Cambridge’s Origin8 is a fantastic shop and deli, with a wide range of local food including, often, game. On Sunday, they had a couple of local net-caught wild rabbits. They were large, and cheap – £6.50 – and complete with a full set of giblets! I got the rabbit home, and took it out of the packaging: to my surprise, the giblets weren’t randomly thrown in, in a little bag, as with a turkey, but actually belonged to this rabbit, and were still attached! I removed the sizeable liver, kidneys, heart, and other glands, washed and put them in a pan of cold water to slowly come to the boil. I washed any remaining blood from the rabbit itself.
In another pan, I started to fry half a finely chopped onion, and some garlic; when it was browned I set these aside and put the rabbit in to brown on both sides. Then came the long cooking: I returned the onion mix to the pan, along with green peppercorns, a bayleaf, and lots of dried rosemary, along with half a bottle of red wine. When it came to a slow simmer, I put a lid on, and – over the next two hours, I turned the rabbit over a couple of times.
To serve, I thinly ’sliced’ a parsnip and carrot with a potato peeler, and put these on a tray with a little oil and pepper into the oven on high for about 25minutes. I also boiled potatoes, with the skin on, and puréed these with milk and butter. Slices and chunks of the rabbit meat, which had relaxed for about 10 minutes, went on the plate. For sauce, I brought the cooking liquid to a fast boil and whisked in cornflour.
It was delicious, and provided two rather filling portions, with plenty of leftovers: a soup and casserole beckon, I think…