rabbit or chicken in a spicy tomato sauce with mustard (yet sulfite-free)

My mother-in-law sometimes served us a rabbit dish. She used to marinate it first in wine with cinnamon, paprika, anise and hot pepper before deep frying it. It was very tasty! Since wine must now be banished from my recipes, even the organic kind, as there is always some amount of sulfites in it, and I avoid making fried foods, I have had to come up with some other ingredients that would make this lean white meat interesting. In this recipe, I use organic mustard (made using distilled white vinegar) and frozen tomato. The hot pepper is optional, and if you don’t like the taste or the idea of eating rabbit (I do wonder how many of my dear neighbors am I am going to put off with this recipe 😬), note that I have also made this recipe with chicken drumsticks. This variant makes for a flavorful dish also, but mind the splattering when browning the chicken pieces!

Ingredients (for 6 people – do not hesitate to freeze any leftovers!)

– 6 rabbit pieces (saddle parts) OR chicken drumsticks

– 2 tsp olive oil

– 2 tsp organic mustard, made with distilled white vinegar

– 250g (½ lb) fresh or frozen tomato, peeled and diced – a special note for Jack: you can use cubed squash instead of tomato, but then you will need to add a little liquid to the pot

– ¼ tsp paprika

– ½ tsp coarse untreated sea salt

– ¼ tsp hot pepper (optional)

– some arrowroot to thicken the sauce (optional)

How to: (to be made preferably in a Dutch oven)

1. Brown the rabbit or chicken pieces in hot oil over medium high heat, taking care not to crowd the pieces in the pot. Personally, this is the only step of the recipe that I find a little tricky, as the meat must turn a nice golden color but not burn! Adjust the heat if necessary, and don’t step away from the stove 😉! Also note that if your pot is too small, you will have to brown the meat in several batches.

2. Add the spices, the diced tomato, the salt, the mustard, stir and cover. Lower the heat and cook for about twenty minutes from the moment the juices start simmering, or until the meat is cooked through.

Adding a little arrowroot at the end thickens the sauce.

My husband likes this dish with steamed potatoes, and I usually also serve it with some green beans on the side. I managed, in spite of last summer’s horrific drought, to freeze an amount large enough for us to enjoy them until next spring!

I know I have promised a new pie dough recipe with a video, but here’s the thing: my husband just got some unexpected translation work and so naturally took over the computer where I had downloaded a video editor. I am left with the old nine year-old laptop that heats up a bit but still works, which in this day and age is just short of a miracle! I need to download the app again before I get back to my video editing. Our children, with whom we were Skyping yesterday, tell me that I should put all my recipes on YouTube and that not having the right equipment to embark on such an adventure is just a lame excuse on my part… I hope that you, dear neighbors, are a bit more understanding! 😊

Until then, take care!