Slow cooked rabbit with croquettes

Rabbit, isn’t something everyone has tried to cook or eat. That was also the case for me until my father came home one day from work with rabbit meat. At first I thought he was joking because it wouldn’t be the first time my parents tried to prank me, not to mention I was a kid, today it’s not that strange for me try out anything and everything. Every time I couldn’t recognize the meat that was for lunch or dinner I would ask my mother, and she always used to reply something crazy like elephant, crocodile or kangaroo. Not saying that the mentioned meat isn’t on the menu somewhere in the world because I stumbled  myself upon crocodile meat in a restaurant in Lisbon. But the mentioned meat isn’t custom or it can’t be even purchased in Croatia.

So given the opportunity to cook with rabbit meat I looked up a few traditional Croatian recipes, over the last year tried some and among them the perfect combination surfaced. This  recipe has everything from rabbit meat to vegetables and bacon with crispy homemade croquettes as a side dish. The recipe isn’t complicated compared with the delicious taste of the dish. Try it out and I hope you’ll like it!

 

Preparation: 30 min                                    Cook time: 2 h                                      Servings: 5

Ingredients

• 1,5 kg rabbit
• 50 g bacon, sliced
• 50 g carrot, chopped
• 50 g celery root, chopped
• 50 g parsley root, chopped
• 50 g kohlarbi, chopped
• 3 tbsp oil
• 50 ml white wine
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 leaf rosemary
• salt & pepper to taste

Croquettes:

• 2 potatoes, peeled and sliced in cubes
• 250 g all – purpose flour
• 1 egg

How to

1. In a large cooking pot bring slightly salted water to a boil. Place sliced potatoes in the boiling water and cook until soft. Drain the water and mashed potatoes. Combine mashed potatoes, flour and an egg and form a firm dough. Using your hands form “snakes” from the dough and cut 3 – 4 cm slices.
2. Preheat the oven to 200° C.
3. Cut the cleaned rabbit and season the meat with salt. In a large pan heat 3 tablespoons of oil and cook the rabbit covered in bacon on each side until golden.
4. Place the rabbit in a large oiled up baking dish with a leaf of rosemary and cook in a preheated oven in a closed dish for an hour and a half.
5. Steam the chopped vegetables until soft and process them in a food processor. Place them in a small sauce pan with white wine and a pinch of salt & pepper. Cook for 2 min, then add 1 tablespoon of flour mixed in a tablespoon of water and cook for 2 more min until you get a thick sauce.
6. In a large frying pan fry the pieces of dough until golden brown and crispy.
7. Serve the cooked rabbit covered in sauce with croquettes.

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