Wild braised bunny legs

Serves 2 We thought we would be a little cheeky when coming up with our Easter-themed recipes for this issue and share with you a delicious rabbit recipe. We can assure you it is not the Easter variety, though. Rabbit meat is lean with a subtle flavour and full of proteins. It is now more readily available at good butchers and supermarkets. We are using wild rabbit (as opposed to farmed) for this recipe, which can sometimes take a little longer to cook. This does take a little bit of time, so allow two hours for prep and cooking time. This is a French-inspired dish that celebrates the gorgeous flavours of rabbit—the perfect Easter addition to your menu.

Ingredients

• 4 wild rabbit legs (we used Wild Game Meats)
• 50g butter (we used Whitestone Manuka smoked)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 8 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup white wine
• 200ml chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp thyme leaves
• 200ml cream
• Your favourite herb, to garnish (we’ve used micro mustard, but Italian parsley also works a treat)

Method

1. In a large pan, melt butter, and then brown rabbit legs on both sides until golden.
2. Remove rabbit and set aside.
3. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and sauté for two minutes or until onions are soft.
4. Add mushrooms, then turn heat to high and add wine.
5. Simmer for two minutes, and then add chicken stock, mustard, and thyme.
6. Cover and simmer on a low heat for an hour-and-a-half or until the meat almost falls of the bone.
7. Remove the legs from sauce, turn heat to high, and reduce sauce by half.
8. Turn down heat, stir in cream, season with salt and pepper, and return rabbit legs to the pan.
9. Spoon sauce over legs and divide between plates.
10. Garnish with your favourite herb.

This dish is great served with crusty bread or on parmesan polenta.