice of you to host not only two groups of friends, but also let us come along for the "ride".

Next time try roasting the grapes. Easy, and works beautifully.

John - That meal looks and sounds incredible! And at this point I can safely say I'll never invite you over for dinner. Too intimidating. But I'll meet you at a restaurant any time you're in NY.

This month marks 11 years since I lost my "second mom." They're a special breed. She loved duck, and I'm sure would have enjoyed yours.

Are you kidding. I would gladly eat at your table, or anyone's table - I'd never pass up a friend's cooking.

My friend is making gravlax for me. The stuff I made didn't turn out so well; her's involves a lot of fresh dill, cognac or gin, and bricks. She is also poaching quail eggs and we are snacking on the cute little things.

Pretty ladies, lovely story, delicious dinner.....but I want to know about that "thing" with the ribbons hanging behind them.
Linda C

There is a Lego Eiffel Tower there, with decorative lights. On the other side of the sidebar, there is a Lego Death Star. Between them are ribbons and bangles hanging in front of the window. The dining room is the main colony for the Lego people. It is far from the main Lego city, which is in the family room two floors up. We have a Lego bus service that runs occasionally, bringing supplies to the colony and rotating colonists back to their homes. Lego gunships and fighters sometimes patrol the area too. Back when the Legos were at war with the stuffed animals, there was a lot more air traffic and combat vessels. The house is peaceful now. My son decreed it would be so. Our decor is, I guess, slightly casual.

Can I come and live with you?

You live in France, so I'd rather live with you . . .

Hey, I just thought of something. Are there good Asian grocery stores in Brittany?

No. We have a very tiny shop where I can get stuff like hoisin sauce. No pancakes for crispy duck, though and I've never succeeded in making them :(
You can come here, then and make me pancakes hahaha

Just an epilogue.

My friends left on Saturday. We were sad. In the bit-over-a-week that they were here, we had three dinner parties. Two here that you've seen, one at another friends' - he served a baked confection of gorgonzola cheese, garlic, eggs and milk (to die for), boeuf bourguignon (I had seconds), dirty martinis and there was dessert. On Friday we had a bunch of people over for a going-away potluck party. There was artichoke dip, Asian style broiled ribs, spicy wings, my friend's gravlax on little bruschetta bread thingies, and I don't remember what else. We went through 12 or 15 bottles of wine during the visit, my bottle of gin is empty and we're out of tonic, and I am 2-3 pounds fatter than before they came. Naughty!

We were especially sad because when they returned home, they discovered that one of their cars had been stolen and someone had shattered another car's $200 taillight. And the set of Cuisinart discs that she was going to send me turned out to not fit a Cuisinart. :-(

Then we were happy :-) because it turned out that the stolen car had simply been parked somewhere else and the DH had forgotten where he'd parked it (don't ask - actually, I've done that myself, back when I was only 35 and presumably not yet doddering, I had an insurance check coming to me when I found my car, that was an embarrassing phone call to make), the business whose van backed into the other car contacted him and said they'd pay for the damage, and -

- and -

- and in lieu of the not-Cuisinart-after-all discs, I'm being sent another cooking- related thing that I am really excited about. I'll show you that in another thread, when I receive it, but for now you must live in suspense.

Well, that was another "spit coffee all over the computer" moment!

John, I have just gotten caught up on this thread. What a wonderful visit! Everything looks lucious & your story-telling never fails to bring me lots of smiles. That stir-fry chicken/grapes & the crispy duck would make me a fantastic breakfast!

Since Portland is my family's "home base", I sure hope we can get together for a meal the next time I'm able to make the trip from the "colony" we've established here. I'd love for you to help broaden my Chinese dining experiences. Here, in Mystic, our Chinese options are pathetic (at best).

Thanks again for starting my day on such a pleasant note. Glad you so enjoyed your friends visit & hope you are able to get together with them again soon. Keep an eye on your car though - I've heard they're known for being embarrassing pranksters.

/tricia

Oh my goodness. Beautiful and amazing.

Tricia, when you have a trip to PDX, let me know and I'll host a CF dinner.