Whiskey Planked Rabbit Ribeyes
I love Whiskey, its one of my favorite things in life. I was very fortunate when my friend Michael from Templeton Rye gave me some used whiskey barrel pieces from his operation in Iowa. Templeton Rye is one of my favorites! I love it neat with a water back, mmmm I might need to have one right now. In early may Stephanie Izard, Guiseppe Tentori and I came together for another dinner this time featuring rabbits. Its always fun to cook with other chefs, especially in a neutral kitchen, that way no chef is the host, they don’t have to worry about making sure we have everything etc. We just cook and have fun catching up on what is going on in the industry, farmers and each other. I knew I wanted to use the ribs for something but what? I looked at my sous chef Dino and said “should we french them like we used to at the Dolphin?” in translation that meant “Dino start frenching these 30 rabbit racks”. I saw his face and heart just sink, this was a task he mastered 10 years ago when we worked together at Green Dolpohin Street, after about 40 seconds of making him sweat I told him I was kidding. To understand frenching a rabbit rack, you must take all the meat and sinue off the small delicate bones so that the bones are completely clean and the eye of the loin is the only part left attached, in other words its the biggest pain in the A$$! Then again anything food related that is “frenched” pretty much is a time consuming process, I think sometimes that it really translates into “Pain in the A$$” hehe.
To make heat the barrel pieces for 30 minutes in a 450 degree oven, toss the rabbit chops in salt, pepper and vegetable oil. Place the chops on the hot barrel pieces and return to the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and toss in whiskey bbq sauce. Serve on more planks that are only warm, you dont want your guests burning their fingers. The fun part of this dish is that the whiskey flavor roasts into the rabbit meat, think of this as a new version of cedar planked salmon.
History Repeats Itself
I started 2010 by looking back in history, when it comes to food there is something to be said for “grandmas cooking”. For such a long time the culinary world shunned the thought of cooking food simply and set its sights on a higher caliber of product. I know my grandmother didn’t have the time to refine her skills in the kitchen to the point of 4 star perfection; she had to get food on the table. She couldn’t contemplate if she used a different olive oil how that slight change would affect the dish.
I think sometimes we take ourselves a bit too serious in the food world, yes both chefs and guests alike, chasing the perfect bite of flavor. I’ve actually witnessed guests at a recent wine dinner I attended put every dish under the microscope and pick it apart around the table so much that they forced themselves not to have a good meal. This is an actual quote from the evening “Yes this bass is exceptional, but in a dream world I would want more flavor from the fish, I think poaching the fish and then searing the skin crispy would have made the dish perfect”. In a dream world? Sorry I’m back here on planet reality, now chefs have to compete with a dream world? You go and poach your fish first then sear it crispy, let me know how that works out for you! How about the real issue was that the fish was farm raised and lacked the true flavor of wild line caught striped bass?
I meet young culinary students all the time, fascinated by the culinary world, eager to rise through the ranks like a rocket. The important thing is that no matter what your title or experience, you have to keep learning. I remember some of my early days in the kitchen working on a project and the chef would come over and show me another technique or recipe, wow I still use it today! In our own kitchen family kind of way we produce heritage recipes, one that is passed on from one to another over time.
Now that I’m looking back at old family recipes I realized that I’ve never once in my life used a pressure cooker. In the kitchen we always had the time to braise things for hours, we planned ahead for it. Plus who are you feeding in a 6 quart pressure cooker? We would need a 30 gallon pressure cooker at the hotel! So I purchased a home model and went at it, not having a clue as to how to cook with one of these. I read the book that came with it, clearly written in 1950 so I didn’t quite understand everything, but I’m a chef I’ll figure it out. I put some pork spare ribs in with onion, water, smoked and dried green chilies from the garden, homemade canned bbq sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Put the lid on and then put it over a high flame until the pressure built up and the release cap was rocking back and forth. Turned the flame down so the cap would just rock back and forth for 15 minutes and then it was done. I let it cool at room temperature for approximately 45 minutes, opened it up and in front of my eyes in the pot was the most tender pork spare ribs I’ve had in such a long time. I turned the broiler on and while waiting I ate a 5 bone rack, they were so delicious. Once the broiler was hot enough I charred up the outside, glazed them with bbq sauce and sat down for a feast, just like grandma used to make (well a few improvements, grandma didn’t have smoked dried green chilies from the garden or homemade bbq sauce).
DandyID
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