Rabbit Tajine (Updated - v2)

Best served with Couscous.

Attention! Preparation time around 90 minutes!

Preparation You'll need: A pan A Tajine (you can use a casserole dish if you don't have one) A mortar Three bowls for the vegetables.
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) 1 small Rabbit 1/2 lemon or better 1 Moroccan preserved lemon 1 large onion 5 cloves of garlic 50 g butter 2 Tbsp fresh chopped ginger 3 tomatos (medium) 1 carrot (large) 3 small potatoes 1/2 tsp cumin 1 cinnamon stick A large pinch of saffron 1 bundle of cilantro 500 mL poultry stock Salt Some Harissa to spice it up (just put it on the table so that everyone can use it) ChezTeddy Tip: Two things should not be missing with these Tajine dishes: To have the food more spicy, one should always place a tube of Harissa on the table. I would, if available, take 'Le Phare du Cap Bon' Harissa. That one tastes really the best. Also you should always place plucked coriander leaves on the table, so that everyone can serve himself. If the Tajine turns out too dry, one could add 100 or 200 millilitres of vegetable broth, slightly thinned.
First steps Grind 1/2 tsp. cumin in the mortar, chop the ginger (2 Tbsp needed), press 5 cloves of garlic, then put all that together with 1 cinnamon stick in the mortar on the side. Dice 1 large onion and 3 small potatoes and set aside, too. Peel 3 medium tomatoes, cut in thin slices, cut 1 large carrot in small pieces and put all that aside in another dish. Pour some olive oil into the tajine and add the tomatoes and carrot). -> If you don't do it in a tajine, but in a casserole, then they should go in last, together with the lemon. Cut the lemon in quarters and roughly remove the meat and throw it away. Cut the peel into small pieces.
Preparing the meat Cut the rabbit if you got it in one piece, try to remove the skin as well. Remove the insides.
Frying of meat and onions/potatoes Melt half of the butter in a pan and fry the meat until golden brown. During the frying add the rest of the butter. When done put the rabbit parts on the side. Now fry the potatoes in the pan (if needed add a bit olive oil), in the remaining butter, until they get brown. As soon as they start to get brown, add the onions. Fry until everything has a nice brown color. Add the contents of the little bowl (the ginger, cumin, ...) and the poultry stock and mix all very well. Salt to your liking, then pour into the Tajine. Add the saffron and the pieces of the lemon peel, mix well, then the rabbit parts. Put the Tajine into the oven and cook all for around 40 to 45 minutes at 190℃.

Spanish Rabbit

 

 

 

Goes well with farmhouse bread, Baguette or Greek flatbread

Attention! Preparation time a bit more than 1 hour!

Preparation You'll need: A roaster with lid
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 1 whole rabbit 40 g Serrano ham ½ red and ½ green bell-pepper 2 medium-sized onions 1 Tetra-pak chopped tomatoes (500-600 g) 4 cloves of garlic 1½ heaped tsp. pimentón (Spanish smoked sweet paprika) 1½ bay leaves 1 lemon (bio) ½ bunch of parsley Olive oil Salt and pepper
First steps Rinse the rabbit, pat dry with paper towel, remove head if it's the full rabbit, and cut into several pieces with a cleaver. Fry in regular olive oil on medium to high heat (7) on both sides until they are dark brown. This will take some time - in the meantime you can prepare the other ingredients: Coarsly chop the 2 onions, cut the bell-pepper halves into large pieces (2 to 3 cm), put together aside. Rinse and pluck half a bunch of parsley Remove the skin of the 4 cloves of garlic, press and finely chop them. Cut 40 g Serrano ham into small pieces Zest 1 complete lemon, juice one half of it.
Preparation As soon as the rabbit parts are browned, take them out of the roaster. Now sauté the onion and peppers in the olive oil at medium heat for 5 minutes (if olive oil is still needed, you can now add Extra-virgin olive oil). Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Now add the tomato pieces, Serrano, 1½ heaped teaspoons of pimentón, lemon zest and juice (15-20 ml) of one half, bay leaves and most of the parsley (the rest of the parsley is used at the very end). Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Add the meat pieces, cover and fry over medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking the moisture. If necessary, add water.
Serve To serve, first briefly set the meat aside, season the sauce again, then place it on the plates, add the meat and garnish with parsley.

Rabbit Provençal

 

Goes well with Baguette, Fougasse, or Greek flatbread

Attention! Preparation time a little more than 1 hour!

Preparation You'll only need: A large roaster with lid A large bowl to set the veggies aside A small bowl to set the shallots aside
Ingredients (for 3 persons) 1 whole rabbit 200 g shallots 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green) 10 dried apricots (if possible it should be the soft ones, not the completely dried ones) 600 g tomatoes 100 g fennel 2 cloves of garlic 20 black olives 1 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 Tbsp. ricard 2-3 stems thyme (if you use dried crushed thyme: 1 Tbsp.) Salt, pepper, mild paprika Ca. 100 mL water
Preparations Clean the bell pepper, cut into halves, remove all the seeds and the white membranes inside, cut in stripes. Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size. If using fresh thyme, rinse. Finely chop the cloves of garlic. Rinse the fennel and cut into small pieces. Put everything, including apricots aside in large bowl. Peel the shallots and cut them into halves, set aside in small bowl. Rinse the rabbit, pat dry with paper towel, remove head if it's the full rabbit, and cut into several pieces with a cleaver. Rub the pieces with salt, pepper and mild paprika.
Cooking Quick-fry the pieces of rabbit in a roaster in regular olive oil, until they have the desired brownish colour, remove and set aside. Quick-fry the shallots until they are medium brown, around 2 to 4 minutes. Add tomato paste (1 Tbsp.), turn heat down to medium, and continue to fry for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add all the vegetables, stir well, season with salt and pepper. Add the rabbit again, as well as 1 Tbsp. Ricard, 100 mL water and 20 olives, and let simmer covered at medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, always check for moisture and add water if necessary.