No. 2144

Fillets of Young Rabbits a la Lavoisier

Filets de Lapereaux a la Lavoisier

Raise the fillets and minion fillets from four young rabbits, suppress all the nerves and cut them into bias slices; flatten and shape into half hearts, split them through their thickness to form a pocket and season this with salted spices (No. 168), stuff the cavity with reduced duxelle (No. 385) and cover over with very consistent allemande sauce (No. 407); when cold, dip in eggs and breadcrumbs, then saute in butter, draining this off when done, decorate with fancy favor frills (No. 10) and dress in two rows, trim the sides with cepes sauted a la Provencale (No. 2723) and the ends with oval shaped rabbit croquettes decorated with truffles; a separate half-glaze sauce (No. 413) with Madeira should be served in a tureen.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with a stocked larder, and this entry is really an assembly job: four component recipes have to exist before you begin. Read it as a plan rather than a procedure.

The cross-references are the recipeThe cross-references carry much of the recipe -- Nos. 168, 385, 407 and 413 are salted spices (Ranhofer's mix includes salt, pepper, nutmeg, clove, bay and thyme among other spices), duxelles, allemande sauce and demi-glace. Nos. 2723 and 10 are the mushroom garnish and the paper frills, and the rabbit croquettes are a further component with no number given. Apart from the breading and sautéing, little of the cooking is set out here; make or substitute the components before touching the rabbit.
What you are cuttingThe "fillets" are the two loin strips from the saddle; the "minion fillets" are the small tenderloins beneath them. From four young rabbits you get eight loins and eight tenderloins — a modest amount of meat, better suited to a course than to a main dish.
Splitting to form a pocketA rabbit loin is barely an inch across. Cut on a strong bias, flatten between plastic to about 1/4 inch, then butterfly. Practically, it is easier to pound two slices thin and sandwich the filling between them than to pocket a single one.
The hinge: chill hard before breadingThe allemande coating must be reduced to the point where it sets solid, and the assembled pieces must go cold — an hour in the refrigerator at minimum. Warm sauce leaks through the crumbs into the pan and the whole thing falls apart in the butter.
Allemande sauceA velouté thickened with egg yolks and cream, finished with lemon. "Very consistent" means reduced until a spoon leaves a clean track; it is functioning here as glue, not as a sauce.
Sauté, not deep-fryClarified butter over medium heat, about 3 minutes a side. The rabbit is thin and already carrying cooked stuffing; loin dries out fast and the point is a set crust, not long cooking.
Cèpes à la ProvençalePorcini sautéed in oil with garlic and parsley (Ranhofer gives the method at No. 2723). Dried porcini, soaked and squeezed dry, work; cremini do not give the same perfume but will fill the plate.
Favor frillsOrnamental paper frills (No. 10) used to dress the finished pieces for the dining room. Purely decorative, and easily left off without touching the dish.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its rabbit chapter shows how thoroughly a French kitchen could disguise a cheap animal: the loins are boned, stuffed with mushroom duxelles, glued with an egg-thickened sauce, crumbed, and sent out with truffled croquettes and a Madeira demi-glace. The name is often taken to honor Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the chemist executed during the Terror in 1794, though Ranhofer gives no explanation, and there is no evidence connecting Lavoisier to the dish beyond the compliment. Lapereau means a young rabbit, and the distinction mattered — an older animal is too sinewy for this treatment, which is why the recipe opens by ordering all the nerves suppressed. Dressing rabbit in this manner was how it earned a place on a Delmonico's menu.