Fergus Henderson’s recipes for braised rabbit and beetroot salad

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Today’s recipes are in a pleasing seasonal purgatory, but speak chiefly of summer months, even although they are made with substances that will not lead to guilt when acquired in the colder months. This would make them suitable to have in your arsenal for when the climate is turning. They are a celebration of deconstruction – not in the nouvelle cuisine sense, where by perfectly wise things are taken apart in a sequence of blobs, whooshes and towers (these kinds of plates communicate of meals that has been breathed on a tiny also a lot). The intervention of the knife and fork is inescapable, so we really should welcome the messing-up course of action there is a positivity to a approach in which deconstruction is the final act of construction – swirling with each other piles of capers, beetroot, creme fraiche and leaves, or choosing the flesh off rabbit bones for the joy of leftovers. These dishes enjoy the input of St John’s executive chef, Jonathan Woolway, and each have the type of understated magnificence you can anticipate at our new venture, St John Marylebone, which opens later on this thirty day period.

Braised rabbit, mustard and bacon

Any leftovers can be picked off the bone and served the upcoming day with tagliatelle and a gesture of chopped tarragon.

Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr 20 min
Serves 6, or 4 enthusiastic rabbit lovers

1 tbsp duck extra fat or lard
Sea salt and black pepper
2 wild rabbits (about 600g each and every), the two jointed into 2 shoulders, 2 legs and 2 saddle sections (farmed rabbits make a excellent substitute if you lack a shotgun or a trustworthy provider)
1kg piece smoked streaky bacon, chopped into hearty chunks
18 shallots, peeled
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 bunch sage, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
500ml dry cider
Rooster inventory – you will will need enough to fill your ovenproof dish
2 balanced tbsp dijon mustard
4 balanced tbsp creme fraiche

Heat the oven to 180C (160C admirer)/350F/gas 4. Set the unwanted fat in a frying pan on a medium heat, season the rabbit, then brown it all over, in batches if have to have be. Transfer the seared rabbit to an ovenproof dish deep ample and extensive sufficient to accommodate almost everything later.

In the identical pan, brown the bacon, then increase the complete peeled shallots and garlic, go away them to soften devoid of colouring, then introduce the bay leaves and sage to the pan. Nestle every thing in all-around the rabbit in the ovenproof dish.

Place the ovenproof dish on the hob, bringing every little thing to a sizzle, then add the cider and lessen by fifty percent. Insert ample stock just to deal with the rabbit, becoming careful not to flood the nest.

Whisk the mustard and creme fraiche in a compact bowl. Making use of a splash of the braising liquid, loosen the mustard combination, then stir it all into the braise. Include with foil and roast for about two hrs, or until tender and offering.

Beetroot, red onion, purple cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil

Fergus Henderson’s salad of beetroot, red onion, red cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil.

As well frequently you are provided a fait accompli (the inevitable) on a plate, a weave of components in which your only involvement will be to make a mess of it with your knife and fork. Very well, listed here is a salad that welcomes the messing-up procedure.

Prep 5 min
Assemble 5 min
Serves 6

For the salad
2 raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
¼ raw cabbage, main reduce out and discarded, the rest extremely finely sliced
1 small pink onion, peeled, slash in fifty percent from prime to base and finely sliced
6 healthier dollops of creme fraiche
2 excellent bunches of chervil, or 1 bunch of dill, leaves picked

For the dressing
Wholesome splashes of additional-virgin olive oil
A gesture of balsamic vinegar
1 small handful further-wonderful capers
Sea salt and black pepper

Make the dressing by mixing all the things in a bowl. Toss the three purple elements as a result of the dressing, then location a bushel of this purple combination on every single of six plates.

Nestle a blob of creme fraiche upcoming to it, as if the two components are fantastic mates, not on prime of just about every other as if they have been enthusiasts. Finally, rest a clump of the chervil (or dill) in a helpful style following to the other components and provide.

Fergus Henderson is chef/co-owner of St John and St John Bread & Wine in London. A 3rd site, St John Marylebone, opens later on this thirty day period.