Best Rabbit And Pork Casserole Recipes

HUNTER'S RABBIT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To a large warmed skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of olive oil. Sprinkle the rabbit with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the rabbit to the hot oil and brown on both sides. Remove the rabbit to a medium-size casserole dish.
• In that same skillet, over medium heat, add more olive oil. Add the mushrooms and shallots and saute for about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the casserole. Sprinkle the flour, thyme, parsley and the bay leaf over the rabbit and stir in the tomato sauce, wine, and the beef broth. You may add a pinch more of salt and pepper if you wish. Cover with foil and put in the oven to bake until the rabbit is tender, stirring every hour, about 2 to 3 hours. Rabbit meat should pull off easily from the bone with a fork. Remove from the oven and serve.

HASENPFEFFER (RABBIT STEW)

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Sprinkle rabbit with salt and coat with 1/3 cup flour, shaking off excess. Brown rabbit in remaining bacon fat. Remove from skillet, along with all but 2 tablespoons of the fat, and reserve.
• Saute shallots and garlic in skillet for about 4 minutes, until tender. Stir in wine, 1 cup water and bouillon. Heat to boiling, then stir in jelly, peppercorns, bay leaf, and rosemary. Return rabbit and bacon to skillet. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer about 1 1/2 hours or until rabbit is tender.
• Remove bay leaf and discard. Place rabbit on a warm platter and keep warm while preparing gravy.
• To Make Gravy: Stir lemon juice into skillet with cooking liquid. Combine 3 tablespoons water with 2 tablespoons flour and mix together; stir mixture into skillet over low heat. Finally, stir in thyme. Pour gravy over stew and serve, or pour into a gravy boat and serve on the side.

RABBIT SAUSAGE

Steps:

• It is best to prepare these sausages at least one day in advance and refrigerate until ready to cook.
• Cut the meat from the rabbit bones and cut away and discard any membranes or fibers. Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. There should be about 1 3/4 pounds of meat. Put the meat into a mixing bowl.
• Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Add the pork to the rabbit meat. Add the remaining ingredients except the cream. Blend well.
• If using a sausage stuffer, put half the mixture into the container of a food processor and blend slightly finer than hamburger meat, gradually adding half the cream. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture and cream and combine the two batches. Blend well with the fingers. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for filling the sausage casings. If using a meat grinder and stuffer, follow the manufacturer's instructions for stuffing the casings. When the filling has been added, pinch off the casings and tie each end. Tie a piece of string at 5- or 6-inch intervals. There should be 11 or 12 sausages. Wrap the sausages in clear plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• When ready to cook, cut off as many lengths as desired. Prick each sausage all over, forming pin-sized holes. Grill or broil the sausages, turning as necessary, about 15 minutes or until done. Or preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the sausages in a skillet and add 1/8 inch water. Bring the water to a boil and place the skillet in the oven. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the sausages are done.

LAPIN A LA BOURGUIGNONNE (RABBIT WITH RED-WINE SAUCE)

Steps:

• Sprinkle the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper.
• Put the salt-pork cubes in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer about one minute. Drain thoroughly.
• Heat the butter in a large, heavy casserole and add the salt-pork pieces. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about three minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, about two minutes.
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, about two minutes. Transfer the onions, mushrooms and salt-pork pieces to a bowl and set aside.
• To the fat remaining in the casserole, add the rabbit pieces in one layer and cook, turning the pieces as necessary, until lightly browned all over, about five minutes. Scatter the mushrooms, onions and salt pork over the rabbit pieces and stir to blend.
• Cook about five minutes and sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper. Add the wine and cloves.
• Tie the parsley, thyme and bay leaf into a bundle and add it. Bring to the boil, cover closely and cook over very low heat about one hour. Remove and discard the herb bunch. Uncover and cook about three minutes to reduce the sauce.

RABBIT & PORK TERRINE WITH PEPPERCORNS

Steps:

• Ask your butcher to remove the meat from the rabbit, or do it yourself. The leg meat can be as roughly prepped as you like, but keep the loins as neat as you can.
• Put the leg meat, trimmings and pork belly in a processor, finely chop, then tip into a large bowl. Melt the butter and cook the garlic, shallots and thyme together gently for 8 mins or until the shallots are soft but not coloured. Tip onto the minced meat, add the allspice, peppercorns and 3 tbsp brandy, then mix well. Leave to mingle for 1 hr, or longer if you like, in the fridge.
• Add the oil to the pan and quickly brown the loins; you don't need to cook them through. If you fancy, add 1 tbsp brandy to the pan and flambé them to finish. Set aside on a plate and tip any pan juices into the minced mixture.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Remove the garlic from the mince and season generously. It's a good idea to fry a small ball of the mixture, let it cool, then taste to check the seasoning. Line a 900g loaf tin with a strip of foil. Stretch each piece of bacon a little with your knife. Arrange the rashers so that the base of the tin is covered with overlapping bacon and the rashers come neatly up the sides in a single layer and overhang generously. Boil a kettleful of water.
• Press a third of the mince into the tin. Make a lengthways channel along one side, then poke in a line of loin pieces, so that they meet end-to-end. Scatter half the cornichons over the other side. Add the next third of mince and repeat, this time with the loins and cornichons on the opposite sides. Cover with the remaining mince, then bring the bacon over to seal. Wrap tightly in foil and put in a deep roasting tin. Pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the terrine and bake for 2 hrs or until a skewer comes out hot from the middle of the terrine, and the juices run clear. Top up the water if needed.
• To press the terrine, sit the loaf tin on a rack in a roasting tin. Tear some cardboard to fit the top of the loaf tin as neatly as you can (we used egg box lids). Add a few layers and sit something extremely heavy on top to press the cardboard and terrine down (we used a cast-iron dish). Cool to room temperature, then chill completely, ideally overnight. Remove the weight and re-wrap the terrine in clean foil or cling film. Ideally, let it mature for 2 days in the fridge before eating. Serve with the pickle salad, below, and remaining cornichons.

RABBIT CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Season rabbit bones with mirepoix base, and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish or similar. Roast for 30 minutes, or until browned and fragrant.
• Remove rabbit bones to a saucepan, and add enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by half to provide a stock for the recipe. This will take up to 30 minutes depending on the size of your pan.
• Mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Coat rabbit pieces with the seasoned flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the dish used to bake the rabbit bones. Cook rabbit pieces over medium-high heat, or in the oven, just until evenly browned on the outside.
• Remove rabbit pieces, and add the carrots, onion, leek, turnip and potatoes. Add bacon, and if necessary, a little more oil. Place the rabbit pieces over the vegetables. Mix together your homemade rabbit stock and tomato puree; pour into the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil or a lid. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake the rabbit casserole for about 1 hour, or until rabbit is cooked through. Adjust the seasonings to taste. If you wish to use the chocolate, mix it in at this time.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Trim the crusts from the bread slices, and slice in half diagonally or into cubes. Fry bread in oil until lightly browned.
• Serve casserole in the pan, topped with fried bread (or croutons) and sprinkled with chopped parsley.