In South Louisiana, sauce piquante is a smothered rice dish featuring a tangy, spicy sauce. This traditional Cajun dish boasts a tomato base infused with Cajun spices, including paprika, cayenne, thyme, and oregano, creating a rich flavor profile. The sauce’s “piquant” quality comes from additions like hot sauce, vinegar, and garlic, delivering a zesty kick. Versatile as it is bold, Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois’ Rabbit Sauce Piquante is perfect with nearly any protein (including seafood)!
Rabbit Sauce Piquante
Author: Jean-Paul Bourgeois
Makes about 10 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 rabbits*
- 3 quarts chicken stock
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large yellow onions, diced small
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green bell peppers, diced small (about 2 cups)
- 3 stalks celery, diced small (about 2 cups)
- 3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 dried bay leaves
- Salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, and hot
- sauce, to taste
- Juice of 4 lemons, divided
- 12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
- 1 (7.3-ounce) jar cocktail onions, drained (about 1 cup)
- 1 (6-ounce) jar pitted black olives, drained
- 1 cup sliced green onion (white parts only)
- Hot cooked white rice, to serve
- Garnish: sliced green onion (green parts only)
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, add rabbits, and cover with chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove rabbit from stock, and pick meat from bones (should yield about 3 cups). Strain stock, and keep stock hot.
- In a large Dutch oven, add oil, and heat over high heat. Once oil begins to shimmer, reduce heat to low. Add flour, and stir with a flat-bladed wooden spoon until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until a milk chocolate-colored roux forms. Be careful not to let it burn. If you see black specks, start over.
- Add yellow onion and garlic to roux, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add bell pepper, celery, and jalapeños, and cook, stirring often, until peppers are softened, about 15 minutes.
- Add tomato paste to onion mixture, and stir in; cook for about 5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes and wine, stirring until combined. Add 2 quarts rabbit cooking liquid, 1 ladleful at a time, while stirring. Keep any additional stock on hand in case you want to thin the broth later. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add bay leaves, and season slightly with salt, black pepper, cayenne, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, and juice of 2 lemons. Let simmer over low heat, uncovered,
- for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Add reserved rabbit meat, eggs, cocktail onions, and olives to mixture, and gently stir until combined. If mixture looks too thick, add a little broth. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Stir white parts of green onion and juice of remaining 2 lemons into mixture. Season to taste. Serve over rice, and garnish with green parts of green onion, if desired.
Notes
*Three cups of shredded meat may be substituted. Chicken, pork, fish, or alligator are all good options.
Watch this dish come together on our YouTube channel where a new episode of “Louisiana Cookin’ with Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois” is uploaded every Thursday!
