Potted Rabbit
By Dave · Dinners · 6th August 2010 This is a fantastic way of eating rabbit and makes an impressive starter. Serve with toast, pea shoots, pear chutney and maybe some black pudding.
Ingredients
- 1 rabbit
- 8 slices streaky bacon
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 250ml dry sherry
- Bunch of thyme, rosemary, oregano, marjoram (whatever you have)
- 5 cloves
- 6 allspice berries or ground allspice
- Lemon juice
- Mace
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper
- Clarified butter
Method
- Prepare and joint rabbit; if not already done
- Place 4 slices of bacon in the base of a heavy-bottomed pan
- Arrange rabbit pieces on top
- Sprinkle over roughly chopped vegetables and herbs
- Add cloves, allspice and final 4 slices of bacon
- Pour over sherry and top up with water to just reach the top of the vegetables
- Simmer for around 90 minutes (gently) or until the rabbit flesh seperates easily from bones
- Strain the stock and reserve, discard vegetables and leave meat to cool
- Carefully remove flesh from bones and shred finely into a bowl
- Grind up bacon using pestle and mortar into fine paste; add to meat
- Add lemon juice, mace, cayenne pepper; stir well
- Add a few tablespoons of the stock plus a few of clarified butter; repeat until desired consistency achieved
- Keep tasting it at this point, adding seasoning and more lemon juice, mace and cayenne if required
- Press into pots and pour over a little clarified butter to form a seal
- Chill in fridge
- Serve with toast and extras!
Notes
You can make clarified butter by slowly melting unsalted butter in a pan. Skim the surface to remove any white solids. The rest of the milk solids should sink to the bottom. At this stage, simply pour off the clarified butter (top layer).