There are many ways of cooking rabbit in French cuisine but with mustard sauce is the most famous of them. In my version of the recipe, I use both Dijon mustard and old fashioned mustard. That’s because old fashioned mustard doesn’t taste as strong as Dijon mustard. It’s a way to get the Dijon’s taste keeping the old fashioned look of the dish.

If you only have one kind, don’t worry, it should work too

Preparation time: 10 minutes – Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

1 whole rabbit (cleaned, in pieces)
4 tablespoons of old fashioned mustard
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of creme fraiche
1 glass (25 cl) of dry white wine
1 tablespoon of olive oil
3 shallots
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Season rabbit pieces with salt and spread them with old fashioned mustard using a kitchen brush or a knife.

2/ Pour olive oil in a large iron-cast casserole. Heat it over medium heat.

3/ Peel and chop shallots.

4/ When oil is hot, add rabbit pieces and leave them 2 minutes on each side or until they get a golden color. Take them off casserole and set aside. (If your casserole is too small to broil all rabbit at once, repeat this step several times).

5/ Pour shallots into the casserole.

6/ Once shallots are translucent, add white wine and get to a smooth boil until the strong smell of alcohol is gone.

7/ Return rabbit pieces to the casserole. Cover and leave over medium/low heat for 25 minutes.

8/ Combine creme fraiche with Dijon mustard and the old fashioned mustard you have left (if any).

9/ Uncover casserole, add mustard sauce and stir well so your sauce is homogeneous.

10/ Leave it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.

11/ Serve with potatoes, rice or tagliatelle and top generously with mustard sauce.

Here is a recipe for the last fish stock I made using sea bass. The ingredients I used are the ones I had on hand; keep in mind you can add any herb or flavorful vegetable to a stock. In this recipe, I used fennel trimmings because my fish stock was made to be used in a fennel puree but I could have used celery instead for example. Sometimes I even add it a glass of dry white wine, it gives it a great taste

Once you’re done, there are plenty of uses for your homemade fish stock. You can use it to cook pasta or rice (when making a seafood risotto for example). It’s also a great base for making a flavorful sauce for a fish or seafood. Don’t be shy, experiment with it

Preparation time: 5 minutes  – Cooking time: 30- 35 minutes

Ingredients (for 12 cups of stock)

1.1 lbs (500 g) of fish heads, bones and fins
16 cups (4 l) of water
1 thyme branch (or 3 tablespoons of dry thyme)
3 tablespoons of tarragon
2 tablespoons of parsley
2 tablespoons trimmings from a fennel bulb
2 tablespoons of chervil
1 bay leaf
2 shallots
1 carrot

Instructions

1/ Rinse fish pieces and dip them in 3 cups of salted water so all the remaining blood gets out.

2/ Peel shallots and carrot. Cut them by half.

3/ Fill a casserole with 13 cups of water. Add all herbs, fennel trimmings, shallots and carrot and get to a boil.

4/ When water is boiling, add fish pieces and reduce heat. Leave covered for 20 to 25 minutes.

5/ Take fish, carrot and shallots out and filter passing your stock through a strainer.

That’s it! Let it cool down and  freeze or refrigerate (if you’re going to use within a few days).

I’ll finish this ‘appetizer spoons week’ by one recipe I discovered not long ago but I already know I’ll be making it quite often. Unlike the other recipes I posted along the week, you’ll need some cooking for that one . I caramelized shallots but you can also use onions as long as you slice them into thin pieces. They help sweeten blue cheese’s strong taste. The three flavors go just perfect together… I used raspberry vinegar when caramelizing shallots, it adds a delicious fruity taste; but you can replace it by red wine if you like.

Preparation time: 35 mn

Ingredients (for 10 spoons)

3 prosciutto slices
6 shallots (or 2 onions)
2 oz (55 g) of blue cheese
2 tablespoons of raspberry vinegar (or red wine)  (Click here to buy online)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel and chop shallots.

2/ Melt butter in a frying pan over low heat. (Be careful it doesn’t get brown, it’s very bad for health.)

3/ When butter has melt, add chopped shallots. Leave covered, stirring frequently, for about 10 mn or until translucent.

4/ Add sugar and stir. Let shallots caramelize for a couple of minutes, then add raspberry vinegar. At that time, you should probably go for medium heat. It’s important when adding alcohol to get it to a (smooth ) boil so the strong taste evaporates. When the strong smell is gone, you’re done. Take pan off heat.

5/ Cut prosciutto into small pieces.

6/ Dice blue cheese.

7/ Fill the bottom of your Chinese soup spoons with caramelized shallots. Add a dice of blue cheese and top with prosciutto pieces.

8/ Serve right away.

We always hear soufflé is very difficult to make. The truth is, it’s very difficult to get it to the table all nice and up but it is still very good even if you never get to that part . You can see mine got down before I took the picture and nobody complained! I cooked them as a side dish for a Bordeaux style fish and didn’t have enough space in my oven to bake them together… So, here is the rule: whatever happens, get your soufflés right from the oven to the table!

Preparation time: 45 mn – Baking time: 35 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 lbs (900g) of fresh spinach
1/2 cup (125 ml) of milk
3 oz (85g) of butter (1/2 oz + 2 1/2 oz)
3 oz (85g) of grated cheese
4 eggs
4 shallots
4 tablespoons of flour
1 garlic clove
1 pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Get a salted water filled pan to a boil. Clean and hull spinach. Leave them in boiling water for 5 mn then strain and press spinach to take water off.

2/ Peel and chop shallots and garlic. Heat a cooking pan over low medium heat. Melt 1/2 oz of butter, add shallots and garlic. Leave covered for 5 mn, moving it a few times. Add spinach. After 5 to 7 mn, add salt and pepper and set aside.

3/ Melt 2 1/2 oz of butter in a cooking pan. Sprinkle with flour, let it get a golden color and add cold milk. Add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg. Then add cheese. Stir well and take off heat.

4/ Separate egg whites from yolks. (The easiest way to do it is by taking the broken egg in one hand and let white fall in a bowl when keeping yolk over your fingers). Add yolks to cheese sauce. Beat egg whites until stiff.

5/ Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/ Th 6).

6/ Add cheese sauce to spinach. Stir well. Fold stiff eggs thoroughly into mixture.

7/ Grease a muffin pan and fill it with mixture. Bake in oven for 25 mn.

Serve it right away

This fish recipe is a great classic in French cuisine. If you ever visit a French supermarket, you’ll even find it already made in the frozen section. It takes no time and is really easy to cook but the best thing is you can realize it with any white fish you like!

Preparation time: 15 mn  -  Baking time: 15 to 20 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 white fish filets (hake, cod etc.)
6 dry bread slices (if you don’t have dry bread,
you can toast bread slices or use already made dried breadcrumbs)
4 shallots
1 garlic clove
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of white wine
2/3 oz (20g) of butter
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel and chop shallots and garlic. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic.

2/ After 5 mn, add wine and let boil smoothly until liquid evaporates.

3/ Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/ Th 6).

4/ Squeeze lemon. Mix bread, lemon juice, shallots, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper in a food mixer until getting a paste. (Add a little olive oil if it stays too dry)

5/ Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a baking pan. Add fish filets and cover with paste. Add the olive oil you have left.

6/ Bake in oven for 15 to 20 mn or until fish is done.

Serve with rice, potatoes or vegetables. Marries perfectly spinach soufflés.