The Foodist: Rabbit Pot-Au-Feu

Pot-au-Feu is usually made with two cuts of beef and lots of fresh herbs and vegetables. We have lots of the latter but no beef; we raise rabbits. So rabbit it is! I love this in the fall and winter, we love it with fresh herbs and vegetables so it needed to be a summer meal - But I can use the root cellar vegetables and herbs that I dehydrate and store. So we are adapting as we go along.[media-credit id=3 align="alignnone" width="900"]INGREDIENTS

• 5 sprigs of parsley
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 large bay leaf
• 4 large leeks
• 4lbs of rabbit (a whole rabbit)
• 2 cups beef broth
• Rabbit Kidneys, liver and chicken liver, quartered
• 1 small head of cabbage cut into 8 wedges
• 4 large carrots cut into quarters
• 2 medium purple turnips peeled and quartered
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 large yellow onion
• 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes peeled and halved
• 8 toasted pieces of crusty bread
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• Salt and cracked pepper

1. Tie the parsley thyme and bay leaf together in a 10” square of cheesecloth with string. This is your bouquet garni.
2. Place rabbit but not organs in a 10-12 quart dutch oven and cover with 1”  of cool water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Fill an additional 6-8 quart pot with salted water to a boil. Add the cabbage in and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Skim the fat from your boiled rabbit. Add the bouquet garni, leeks, cabbage, carrots, turnips,  onions, garlic and 2tbs salt. Add beef broth and enough water back to the pot to cover the vegetables. Return to a boil.
5. Skim the water again after the boil. Turn the heat down to low and partially covered. Cook at a simmer. Continue to remove fat occasionally.
6. The rabbit will take a few hours to cook. Remove the vegetables as they cook. Set the vegetables aside after they cook.
7. Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
8. Remove the rabbit from the broth and set aside. Cover with foil.
9. Feed the the bouquet garni to the chickens. Add the organs, vegetables and potatoes to the broth over medium heat. Heat them through.
10. Serve up mugs of broth. Add the Dijon mustard to 1 cup of broth. Use this to spread on your bread. Spread half on the platter you will be serving the Pot-au-Feu on.
11. Transfer the vegetables to a platter. Plate the rabbit. Pour enough broth over the dish to add a shallow pool of  broth. Add Salt and Pepper over the dish.
12. Serve.