Saturday, February 04, 2006

Bunny Bourguignon

AAAhhh man this was glorious. As Trisha once said "The good thing about bunnies is, they're cute and soft and you can pet them... and they taste good too!"

Better than chicken any day.

This recipe was dead easy as well. If you like, you may marinate the bunny overnight using the wine & herbs. However, I've found that marinating is more necessary with chicken or beef; rabbit tends to absorb the flavors of the broth nicely while braising.

For this recipe, I meant to use only bay leaf and thyme. However, when I sent Trisha out to the garden for fresh herbs, she brought in small sprigs of rosemary, mint, and corriander before finally finding the thyme. Instead of wasting it, I threw them in as well.

I used criminy mushrooms. Firm wild mushrooms such as chanterelle, black trumpet, morel, or porcini would also do well in this dish.

Madness:
  • 1 Fryer rabbit, cut up
  • Smoked streaky bacon, chopped
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • A good bordeaux
  • Broth (I used beef)
  • Fresh herbs: thyme, bay leaf

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 500f degrees.
Fry bacon in large dutch oven. Remove when crispy, leaving grease in pan.
Dredge bunny in flour. Brown on all sides. Add S&P to taste. Remove when nicely browned.
Add diced onion and saute until clear. Add mushrooms and saute until they begin to release their water. Immediately deglaze pan with wine; add broth and bring to simmering boil.
Return bacon to pan and stir. Add rabbit pieces, coating with sauce as you add.
Cover and place in oven. Reduce heat to 350f degrees.
Cook for about an hour, checking the volume of liquid occassionally. Add more broth as necessary to nearly but not completely cover rabbit.

I served this with lightly fried new potatoes (just enough to impart a crisp golden brown crust), and buttered broccolini. You could probably serve it over noodles as well.


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