Lapin a la Cocotte and Clafoutis aux Cerises

I was sort of glad when the weather forecast was for a cool day today. I had felt like a bit of baking and also wanted to try cooking Lapin a la Cocotte (rabbit casserole) but the weather over the last few days had left us all wanting salads, BBQs and seafood instead of turning the oven on and heating up the house - so this morning, instead of complaining that the weather wasn't the usual French summer weather, we headed to the market of Sarlat and picked up our lapin (rabbit) from the farmer and some beautiful fresh cerises (cherries) as well as all the other ingredients I needed to spend a few hours in the kitchen.

Sarlat market

The cherries here at the moment are amazing. Bursting with sweetness and so juicy - we are buying them practically daily at the markets and they generally don't last until we get home. Even Kian is eating them! 

The beautiful thing about cherries, is that we have seen their life cycle whilst we have been here in France. When we arrived in Pernes-les-Fontaines - in Provence, the cherry trees were everywhere, but the were not even in blossom yet. After a week or two, the trees started to blossom, and the fields of cherry blossoms were amazing - they went as far as the eye could see. 

Cherry trees in full blossom in Pernes-les-Fontaines

By the time we left Provence for Burgundy, the blossoms had started to disappear, and the trees were beginning to fruit. I will never forget that first time we saw cherries from France in the market - I was so excited!! (Before the cherries from France were in season you could still buy them every now and then at different markets, but they were from Spain. Buying produce from anywhere other than France is a big no no when living in a village - you are only allowed to buy locally produced goods, otherwise you are frowned upon by the locals - which we found out the hard way!!)

Upon getting home, I got the kids to work on pitting all the cherries - all 600 grams of them! Kian lasted about two handfuls (cherry juice stained handfuls at that!), but my little masterchef Kayla, sat there working her way through them all, making a little cut in each side so she could extract the pit. I'm sure she will enjoy the clafoutis all the more for it!

My two little helpers / masterchefs at work

CLAFOUTIS AUX CERISES

(CHERRY CLAFOUTIS)
Serves 4-6

Cherry clafoutis is a dessert (or breakfast /brunch) recipe that originates from the Limousin region of France which is just north east of here. We were driving through there just yesterday as we were exploring our local area of France so I wanted to cook this very yummy baked custard.

Sugaring the cherries before freezing them

Ingredients:

600g cherries - pitted - fresh is best but if you cant get fresh you can use canned/jarred

165g caster sugar

75g plain flour

salt, pinch

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

500ml milk, warmed

1 vanilla bean, seeds removed

60g butter, melted

1 lemon, zested

Method:

1. Sprinkle pitted cherries with 55g of the caster sugar, lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, or tray, cover with cling film and place in the freezer, for at least an hour, or till hard
2. Sift together remaining sugar, flour, and salt
3. In another bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolks
4. Heat milk gently then gradually add to eggs, whisking constantly to prevent scrambled eggs
5. Once eggs and milk are combined, add vanilla bean seeds and take off the heat
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients gradually, whisking till a smooth batter
7. Set aside for about 30 mins to come to room temperature
8. Whisk in metled butter and lemon zest
9. Grease your baking dish well. You will need either a shallow flan dish (6 cup capacity) or 6 x 250ml ramekin dishes.
10. Place cherries in your dishes
11. Pour batter on top of cherries
12. Place dish/es into a bain marie (a larger baking tray that your chosen baking dishes can fit into), fill the bain marie with boiling water half way up the sides of your clafoutis
13. Place in oven for about 20-25 mins for individual or 40 mins for a large one - it is ready when the top of the pudding appears to be just set (A little tip is to actually place the dishes inside the larger roasting pan first, then put this in the oven, then pour the boiling water into it to form the bain marie - this way you prevent burning yourself with the boiling water whilst placing the dish into the oven - just do it as quickly as possible so as not to lose too much heat form the pre heated oven)
14. Serve warm with cream or ice cream

And for our main course...

In France, it really is a true nose to tail experience - the chickens are sold with heads and feet intact, the rabbits are sold with heads and tails intact! The look of the beady little eyes sticking out at me was a little bit much for me(so I left it off the below photo), I have to admit, but that is after all how the rabbit comes! 

LAPIN A LA COCOTTE

(RABBIT CASSEROLE)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 rabbit - chopped into 8 pieces

3 slices bacon - cut into lardons

2 onions - chopped

4 garlic cloves - minced

3 carrots - chopped in large dice

1 leek - chopped in large dice
1 large cepe mushroom (this is totally optional - we just came across our first one at the market this morning so had to add this baby in!)

3 tblsp flour

250 ml red wine

250ml chicken stock

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp thyme

Method:

1. Fry lardons till browned and crispy
2. Add onion and garlic, cook till translucent 
3. Add carrot, leeks and cepe (optional), cook till slightly caramelised, remove all veg from pot
4. Add rabbit - add a little oil if pan is too dry, stir, browning rabbit on all sides
5. Sprinkle with flour and cook for a few more minutes
6. Pour in red wine and stock, bring to boil then turn down to simmer
7. Add all veg back into the pot along with herbs
8. Cover with lid and place in 180 degree oven for about 1.5 hours or until the rabbit is deliciously tender
9. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green peas

The cepe 

The mixture of veg and lardons before adding the rabbit

Our finished feast

Hope you enjoyed this little winter warmer from the summer of France on a not so hot day here, but I'm sure it's very appropriate for most of my Melbourne readers!!

Salut!

Kim xoxo