Thread: Rabbit- Ive had enough.

Originally Posted by Hutch

This is our favourite, a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe

Lapin moutarde à la crème
A fantastic way to enjoy rabbit. Serves six.
1 tbsp olive oil
250g piece salt pork, pancetta or bacon, cut into chunky cubes
2 wild rabbits, skinned and jointed
1 large onion, peeled and thickly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme (optional)
500ml dry or medium-dry cider
1 generous tsp honey
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml double cream
3 tbsp grainy mustard
Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Gently fry the bacon until lightly browned, then transfer to a large casserole. Brown the rabbit in the same pan in batches, transferring to the casserole as they are done. Sweat the onion in the same pan until soft and translucent, but not coloured, and add to the casserole.
Add the carrots, celery, bay leaves and thyme (if using) to the pot. Push everything around so it's fairly tightly packed, then add the cider; top up with water, if necessary, to cover the meat, then add the honey and season. Bring to a simmer and cook at a very low, tremulous simmer for an hour and a quarter, until the meat is tender but not too flaky (older, tougher animals will take longer).
Transfer the rabbit pieces to a bowl, cover and keep warm while you make the sauce. Strain the stock – I do this first through a colander, then through muslin or a cotton cloth, to get it beautifully clear. In a clean pan, boil the strained stock hard until reduced to a scant 200ml, then whisk in the cream and mustard, and boil for a few minutes more, until thick and glossy. Taste, and adjust with salt, pepper and more mustard. Reheat the rabbit in the sauce, turning to coat the pieces. Serve with mashed potato and any spare sauce spooned over.

That seems like a great recipe. Just thinking that the cream could be replaced with unsweetened yogurt to prevent a coronary.
What many people don't realise is that meat can dry out even when completely immersed in a cooking liquid. This is because the water in the heat concentrating meat evaporates into the cooking liquid. If the cooking liquid has a boil temp higher than water then of course the water in the meat can boil out leaving the meat really dry. This is why a pressure cooker and oven bags work so well - they maintain 'positive pressure' which holds that moisture in the meat. So as (Rabbit) @Hutch says 'bring to a simmer and cook at very low etc' DO NOT BRING TO A BLOODY BOIL AND TURN DOWN - WE ARE NOT COOKING A POT OF SPUDS.