Rabbit stifado

Since my childhood,  wild hare roaming the Cretan landscape was considered a very special delicacy by my family and all I knew.  The same applies today and I jump with joy when I go to Crete and someone I know tells me that they have a hare in their freezer waiting for my visit for it to be cooked and enjoyed.  I don’t know about other parts of the world but in Crete, hare means stifado!  And, in the absence of hare,  rabbit is the  next best thing.  I am so lucky that Cumbria is full of wild rabbits so I can enjoy this dish I grew up with!

My mum always cooked it the way her mum made it (with added chopped onion too) but understanding that game flavours benefit from acidity and sweetness, I play a little every time adding smokey whisky, balsamico, date molasses or in this case just simple red wine vinegar as my mum used to but also grape molasses for the depth of flavour and sweetness.

Ingredients (serves 4-6 depending on size of rabbit)

• 1 rabbit, butchered
• 800g -1Kg small onions
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 150ml dry red wine
• 3-4 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2-3 tbsp grape molasses
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 peppercorns
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tbsp chicken or vegetable bouillon

Method

Wash the rabbit pieces and pat dry.  Season with sea salt and  freshly ground black pepper.

Bring a large pan to a medium to high heat.  Add half the oil and when the oil starts to smoke, add the pieces of rabbit and brown all over.  There must be space around the rabbit so that it caramelises quickly instead of releasing its valuable juices.  Transferred the browned rabbit onto a dish.

Next, brown the little onions, adding a little more oil if necessary.  Transfer these to a dish too.

Add any remaining oil to the saucepan and add the finely chopped onion and garlic.  Lower the heat and sweat until translucent.   Add the tomato paste, star anise, pepper corns, cinnamon stick and ground cumin and stir to cook the past and release the spice aromas.   Return the meat and onions to the pan, increase the heat back up again and add the wine and vinegar.  Let most of that evaporate.  Add the chopped tomatoes, bouillon, thyme, rosemary, grape molasses and 1 litre of water.  Bring the pan to the boil, lower the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as well as acidity and sweetness  to your liking.  Cook for a further 20-30 minutes by which time the sauce should have naturally thickened and the rabbit fall off the bone.

If the sauce needs a little more thickening,   although you will need some to dip your crusty bread in,  uncover the pot and increase the heat for some of the liquid to evaporate and the sauce to thicken.

My mum always served stifado with chips but you can serve it with roast potatoes, crushed young potatoes or just warm crusty sourdough.  Discard the bay leaves, cinnamon and star anise and enjoy!