We've been pumped about Bradley Cooper's new movie Burnt since we got all hot and bothered by the trailer a few months ago. Now that movie is in theaters, we wanted to do something Delish-worthy to celebrate. We connected with Chef Marcus Wareing, the chef at London's two Michelin-starred Marcus, to come up with a little challenge. We asked Wareing, who also trained Cooper and his co-star Sienna Miller for the movie, for one of his most RIDICULOUSLY difficult recipes so we could see what three novice cooks could do with it. He went for rabbit, which is notorious for being difficult to cook.
"Rabbit is very lean, so there's a very fine line between being cooked and being overcooked," says Wareing. "You have to be very careful with your timing, your temperature, your cooking utensils."
For the movie Wareing adapted this rabbit recipe (from his time running Pétrus with chef Gordon Ramsay) and more for the big screen. "These are high-end recipes—they're not easy."
So we asked three novice cooks to take a stab at just one part of the dish—the rabbit sauce. Watch what happened in the video above, and if you think you're up for it, here's the full recipe.
Rabbit, Beetroot, Watercress
Serves 2
4 rabbit loins, brined for 30 minutes in a 7% brine solution
2 tbsp olive oil
25g unsalted butter
Rabbit sauce
100g rabbit bones, roughly chopped with a cleaver
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. table salt
½ carrot, peeled and cut into 4
½ stick celery, cut into 4
1 small onion, peeled and cut into 4
1 clove garlic
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs tarragon
1 bay leaf
100ml white wine
25ml Madeira
400ml chicken stock
Rabbit croquette
1 rabbit leg, salted for 2 hours with rock salt on each side, then rinsed
500g duck fat
3 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. tarragon, chopped
1 egg
25g flour
25g panko bread crumbs
Watercress purée
1 bunch watercress, leaves only
20ml Chardonnay vinegar
½ tsp. English mustard
25ml extra virgin olive oil
1 raw beetroot, peeled and finely julienned
Mustard mayonnaise
2 tbsp. homemade mustard
½ tsp. Pommery mustard
3 heritage beetroot
100g rock salt
50g toasted oats
4 slices Guanciale
For the watercress purée: Blanch watercress in salted water then refresh in iced water. Blend together with vinegar, olive oil and mustard. Pass through a fine sieve, place in piping bag and refrigerate.
For the mustard mayonnaise: Whisk all ingredients together and season if necessary. Place in piping bag and refrigerate.
To make the beetroot coleslaw: Salt beetroot for 10 minutes then rinse lightly and pat dry. Mix with ½ tbsp of mustard mayonnaise.
For the rabbit sauce: Heat vegetable oil in pan. When hot, add rabbit bones and cook until golden brown. Remove and set aside. In same pan, add carrots, celery, garlic and onion and cook until golden. Add wine and madeira and simmer until it resembles a syrup. Add bones, salt, garlic, herbs and stock and simmer for 45 minutes, skimming any fat off the top. Strain through a fine sieve and bring to a simmer to reduce by half.
For the croquettes: Preheat oven to 100 degrees C. Melt duck fat and cover leg, in dish just large enough to fit both. Add thyme and garlic, cover with foil and place in oven for 3 hours. Remove and allow to cool in duck fat until you are able to pick meat, discarding bones and skin. Mix with chopped tarragon and enough sauce to bind. Adjust seasoning if necessary then set in square mould lined with clingfilm, refrigerate. When completely cold, cut in half then dust evenly with flour. Dip into egg wash then coat with Panko breadcrumbs. Place in fridge until ready to serve. When ready to serve, deep fry in oil at 165 degrees C until golden and warmed through.
For the cooked beetroot: Reheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Wrap beetroot with salt in foil and bake for 3 hours or until soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Peel whilst still warm then refrigerate. Cut into neat wedges. When ready to serve, remove from fridge an hour before. Dress with olive oil and Maldon salt.
For the crispy guanciale: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place skin on sheet of parchment paper, season, then place another sheet of paper on top. Sandwich between two baking trays and cook for 4 to 6 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove and allow to cool.
To cook rabbit loins: Heat vegetable oil in pan. Season loins and brown all over. Add butter and when foaming, baste until legs are just cooked through. Add rabbit glaze and cover loins until they have sticky glaze all over. Remove from pan and cover with oats.
To serve: Dot watercress purée around the plate, with mustard mayonnaise. Add dressed beetroot and beetroot remoulade. Finish with crisp guanciale and rabbit. Garnish with bulls blood cress and serve.
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