Rabbit and Crawfish Stargazy Pie

Name: Rabbit and Crawfish Stargazy Pie
Total time: PT0D0H0M
Yield: serves 4-6
Ingredients: 3 oz. beef suet (from your butcher), chilled and coarsely grated; 1 1 ⁄ 2 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting; 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, frozen and coarsely grated; 1 tsp. kosher salt; 2 eggs, 1 whole, 1 lightly beaten; 1 ⁄ 3 cup ice-cold water; 1 ⁄ 4 cup canola oil; 2 (2 1/2-lb.) rabbits, cut into 8 pieces each; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 4 tbsp. unsalted butter; 1 small yellow onion, minced; 3 ⁄ 4 cup flour; 4 cups chicken stock; 1 ⁄ 3 cup dry hard apple cider; 12 oz. fresh or frozen crawfish meat, plus 7 whole head-on crawfish; 1 ⁄ 4 cup heavy cream; 1 tbsp. minced parsley

Serves
serves 4-6

BILL PHELPS

In this whimsically constructed pie from restaurateur and cookbook author Mark Hix, rabbit and sweet crawfish form a thick, creamy, cider-rich sauce under a biscuitlike beef suet crust.

Ingredients

For the Pastry

3 oz. beef suet (from your butcher), chilled and coarsely grated
1 ¹⁄₂ cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, frozen and coarsely grated
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs, 1 whole, 1 lightly beaten
¹⁄₃ cup ice-cold water

For the Filling

¹⁄₄ cup canola oil
2 (2 1/2-lb.) rabbits, cut into 8 pieces each
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, minced
³⁄₄ cup flour
4 cups chicken stock
¹⁄₃ cup dry hard apple cider
12 oz. fresh or frozen crawfish meat, plus 7 whole head-on crawfish
¹⁄₄ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. minced parsley

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Instructions

Step 1

Make the pastry: Pulse suet, flour, butter, salt, and whole egg in a food processor into pea-sized crumbles. Add water; pulse until pastry forms. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; chill until ready to use.

Step 2

Make the filling: Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 6-qt. Dutch oven over high. Season rabbit with salt and pepper; working in batches, cook until browned, 12–15 minutes, and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining oil, the butter, and onion to pan; cook until onion is soft, 4–6 minutes. Sprinkle in flour; cook 2 minutes. Whisk in stock and cider; boil. Reduce heat to medium and return rabbit to pan; cook, slightly covered, until tender, about 1 hour. Transfer rabbit to a bowl, and let cool; shred meat, discarding bones. Stir rabbit, the crawfish meat, cream, parsley, salt, and pepper into sauce.

Step 3

Assemble and bake the pie: Heat oven to 400°. Pour filling into a 9" pie plate. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into an 11" circle, about 1⁄6" thick. Brush the edges of pie plate with remaining beaten egg and lay pastry over top; crimp edges to seal. Cut seven 1" holes in the pastry about 1″ from the edges; insert whole crawfish, tails first, leaving heads and claws poking out. Brush top of pastry with egg; bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.