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Rabbit civet "à la normande"

Name: Rabbit civet "à la normande"
Prep time: 12 h 33 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 15 h 3 min
Yield: 6 people
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 carrot; 2 bayleaves; 1 bouquet garni; 1 onion; 1 kg 500 g rabbit meat; 1 litre cider; 30 g olive oil; 2 tablespoons flour; 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon; 300 g mushrooms; 250 ml liquid cream; 2 tablespoons cornflour; 3 tablespoons water; Salt; Pepper

In French cooking, "à la normande" means there are apples involved, as Normandy is famous for them. In this twist on the classic civet, the rabbit meat is cooked on the bone in cider, after marinating overnight.

The sauce is made at the end with the cooking juices and cream.

85 K 4.5/5 (28 reviews)588610

Duration

15 hours 3 min.

Difficulty

Average

Last modified on: October 29^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

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: 3,395 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

12 hours 35 min.

Cooking

2 hours 30 min.

All in all

15 hours 3 min.

Preparation 12 hours 35 min.

Cooking 2 hours 30 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.

Prepare the marinade

Peel 1 carrot and slice into rounds.

Prepare and chop 1 onion.

Set aside.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 2 min.

Have your butcher joint 1 kg 500 g rabbit meat for you.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 2 min.

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.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 12 hours

Cover with plastic film and refrigerate overnight.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 3 min.

Cook the meat

Next day, drain the pices of rabbit and keep the marinade for later.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 15 min.

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.

Stage 7

It is much easier to do this in batches.

Stage 8

Return all the pieces of rabbit to the pan and turn the heat down a little.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 2 min.

Dust the meat with 2 tablespoons flour...

Stage 10 - ⌛ 5 min.

...and stir well until evenly fried.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pour the marinade (and all it contains) into the casserole, then salt and pepper.

Stage 12

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to its lowest setting. Cover...

Stage 13 - ⌛ 2 hours

...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.

Stage 14 - ⌛ 5 min.

Meanwhile, fry 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon in a frying pan with no added fat.

Set aside.

Stage 15 - ⌛ 10 min.

Peel 300 g mushrooms and cut into chunks.

Stage 16 - ⌛ 5 min.

Sauté the mushrooms in the frying pan used for the bacon, using the fat left.

Stage 17

After cooking for 2 hours, remove all the pieces of meat from the casserole.

Stage 18 - ⌛ 2 min.

Prepare the sauce

Strain the liquid from the casserole through a sieve. DIscard everything strained out and keep just the liquid.

Stage 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.

Stage 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.

Stage 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.

Stage 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.

And to drink?

The same cider (or perry) as you have used for the marinade and cooking.

Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered with plastic film. Reheats very well..

Source: Home made.

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	13 g RDI=21 %	3 g RDI=1 %	5 g RDI=7 %	118 kcal RDI=6 %	497 kJ RDI=6 %
Per person	78 g RDI=120 %	21 g RDI=8 %	30 g RDI=42 %	670 kcal RDI=34 %	2,807 kJ RDI=34 %
Whole recipe	468 g RDI=721 %	126 g RDI=48 %	182 g RDI=250 %	4,023 kcal RDI=201 %	16,844 kJ RDI=201 %