Rabbit civet "à la normande"

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 6 people, you will need:

• 1 1 carrot
• 2 2 bayleaves
• 3 1 bouquet garni
• 4 1 onion
• 5 1 kg 500 g rabbit meat
• 6 1 litre cider
• 7 30 g olive oil
• 8 2 tablespoons flour
• 9 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon
• 10 300 g mushrooms
• 11 250 ml liquid cream
• 12 2 tablespoons cornflour (optional)
• 13 3 tablespoons water (optional)
• 14 Salt
• 15 Pepper
• Total weight: 3,420 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
12 hours 35 min.	2 hours 30 min.	15 hours 3 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Prepare the marinade Peel 1 carrot and slice into rounds. Prepare and chop 1 onion. Set aside.
2	Have your butcher joint 1 kg 500 g rabbit meat for you.
3	Take a large bowl and add the carrot, onion, 2 bayleaves and 1 bouquet garni. Lay the pieces of rabbit on top, then pour in 1 litre cider.
4	Cover with plastic film and refrigerate overnight.
5	Cook the meat Next day, drain the pices of rabbit and keep the marinade for later.
6	Pour 30 g olive oil into a large casserole or saucepan on high heat. When hot, fry the pieces of meat until browned on all sides.
7	It is much easier to do this in batches.
8	Return all the pieces of rabbit to the pan and turn the heat down a little.
9	Dust the meat with 2 tablespoons flour...
10	...and stir well until evenly fried.
11	Pour the marinade (and all it contains) into the casserole, then salt and pepper.
12	Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to its lowest setting. Cover...
13	...and leave to simmer for about 2 hours. Please note: the cooking should be long and slow, but this can be done in the oven, at 300°F (150°C), just as well as on the hob.
14	Meanwhile, fry 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon in a frying pan with no added fat. Set aside.
15	Peel 300 g mushrooms and cut into chunks.
16	Sauté the mushrooms in the frying pan used for the bacon, using the fat left.
17	After cooking for 2 hours, remove all the pieces of meat from the casserole.
18	Prepare the sauce Strain the liquid from the casserole through a sieve. DIscard everything strained out and keep just the liquid.
19	Pour the cooking liquid back ito the casserole, add 250 ml liquid cream, salt and pepper, then check the seasoning. Bring back to the boil.
20	From here on, there are 2 possible methods: - Either leave the sauce uncovered to thicken on low heat for about 1 hour, - Or use a whisk to incorporate 2 tablespoons cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons water (cold) to thicken the sauce quickly.
21	Finish the civet In both cases, once the sauce has thickened sufficiently, return the pieces of rabbit to the sauce, along with the bacon and mushrooms, until ready to serve.
22	Your rabbit civet à la normande is ready. You can serve this with any accompaniment you like: mashed potato (shown here), pasta, rice, vegetables...

Remarks

For the cider, opt for a dry farmhouse type. You can use a perry instead (made with pears instead of apples), as this will also give a really good flavour.

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