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(Frank groans)
- What the (beep)?
- Everything tastes good when you're starving.
- A man who knows to pair rabbit with a Beaujolais.
- I know I don't seem like the type.
- No, you do.
- [Babish] Hey, what's up guys?
Welcome back to Binging with Babish,
where this week we're taking a look at Bill's rabbit
from "The Last of Us,"
maybe the best looking plating
in all of zombie media history.
Now I realize that cooking with fungus in this context
might be borderline upsetting,
but one of Bill's three preparations did look like
it was stuffed with a duxelles or mushroom pâté.
Speaking of upsetting, first we have to butcher a rabbit.
So if you have any affinity
for one of God's more cuddly edibles,
you might wanna skip to the 2:30 mark.
First we have to remove the legs and arms
so we're sneaking a knife between the joints,
breaking them open and cutting between them to separate.
This tougher, stringier meat
is gonna get the confit treatment,
method of slow cooking in fat
that tenderizes, flavorizes, and preserves.
So once we've got all four limbs graphically removed,
we need to separate the loins from the rack,
which means breaking and separating the spine
at the end of the ribs, separating the thin flat meat
from the rib section, making sure to keep it intact
'cause we're gonna need a little bit of it
for our stuffed loin.
Flipping the saddle over meat-side up,
removing any excess connective tissue,
and then beginning the arduous
and delicate process of deboning.
Probably something you didn't come here
to learn how to do,
so I'm just gonna breeze through it.
But basically we're making very careful, shallow cuts
around the spine to remove it from the roast.
Then perhaps the most delicate process
is frenching the ribs.
First we have to snip them off the end of the spine,
cut the tops of the ribs to an even height,
slice across the bottom of
and cut little holes between each rib,
scraping the sinew off the bottom
of each toothpick-sized bone
so that each one can be popped out
and freed down to the cut point that we made earlier.
All the connective tissue that held the ribs together
can then be cut away,
revealing the world's most adorable
free-standing French rib roast.
And so concludes our ambiguous coarse on miniature butchery.
Now we can start preparing these various cuts
for further preparation.
The ribs appear to be plainly roasted,
so I'm just gonna hit them
with a little bit of salt and pepper
and let them sit in fridge uncovered
for at least an hour and up to overnight.
Everybody else is getting the same S and P treatment,
but as I mentioned before,
the legs and hindquarters are gonna get confit,
so into a heavy dutch oven they go
along with a couple sprigs of rosemary
and a couple sprigs of thyme,
or the survivalist-grown herbs of your choice.
Three whole peeled garlic cloves,
a tablespoon of whole peppercorns,
and two bay leaves.
Now, normally you would want to confit
in some kind of animal fat like duck fat,
and while I'm sure Bill renders his own venison fat
or whatever, that's a bridge too far from me.
So I'm going with extra virgin olive oil,
making sure the rabbit parts are entirely submerged
and placing this in a 225 degree Fahrenheit oven
for anywhere from two to four hours
until the rabbit is completely tender.
Now, so long as it's completely covered in olive oil,
it should last in the fridge for a few weeks.
Just let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Next up, we're taking revenge on that aforementioned fungi,
finely chopping about half a pound
of hen-of-the-woods until it's almost a paste.
Also, finally, chopping two smashed cloves of garlic,
a tablespoon of picked fresh thyme leaves,
and half a small shallot.
Then over on the stove top,
we're gonna turn this into the stuffing
for our rabbit saddle.
First, sauteing the shallot for two to three minutes.
Normally I would saute the mushrooms first
but there's not much moisture that needs to cook out
of hen-of-the-woods mushrooms.
So once the shallots are softened,
we're gonna add the mushrooms
and cook for an additional two to three minutes
until everybody's nicely browned.
Add the garlic and thyme,
and cook for an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant.
And since Bill clearly knows how to properly
raid a liquor store, we're gonna deglaze
with two tablespoons of dry sherry,
cooking for another minute or so
until all the liquid is evaporated.
Set aside and allow to cool completely
before stuffing our saddle.
First, we're gonna pack the space
between the two loins with our duxelles mixture,
gently fold it closed like a meaty cigar.
Cut off all but about 1/2 inch of the flat meat,
which we're gonna fold over on itself
to secure the log shut.
Then using toothpicks or butcher's twine,
we're gonna seal the seam shut,
placing ties at half-inch intervals.
Now likewise, this guy can hang out in the fridge uncovered
while we mise our last bit of place.
There was what looked like a carrot puree
smeared around the outside of the plate.
So for that, I'm gonna roast a whole head of garlic
that I've cut the top off of, drizzled with olive oil,
sprinkled with salt and pepper,
wrapped up tightly in aluminum foil,
and roasted at 400 degrees Fahrenheit
for about 40 minutes,
at which point your kitchen will smell awesome
and the garlic cloves will look roasty toasty.
Set that aside.
Rip the tops off of four large carrots,
retaining the greens for stock or compost.
Peel and chop into chunk-sized shapes.
Place in a large bowl and drizzle
with neutral flavored oil like vegetable or canola.
Sprinkle with kosher salt and retrieve a baking sheet
from a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven,
dropping the carrots directly onto the hot pan
to get a head start on caramelization and browning.
Go ahead and roast these guys for 20-25 minutes,
giving them a shake halfway,
until they're nicely browned and tender throughout.
Then dump them into an awaiting blender,
along with a teaspoon of white vinegar
and one tablespoon of brown sugar
before pureeing on high speed.
Then while the blender's running,
we're gonna slowly drizzle in
two tablespoons of olive oil
and anywhere from 1/2 to a full cup of chicken stock,
just enough so the carrots can blend
to a state of spreadable smoothness.
Just make sure it doesn't end up too thin.
I almost forgot our whole head of roasted garlic,
which can squeeze directly in there.
And upon tasting, I decided it needed
a little bit more sweetness,
this time in the form of a tablespoon of maple syrup.
Once completely smooth, we have our conceptually cruel
but thematically perfect carrot puree for our rabbit.
There also appeared to be a light salad on the plate
so I'm making a simple French vinegarette,
half a small minced shallot, two tablespoons of olive oil,
one tablespoon red wine vinegar, one teaspoon Dijon mustard,
a pinch of kosher salt,
a few twists of freshly ground black pepper
aggressively tiny whisk to a state of emulsion.
Now it's time to finally start cooking stuff.
So I'm gonna remove the confit rabbit legs.
Then over on the stove top, I'm par-boiling
a big handful of green beans for about three minutes.
Just enough time to cook them crisp
and brighten their color.
Then I'm gonna scoop them out
and cool them off completely under running water.
Now in stages, depending on their thickness,
I'm gonna sear the confit rabbit legs,
the stuffed saddle and the miniature rib roasts,
super high heat so they just get a little bit of color
so that we can finish them off in the oven.
It's a bit of a balancing act,
'cause you want all these tiny pieces
to reach but not exceed 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the rabbit pieces have some good browning
and you're finishing them off in the oven in stages,
we can generously re-oil our pan
and add the par-cooked green beans,
and what look like some tri-colored cherry tomatoes
for a quick char,
hopefully with a little bit of fire for added coolness.
This shouldn't take more than one to two minutes.
We just want to get some nice dark char marks
on the vegetables.
Set those aside,
and with that, it's time to plate.
First, we're lightly dressing our salad of field greens.
Make sure you always dress last,
right before serving,
otherwise, the greens will wilt.
Retrieve the rabbit pieces from the hot box.
And then on a large plate,
we're laying down a big chefy smear of our carrot puree.
Just 'cause the world's ended doesn't mean
that we have to lose our sense of showmanship.
Flank that with our light salad,
which is gonna go very nicely with our confit rabbit leg.
Then next to that,
we're gonna lean our teeny tiny little rabbit rib roast.
If you can't tell, I find it extremely charming.
And then cutting a medallion
of our duxelles stuffed rabbit saddle,
leaning that precariously against the roast,
and flank with our seared green beans
and tricolored tomatoes.
Finishing with extra salt, pepper,
and olive oil if you can spare the resources.
And there you have it,
Bill's post-apocalyptic rabbit three ways.
But how's it taste?
And the answer was surprising.
Rabbit can have an extremely funky, gamey smell
when it's raw, but once cooked up,
it's almost more akin to dark meat chicken.
So the rib roast was cute, if a little bland.
The stuffed saddle, especially when dipped
in the carrot puree was really delicious,
as you can see by my surprised little fork movement.
But the clear winner here was the confit.
It was tender, moist, crisp,
and imbued the flavor from the garlicy, herby oil
which, just like duck confit,
paired excellently with the bitter salad,
and the green beans and tomatoes
were green beans and tomatoes.
But speaking of pairings,
I almost forgot the discerning choice
for rabbit Beaujolais.
This is the same bottle as depicted in the scene,
which is perfectly good,
especially at its price point.
And considering wine had stopped being made
four years prior,
I was only a little disappointed
because in a previous scene,
we saw my man lifting in case of Caymus.
But overall, this is a light, elegant,
romantic little lunch,
especially given the world in which it takes place.
I'm normally not even that big a fan of rabbit
but I decided to induct this guy
into the Clean Plate Club by making it my dinner.
Thanks again to Cash App.
That's money, that's Cash App.
Download Cash App from the App Store
or Google Play Store today
to add your $Cashtag to the 80 million and counting.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)