Hasenpfeffer (rabbit recipe)

[Ladybird]

This is THE deluxe way to cook Rabbit

1 or 2 cut-up rabbits
3 cups vinegar or dry wine
3 cups water
1 large onion
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon whole cloves
4 bay leaves
2 slices lemon
1 cup thick sour cream

Skin the rabbits, clean them and cup up in pieces.  Put pieces in a large bowl and cover with wine and water.  Add the sliced onion and seasonings.  Let the meat soak in this solution for 2 days; on the 3rd day put the rabbit in a kettle, cover with water & add the lemon slices to keep the flesh white.  Boil until the meat is tender (about 1 hour) and remove from the kettle.  Dip the pieces of rabbit lightly in flour and fry in hot fat in a fryinng pan, browning quickly, turning often.  Gradually add some of the mixture in which the meat was pickled.  Let simmer until the broth is brown (about 30 minutes).  Just before serving stir the sour cream into the sauce.

--from:  Edna Staebler.  Food that really schmecks: Mennonite country cooking.  Toronto : McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1968.

[Ladybird]

Here is another rabbit recipe, from the same source.  It is one of my favorites.

Hase Kucha

Cut up a rabbit and cook until tender; take the meat from the bones and cut it into unidentifiable pieces.  
While the rabbit is cooking, make the potato filling:

2 cups hot mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon summer savory or sage
4 cups fresh bread cut in cubes
1/2 cup celery, cut up
pepper

Mix all the ingredients well.  Butter a casserole and put a layer of the filling in the bottom, then a layer of the meat and rabbit broth, thickened with the flowr; put in another layer of the filling, and rabbit and broth, the filling on top.  Bake in a 350 degree about half an hour until nicely browned.

Enjoy!

[tamure]

I've tried both of these recipes now, and they are both fabulous!