Braised Rabbit with Wakame & Cashews

When I was a kid, we would go rabbit hunting every few weeks or so. Dad’d bundle us in the back of the Holden ute (safety belt? What safety belt?) and, since it was inevitably freezing at night in the South Western Australian countryside, our mittened hands would hang on like crazy as we bounced about, our bodies bundled in a plethora of rugs and blankets and beanies and boots. Rabbits were clean and plentiful back then, and for the few weeks following the ‘big night out’, we’d have rabbit stew, rabbit pie, rabbit braise… well, rabbit everything.

One of my favourite rabbit recipes is from Mark Best’s “Best Kitchen Basics“. Mark says, in his intro: “This is one of the first original recipes of Marque and shows its age in the use of an imported ingredient. Our ethos changed and became a servant to the bounty of our delightful island. The wakame we used is no longer imported due to the natural and human disaster that is Fukushima” Another reminder of the value to always, always ask where your food comes from.

Want to give this a whirl and need a rabbit? Why not order one for yourself.

Recipe: BRAISED RABBIT WITH WAKAME & CASHEWS

Prep:

Cooktime: 85mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 x 1.5kg rabbit

30ml olive oil

50ml dry vermouth

200ml dry white wine

500ml Sommerlad chicken stock

100g butter

50g plain flour

1 large white onion, thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

20g dried wakame

100g raw cashew nuts

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground white pepper

Instructions

Remove the hind legs and shoulders from the rabbit with a sharp knife. Use a heavy knife to chop through the rabbit, just above the pelvis. Do the same just behind the neck.

Use sharp kitchen scissors to remove the belly flap from the loin right through the ribs. Use the neck, tail and belly flap for the stock.

Using a heavy knife, cut the loin section into four pieces across the backbone.

Place a frying pan over high heat and add the olive oil. Brown the rabbit trimmings. Add the vermouth and wine and cook until reduced to a syrup. Cover with the chicken stock, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

Strain the stock and reserve. Discard the bones.

Heat the butter in a large flameproof casserole over medium heat.

Dredge the rabbit pieces in the flour then brown them on all sides in the butter. Remove the meat from the dish. Add the onion and celery to the casserole and cook until the onion is golden. Add the rabbit in a single layer, then add the wakame, cashew nuts, salt and pepper. Pour over the stock and cover with a circle of baking paper. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes, or until the meat is just starting to part from the bone. Adjust the seasoning, if required, and serve.

Recipe inspired by Mark Best, images courtesy Danielle Dixon and Scrumptious Reads