Hasenpfeffer - Rabbit Stew

I've been a little slack with blogging lately, partly out of laziness but also partly because I've been away in Quebec, Canada. It was just a short trip, but due to the millions of hours (well it felt like it!) spent travelling it feels like I've been away for ages. It also feels like I've also been hit by a bus, gotta love jet-lag. Anyway, I had a fantastic time, especially discovering new foods.

Site-seeing is all well and good, but one of my favourite things to do when travelling is to eat the local cuisine or try the foods I can't find back home. Some of the food highlights of my trip were eating escargot and horse meat. But other things I tried included things like elk meat, bison,  sugar pie, smoked meat sandwiches and of course...poutine. This love of trying new foods is something I also love to do in my home country of New Zealand, so when I spotted rabbit meat at my local supermarket (something I have never cooked with) I thought I'd give it a whirl. I love the taste of rabbit, it's like chicken but actually tasty. I used this recipe as it was similar to how my grandad would cook it; marinated in wine and vinegar for a few days to keep the meat nice and tender. It's really yummy served with egg noodles and rye bread. Btw rabbits are a huge pest in NZ, especially in the South Island, so I feel less guilty about eating these wee little dudes.

Ingredients:

2 rabbits, skinned and gutted and chopped (if in doubt, Google how to do this, it's not so scary)

Marinade:
2 cups red wine
1 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
10 whole black peppercorns

1/2 cup plain flour
6 slices bacon, cut up
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
1 onion, chopped
1-3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Method:
Combine the marinade ingredients, add rabbit, refrigerate for 2-3 days, turning the rabbit pieces daily.
Remove rabbit pieces from marinade, pat dry and set aside.
Strain the marinade and reserve 1 and a half cups of it, discard the herbs and excess marinade.
Toss the rabbit pieces in the flour.
In a dutch oven/casserole dish, cook the bacon until it starts to crisp. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook until onion softens. Remove vegetables, set aside.
Add a tablespoon of butter to pan. Add rabbit, brown on all sides, adding more butter if needed.
Return vegetables to pan. Add salt and reserved marinade. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender (just over an hour)
Mix in sour cream, cook until heated through (do not boil).

Serves 4 - 6

Recipe adapted from 'The Complete Hunter' - Dressing And Cooking Wild Game