Rabbit Tenderloin with Sauteed Spinach and Creole Mustard Sauce
Rabbit tenders sparked with Cajun spice mixtures and fried golden brown are combined with rabbit sausage and served with wilted spinach and Creole mustard sauce. To reduce time and preparation but still enjoy this flavorful dish, shape the sausage mixture into small patties and poach them in simmering water in a large saute pan or skillet. When the sausage is cooked through, drain off the water and brown the patties on both sides. Or omit the rabbit sausage accompaniment all together.
Ingredients
- Creole Mustard Sauce
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 3/4 cup
- Creole mustard or other hot - 3/4 cup, spicy mustard
- Sour Cream - 3/4 cup
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Pork and Veal Cajun Magic© or other dry Cajun seasoning - 5 teaspoons
- Rabbit tenderloins - 4
- Vegetable Oil - 3/4 cup
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Raw sesame seeds - 2 teaspoons
- Spinach - 1 bunch, stemmed
- Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Vegetable Cajun Magic© or another dry Cajun seasoning - 1 teaspoon
- Rabbit Stock or Chicken broth - 1/4 cup
- Rabbit Sausage (recipe follows)
Instructions
To make the mustard sauce: In a 4-cup saucepan, bring the cream to a low boil over medium heat. Whisk in the mustard and sour cream and simmer 5 minutes. Keep warm.
To prepare the rabbit: Mix the flour with 1 teaspoon of the seasoning. Season each tenderloin evenly with the remaining 4 teaspoons of the seasoning. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the oil to 360 F. Coat each tenderloin with the seasoned flour and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side. Remove from the pan with a slotted spatula and drain on paper towels. Discard the oil and place the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and sesame seeds and let the seeds toast for about 10 seconds. Add the spinach and vegetable seasoning and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Add the stock or broth and cook 1 more minute.
To serve: Place 1/4 cup of the warm mustard sauce on each of four plats and divide the spinach equally among the plates. Make 4 or 5 small slices in each tenderloin and place each over a bed of spinach. Divide the sausage among the plates.
Rabbit Sausage
Serves 4
2 pounds fresh rabbit meat, ground
1 pound fresh pork butt or shoulder, ground
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons finely-chopped fresh sweet thyme
1 tablespoon finely-chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon finely-chopped fresh sweet basil
3 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup thinly-sliced green onions
1/2 cup finely-chopped yellow onion
1 egg
3/4 cup rich rabbit or chicken stock
1/2 cup finely ground day-old French bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
7 natural pork casings
Combine all ingredients, except the pork casings, in a large mixing bowl. Blend thoroughly, using your hands. Transfer the mixture to a plastic container, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Pipe the sausage mixture into the pork casings.
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Place the sausage links in a shallow pan with 1 inch of water. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Place the sausage links under the broiler and cook until browned on top, about 5 minutes. Slice into desired portions and serve.
