Lekker!

Dutchess' Italian Style Rabbit Stew

Friday, December 22, 2006

Last Friday, my husband won 4 legs of rabbit and 2 bottles of wine at a card game my father in law took him along to.

Don't ask. Just know that everything was above the board and no police were present.

"Make a rabbit stew," he urged while I was examining the spoils.

Yes, and why don't I spin some gold fabric while I'm at it. I've never done such a stew before and I was somewhat daunted. Especially since I had a predecessor to live up to. In a form of this swank fusion restaurant we normally frequent. On our last visit, my dear husband had their rabbit stew and he was smitten with it, gravy and all.

So, being the dutiful wife, I search the internet for a recipe which bear some semblence to the ingredients used by the restaurant. I managed to find one and went about it. Along the way, I readjusted, changed and tweaked the proportions and method so much so it looks nothing like the original recipe. I guess I can call this version mine.

Here is the recipe:

Dutchess' Italian Style Rabbit Stew

What you need:

4 leg of rabbit
3 medium sized carrots, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste ( I use sea salt)
1 tsp allspice
3 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
1 can of peeled tomatoes
400 ml of tomato paste
1 cup water
vegetable stock
olive oil

How to:

1. Place rabbit in a large bowl. Add in rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, allspice, bay leaves and red wine. Mix well and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Every now and then, give the mixture a stir.

2. Remove rabbit from marinade. Set marinade aside for later use.

3. Using a heavy bottom pot, brown rabbit in olive oil. Add in carrots, celery, onions, parsley, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, vegetable stock and marinade. Give the whole lot a stir and let simmer for the next 2 hours or until gravy thickens and rabbit is tender. Stir regularly to prevent burning.

4. Serve hot with bread. I had ciabatta on the table that evening.

Note: This stew is even better overnight, when all the flavours have had a chance to really meld together. As a variation, I added some pasta to the sauce and that was delicious too. Well, the truth was, I ran out of bread so we had to make do with pasta but let's just keep it to ourselves, okay?

Labels: one dish meals, she cooks