Fergus Henderson's Recipes for Braised Rabbit and Beet Salad

Today's recipes are in a pleasant seasonal purgatory, but are mostly about summer, even though they're made with ingredients that don't guilt when purchased during the coldest months. This makes them ideal to have in your arsenal when the weather turns. They're a celebration of deconstruction — not in the nouvelle cuisine sense, where perfectly sensible things are taken apart in a series of blobs, whooshes, and spins (such plates speak of food that's been inhaled a bit too much). The intervention of knife and fork is unavoidable, so we should rejoice in the mess process; there's a positivity to a method in which deconstruction is the final act of construction - swirling together heaps of capers, beets, creme fraiche and leaves, or plucking flesh from rabbit bones for leftover joy . These dishes benefit from input from St John's Executive Chef, Jonathan Woolway, and both have the kind of understated elegance you'd expect at our newest venture, St John Marylebone, which opens later this month.

Braised rabbit, mustard and bacon

The leftovers can be removed from the bone and served the next day with tagliatelle and a touch of chopped tarragon.

Preparation 10 minCooking 2 hr 20 minFor 6 or 4 rabbit enthusiasts

1 tbsp duck fat or lard Sea salt and black pepper2 wild rabbits (about 600g each), both articulated in 2 shoulders, 2 thighs and 2 saddle sections (breeding rabbits make a good substitute if you don't have a shotgun or a trusted supplier ) 1 kg smoked bacon, cut into large pieces 18 shallots, peeled 12 garlic cloves, peeled 3 bay leaves 1 bunch of sage, leaves picked and chopped s coarsely 500ml dry cider Chicken stock – you will need this to fill your baking dish 2 healthy tablespoons dijon mustard 4 curing tablespoons crème fraîche

Heat it oven at 180C (ventilation 160C)/350F/gas 4. Put the fat in a frying pan over medium heat, season the rabbit, then brown everything, in several batches if necessary. Transfer the pan-fried rabbit to an oven-proof dish deep enough and large enough to accommodate everything later.

In the same pan, brown the bacon bits, then add the whole shallots peeled and the garlic, let them soften without colouring, then introduce the bay leaves and the sage into the pan. Nestle everything around the rabbit in the baking dish.

Place the baking dish on the baking sheet, bring everything to a sizzle, then add the cider and reduce by half. Add enough broth just to cover the rabbit, being careful not to flood the nest.

Whisk the mustard and crème fraîche in a small bowl. Using a little braising liquid, loosen the mustard mixture, then stir everything into the braise. Cover with foil and roast for about two hours, or until tender and tender.

Beets, red onion, red cabbage, crème fraîche and chervil