I'm a bit ashamed to say it, but I absolutely hate Halloween. It has never been something that excited me, which may be the result of how downright terrible I am at putting together a costume. And there is nothing in the world that is more annoying than people repeatedly telling you how lame you are for not dressing up. Gross!

So instead of subjecting myself to such things, this year I had a quiet dinner with my dear friend Rostom, who made the most exquisite dessert I've tasted in years: Isle Flottante (Floating Islands). It's ridiculously simple, and basically involves a cooked meringue floating atop a pool of crème anglaise -- a mixture of sugar, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla. (The Barefoot Contessa has a recipe here that looks promising, but is different from Rostom's). Here's a (not so great iPhone) photo of the finished product:

And that was just the beginning. Sunday night, Maxime and I hatched our long-standing plan to cook Lapin a la Moutarde (Rabbit with Mustard Sauce). I've never tasted rabbit, nor have I ever cooked it, so this was a challenge. The recipe we followed was quite extensive, calling for the preparation of our own rabbit-vegetable-herb stock that would be used as a bubbling bathe of deliciousness for cooking the rabbit meat. We picked up some delicious Maille French Mustard (half "grainy" old-style Dijon, half finely ground traditional Dijon) that the meat marinated in for a few hours. The biggest challenge for me was to actually cut up the rabbit we got from the butcher downtown. That's right, they come whole and you have to butcher them yourself. I've never done this, but after having gone through this learning process, I think I can safely say it helps you to appreciate what you're eating. Here's a shot of me slicing up the second rabbit, with the first pieces already done (thumbnail so as to not scare you too much, click to embiggen):

It's actually not so difficult, once you get the hang of it. Kitchen shears help A LOT. I found these step-by-step directions very helpful. Here's Maxime, wearing his most appropriate shirt, covering the rabbit meat in mustard for marination and cooking:

I HIGHLY recommend trying this recipe out, if you've got some time on your hands. The stock takes quite a while to make (4-5 hours when done right -- we condensed the time down to 2.5 hours) and you should let the rabbit marinate for a few hours in the mustard. I have to say, though, it was a lot of fun and the rabbit was AMAZING and so effing delicious. If you can get your hands on some, do so!