hare stock

This may be old hat to some of you, but I usually toss my hare carcases after removing the back straps and legs. I thought I would have a go at making a soup stock. I split the ribs and coated it in some oil then grill/roasted it. Then slow cooked in water for a couple of hours. After sieving I made a delicious veggie soup (well almost veggie, I added one left over sausage from the fridge). It was very nice and I was a bit surprised there was not really any game/hare taste.

When I was a kid in England, my grandma used to make a venison (fallow), rabbit & hare stock for use in her version of the old game bird “boil up”. She’d roast the rabbit & hare frames and fallow ribs, then boil them up with hand tied bouquets of dried herbs. After straining, she’d add broth to aged pheasant breasts and legs, with spinach, watercress, spuds fresh from the plot, whatever else she could lay her hands on from the garden. Thinking back, a favourite trick would be to add some rhubarb.

I used to love that meal. Not at all gamey or pungent. Somewhere in the old heirlooms I’ve got a handwritten “recipe” my Grandma wrote up with all the various bits and pieces you could add. She had a greenhouse herb garden of galactic fame, herbs from literally all over the world.