The signature restaurant ‘Pure’ is located in the heart of Hout Bay Manor near Cape Town. The restaurant is open to the public as well as guests to the boutique hotel making it a culinary journey of senses, ideal for a decadent dinner or daily lunch.
The restaurant plays host to monthly wine & dine evenings where the executive chef, Philip Arno Botes, creates wonderful dishes that pair excellently with the wines of a chosen wine estate. During April, one of those dishes that he presented was Rabbit with Green Apple, Mint and Guava Gel. Chef Phillip was kind enough to make the recipe available to our readers; it’s quite a bit of work but well worth it in the end!
If you do not trust your culinary skills or do not have the right kitchen tools handy, do not worry! It’s just one more reason to book your table at Pure Restaurant for lunch or dinner!
Ingredients:
- Guava Gel
- 500g Guava Les Vergers Boiron Puree
- 5g Agar powder
- Exotic Salsa
- 30g Pecan nuts
- 1 whole Dragon fruit
- 1 whole granny smith apple
- 15ml Lemon citrus confit oil
- 10g fresh mint
- 5g fresh green basil
- 5g Scallion
- Enoki Flower
- 200g tempura flower
- Salt
- Pepper
- Soda water
- Smoke Rabbit
- 1 whole rabbit – deboned and rolled
- 250g Oak smoking chips
- Smoker
- 1 liter chicken stock
- Lemon Thyme
- Bay leave
- Orange
- Lemon
- Confit Rabbit
- 1 Littre olive oil
- 500g Salted butter
- 2 whole oranges
- 1 whole garlic clove
- Thyme
- 1 whole rabbit
- Foie butter
- 200ml orange juice
- 25ml Whiskey
- Salt
- Pepper
- For Crumb
- Panko/Japanese breadcrumbs
- Egg
- Flour
- Oil to deep-fry
Method
1. Take deboned rabbit and place in smoker
2. Smoke the rabbit on low heat for about 1hour. Remove from heat and place whole unit in fridge for 24 hours to cold smoke
3. Remove rabbit and place in Chicken stock with thyme, bay leave- cut in half- orange and lemon
4. Poached on low heat for 2 hours. Remove and chill
5. After cooled down cut in 1cm cubes and put aside for later
6. In large pan put olive oil, butter, thyme garlic and whole rabbit. Cut oranges in half and squeeze juice into oil. Add orange peels.
7. Cover with foil and cook for 5hours in oven at 75C to confit.
8. After rabbit is cooled down, pick meat form bones. Be careful to remove all small bones from meat.
9. Strain confit oil and use in Salsa mixture
10. Take foie gras and place in bag with whiskey, orange juice a pinch of salt and pepper.
11. Vacuum seal the bag and fridge for 24 hours.
12. After 24hours remove and wash off in cold water. Place back into vacuum bag, seal and poach in water bath for 3min.
13. Take foie gras, smoke rabbit, confit rabbit and combine to for mice mixture.
14. Add to mix, freshly chopped Italian parsley, dices green apple and form into small ball or size you require.
15. Take balls and pane them with panko breadcrumbs
16. Fry until golden brown.
17. Pour guava gel in pot and heat up. Whisk in agar powder as soon as liquid starts to bubble.
18. Remove from heat and pass through find strainer. Chill mixture for 3 hours in fridge.
19. Take semi set mixture and whisk up to smooth semi-gel consistency. Put aside for later use.
20. Take pecans and toast in oven-108C till golden brown and nut oils is released. Roughly chop then and place in bowl.
21. Peel and cut apple and dragon fruit in 1cm squares and add to nuts.
22. Finely chiffonade basil, mint and scallions and add to salsa mixture.
23. Bind salsa with Confit oil from Rabbit- see Rabbit confit
24. Season to taste and put aside for later use
25. Add soda water to tempura flour. Season and put aside.
26. Take enoki mushroom and rinse it. Dust with flour and dip in tempura batter. Fry in oil 160C till golden brown and crispy.
To Assemble
On a round plate use a metal ring to mold salsa. Place golden fried rabbit sphere on top and garnish with enoki flower. Pipe 4 guava gel circles on the plate to finish.
