Not your “Oma’s” Hasenpfeffer
I do see a fair amount of rabbits and hares while hunting upland birds. I’m sure that I am not the only one, but I have heard voices every so often of people not willing to eat hare or rabbit due to many reasons. Often people complain about them being dry or even tough.
Coming from Germany, Hares are a delicacy and usually prepared in a slow cooked kind of dish that’s both rich and often savory with a touch of sweetness. I decided to take my own spin on one of those dishes and show how amazing rabbit meat can be if you cook it right (like everything else).
The Hunt:
When shooter and I went out this thanksgiving to find a rooster, or mainly to walk off the excess food, we came home with a healthy and well-fed cottontail rabbit. We walked a small WPA juts about 15 minutes from where I live. Usually not much action in areas like that since it is very close to the city. Nevertheless, I was not out there to shoot a limit anyways. We actually did get on a rooster, but it flushed in the private land part of the cattails after we chased that guy down for like 10 minutes. Can’t always win. On the way back out I took a small break to take a sip of water and to catch my breath from plowing through the cattails when a cottontail exploded out of the grass in front of me. Shooter didn’t even notice it taking off and I shot it within 30 yards. This is how it often happens. I take a break, or a shooter gets some water, and a rabbit or even sometimes a Rooster flushes not far from us. I think it’s the extra pressure they feel. Another reason to slow things down I guess. Makes you wonder how many birds and other quitters you walk by in a season.
The Cook:
This is not a quick Wednesday night dinner recipe. That doesn’t mean it’s difficult, or you couldn’t make it on a Wednesday, but it will take some work and has some idle time. Break down your rabbit or hare. Hank Shaw has a great post about how to right here.
After that it’s time to marinate the pieces. I do that with some fresh herbs, onions and booze. In particular a blend of red wine port and cognac.
After 5-6 hours your bunny is ready for some heat. Fry up the onions and carrots with fresh herbs in bacon fat, brown the meat and deglaze the pot with red wine. A whole bottle that is! Don’t use the best bottle of wine for this please. Any dry red wine will do here. Same goes for the cognac and port. I like to drink good stuff and that’s why I usually have some quality bottles around, but you can also use that cheap bottle of brandy your aunt left at your house after last year’s family Christmas, and have the same tasty result.
Now, that goodness goes into an oven for about 1 hour and what comes out is rabbit meat that is tender and ready to fall off the bone. Finish the sauce by running it through a blender, adding salt and pepper to taste and another shot or two of cognac and port. At last, I add 25grams of dark chocolate and some cream to it to really give it that shine and that richness is deserves. Done.
Hasenpfeffer
Ingredients
- 1 cottontail rabbit or hare
- 1 large white onion
- 2-3 sprigs of rosemary
- 2-3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bottle of dry red wine
- 10cl cognac
- 10cl port wine
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 10 juniper berries crushed
- 1tbs oil
- 2 Strips of bacon
- 2 large carrots diced
- 1tbs of flour
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 bay leave
- 1tsp corn starch
- 25g dark chocolate (70% min.)
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Salt and pepper the rabbit pieces well, put into shallow baking dish and mix in rosemary and thyme. Slice 1/2 onion into thin slices and cover the meat. Mix 1 cup of red wine, 5cl (one shot) of cognac and 5cl of port and pour it over the meat. Cover and let rest in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
- Take rabbit out of the fridge.
- Heat oil in an oven safe pot and add bacon till fat is released. Take out the bacon and put aside. Brown all the rabbit pieces. You might have to do this in stages. Take them out and put them aside. Add the other 1/2 of the onion and the diced carrots and brown. Sprinkle with flour and brown for 3 more minutes. Deglaze with the rest of red wine. Add crushed garlic, bay leave, juniper berries, thyme, rosemary peppercorns, rabbit and bacon.
- Cover pot and roast in the oven for about an hour or till the meat is tender.
- Take meat and bay leaves out of the sauce and set aside. Pour sauce in blender and blend till smooth (be careful with the hot sauce).
- Pour through fine mesh strainer. Heat sauce back up and add cornstarch mixed with a little water to thicken. Add molten chocolate and cream and finish with a little port wine and cognac.
- Serve with egg noodles, Potatoes or spaetzle.
