Thread: Is my hare/rabbit okay to eat?

I still love the basic - button mushrooms, baby onions, cubed bacon, hare/rabbit/possum jointed like some KFC, and a bottle of red wine, recipe.

My version:

Rabbit/Hare/Possum

Ingredients

a Rabbit/Hare/Possum, jointed (like KFC sized pieces)
500g bacon cubed 1~2cm (more or less, brown a little in a pan for extra yum, keep the fat and add it too)
2 tbsp olive oil
10~15 button mushrooms, (dirt brushed off with a tea towel)
10 small onions peeled (size of a walnut)
5 garlic cloves, peeled and whacked with the flat of a cook's knife (still whole but damaged)
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or other)
1 bottle red wine (remember if you wont drink it, don't cook with it)
150 g butter
salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley for garnish at end.
A fresh baguette, to serve

Instructions

Place Rabbit/Hare/Possum, generous pinches of salt and pepper, olive oil, onion, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, thyme and wine, in a large mixing bowl. Cover and marinate for an hour or two, or refrigerate overnight.

Remove Rabbit/Hare/Possum from marinade and set aside.

Pour marinade into a casserole or heavy pot over high heat. Bring to the boil and cook (at a rolling boil) for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat, add the rabbit, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until cooked. Add mushrooms and bacon (fat too if you kept it), simmer for 20 more minutes

Remove and hold the solid ingredients.

Increase heat to high and cook liquid for 10 minutes or so, until reduced by half. Add the butter, whisking it in, until it is combined and shiny. Add the solid ingredients back and cook slowly for 2 minutes.

Place big portions on serving plates. Pour over some of the sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve with baguette.

Note

* with any game, the best eating is young, but not too small, do not use the largest, oldest, smelliest, one, for this dish.

*as some suggest: steeping the cut pieces of Rabbit/Hare/Possum in butter milk or salted water, overnight in cool place will help de-stink the meat.