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Rabbit, Quenelles of

A French-style dish of rabbit meat quenelles simmered in boiling water, served with white or mushroom sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Rabbit, Quenelles of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rabbit and panada

  1. Remove the meat from the rabbit, discarding skin and sinew.

  2. Scrape, pound, and sieve the meat.

  3. Soak the crumb of the French rolls in lukewarm water until soft, then squeeze dry in a cloth.

Make the mushroom base

  1. Combine chopped mushrooms, butter, lemon rind, minced shallot, thyme, parsley, pepper, and salt in a saucepan.

  2. Steam gently for 3-4 minutes.

  3. Mix the soaked bread with the mushroom mixture and stir over heat until it forms a smooth paste.

Make and poach the quenelles

  1. Combine 6 ounces of pounded rabbit, 3 ounces of butter, and 4 ounces of panada in a mortar.

  2. Pound thoroughly for several minutes.

  3. Add 1 tablespoon of white sauce, 2 whole eggs, and 1 egg yolk.

  4. Rub the mixture through a sieve and taste for seasoning.

  5. Chill the mixture in a cool place.

  6. Form quenelles as directed.

  7. Drop the quenelles into boiling water and poach for about 10 minutes until set.

  8. Serve hot with white sauce or mushroom sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Provides the main lean meat that forms the body of the quenelles.
French rolls
Soaked crumb becomes a panada that adds moisture and a tender texture.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that keeps the quenelle mixture soft and moist.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set during poaching to hold the quenelles together.
Mushrooms
Add moisture and earthy flavour to the mushroom base.

The step that matters

Poach in gently boiling water until set. Egg proteins set with heat, so water that is too vigorous can break the quenelles apart, while under-cooking leaves them soft and loose.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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