easter dinner at chez joshie

Music: The Antlers: Hospice (2009)

Last year I decided that the perfect Easter supper must entail eating Peter Cottontail. I mean, any holiday celebrating The Zombie to End All Zombies must involve eating the host in some way. I think the more traditional flesh is lamb ("Oh, Lamb of God/I come, I come"), however, I think it is funner to eat the other host: the Easter Bunny! And I'm proud to report this year's rabbit recipe was better than the red wine wabbit we-duction recipe of last year.

Since giving up my food column, I confess I sometimes miss the opportunity to share my culinary perversions. So, hooray the Christ has risen! Here's a great new rabbit recipe to celebrate! It's a version of Lapin à la Moutarde. You'll need this stuff:

• a rabbit, skinned (3-4 lbs.)
• 1/2 of French Dijon mustard (not the cheap stuff)
• a half a stick of butter
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine (left over from whenever is fine)
• bouquet garni of sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and whatever
• 1/2 cup of crème fraise
• fresh chopped curly parsley

Ok, so, the first step is to catch you a rabbit and skin it. I just set out a trap on the patio (baited with a Cadbury egg) and, SHAZAM!, I had me a bunny when I got up this morning. He also left me a basket with the new Drive-By Truckers CD and some boiled eggs in fake grass. Awesome. Anyhow, basically, you can chop off the legs and arms and salvage the saddles (back muscles). Now, some folks say the arms are only good for making stock, but I disagree---there's enough to nibble, so I say cook 'em.

Now, what you want to do is salt and pepper the bunny bits, and then slather them in mustard. Once they're slathered, salt and pepper them again. Melt half a half-stick of butter in a Dutch oven, and then, brown the rabbit all over (about eight minutes or so) on medium-high heat. Remove Peter the rabbit from the Dutch oven and set aside. Melt the remaining butter and sauté your onions until they're soft and translucent.

Now, pour about a half a cup of wine into the Dutch oven and lower the temp to "medium" or so. With a wooden spoon scrape the oven bottom to liberate all the black bunny bits for flavor (and help cleaning later). Then, put your browned rabbit back into the pot. Toss your bouquet garni on top, and put the lid on. On low-medium heat simmer the rabbit for about 30 or so minutes until it gets really tender, turning the pieces occasionally. When the bunny is done, remove the pieces and arrange them on a pretty plate. But wait! You're not done yet!

To make the sauce, add the crème fraise and the chopped parsley and stir for about five minutes. Then, with your rabbit neatly arranged on a plate, ladle the sauce on top and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

And there you have it! Peter Cottontail Dijon! I enjoyed my rabbit this evening with a nice Greek salad and some fresh, homemade tabbouleh. You can enjoy a gallery of my Easter culinary festivities here. Bon appétit!