How long will this be safe forIt's a standard savoury shortcrust pastry case. You need to make it in a deep pie tin - I don't have one, so have been using...
So we ate it last night.
The restaurant which inspired me to do this in the first place told me during the week that they use pork fat when making rabbit rillettes and I think that might be better as it isn't so distinctively flavoured as the duck and goose fat I used.
Still there was still a distinct taste of rabbit and the meat was properly cooked and came easily off the bone with a texture similar to what one would expect from a well done confit of duck.
Because the rabbit doesn't have the skin to crisp as a duck does I decided to fry them up to reheat rather than grill. Another time I'd do so on a lower heat and just long enough to be sure they'd been heated through.
Here's how it was done.
A rabbit jointed. My butcher cut the saddle into two which was fine in the end as we had a leg and half a saddle each. I think a whole saddle would be a good portion; certainly one rabbit isn't, to my mind, enough for four. 2 large-4 small bay leaves 2 cloves garlic, smashed 8 juniper berries bruised tsp dried thyme tablespoon salt grind pepper Fat to cover (I used duck and goose, pork is recommended)
Salt the eat lightly, sprinkle with thyme and leave over-night in the fridge.
Melt the fat in a pan.
Wipe off any obvious salt from the joints.
In a deep roasting tin or cbutterole the rabbit pieces will just fit in one layer use a little fat and brown the meat.
I have BreadAs if by magic.... All I did was dump some flour, yeast etc into this machine thing late last night (and...
Remove from the heat. Tuck the bay leaves around the joints, the bits of garlic and the juniper berries.
Pour over sufficient fat to completely cover the meat.
ciabatta technique whatsa biga dealhi all thanks for the replies on the bread machine (the panasonic 253 is now on the wishlist!) When i said i love baking bread I shoul have mentioned that...
Put into the oven at gas mark 1 or 2 (130-150C, 250-300F). The fat should just barely simmer, not boil. Leave for 2 - 2.5 hours. The meat is done when a gentle prod with a skewer will pull it away from the bone.
To pot take the joints from the fat and allow to cool just enough to handle. Press into a jar and cover with the strained cooking fat so that at least 1-3" 1cm of fat covers the meat at the top.
We used it a 6 days after it was made although the duck recipes online suggest that it can be stored under fat for up to 3 months. The best by dates on commercially bought confits are much longer, probably because they're packed in close to sterile conditions.
Served with parsnips roasted in the fat and buttered leeks. Worth doing, and I shall almost certainly do it again.
Matthew
