A few years ago Sonia the Zucchini Farmer gave me a copy of Maggie’s Kitchen. It’s signed by the doyen herself; the inscription reads
To Amanda,
I hear you love to cook. Have fun with my food.
Best Wishes, Maggie Beer.
It’s become a prized possession but not for the obvious reason.
Soni is shy. She gets star struck easily. Last year at a charity lunch, Soni was rendered mute for several hours by a local radio announcer! Sonia would have been beside herself speaking to Maggie. This book is special to me, because a friend cared enough to go far out of her comfort zone to give me a present she knew I would treasure.
This week’s time-worn tucker post is not an old recipe, but it is an ingredient that our forebears ate plenty of….
pot-roasted hare with prunes and mustard
Maggie’s recipe calls for rabbit, but (mercifully) there aren’t any of those in Queensland. I use hares that Sonia’s boys have procured for me. Sometimes they’re even kind enough to butcher them for me.
Ingredients:
2 hares, cleaned and dressed
2 stalks sage
6 stalks thyme
2 tbs Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for cooking
12 pickling onions (or golden shallots)
40g butter
100g pitted prunes
1/3 cup verjuice
½ cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to season
Method:
Joint hare into front and back legs. Cut the saddle into three pieces, removing the sinew. There’s a great instructional video on youtube – how to joint a rabbit.
Combine the sage, thyme, mustard and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the hare pieces and marinate for at least an hour.
Meanwhile blanch the onions in a saucepan of simmering water for ten minutes. Cool slightly, then peel and set aside.
Heat 40g butter and a little olive oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat until the butter is nut brown. Add the hare pieces and gently cook over a low heat, turning occasionally for four minutes or until lightly coloured, remove and set aside. Add a little more olive oil, then add onions and cook for five minutes or until golden. Return the hare to the pan, add the prunes then deglaze the pan with verjuice.
Add the chicken stock and simmer covered for four minutes. It’s important not to overcook the hare or it becomes tough. Watch it carefully and remove it as soon as it’s cooked. After removing the hare, reduce the pan juices until syrupy.
Return the hare to the sauce, then season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Maggie suggests serving it with soft polenta. I’ve also served it with savoury semolina and mashed potato – both are nice accompaniments. The original recipe includes the liver and kidneys of the rabbit. I’ve tried it, but discovered I’m team no-kidneys.
Verdict:
I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times now. Once, when I was worried there wouldn’t be enough to go around, I served a pot of rabbit and a pot of chicken cooked in the same way. At the end of dinner the hare was gone, but chicken remained – such is the magic of Maggie and her treatment of maligned ingredients!
have you tried hare?
what’s your most prized possession?
do you get star struck?
have you read the other book about nut brown hares?
What a wonderful thing for your friend to do Amanda. Sorry, can’t do it. I’ve never eaten rabbit or hare and even cringe when I eat roo, which I’ve only done once. It looks very lovely though. I get starstruck when I meet bloggers I follow in person! (Can I have your autograph when I meet you? LOL) Anne xx
Can’t wait Anne. Spending three whole days with people who understand it is completely necessary to photograph a meal before dining is going to be paradise. xx
I love YOU to the moon and back!
Right back at you lovely. x
I haven’t tried hare! With all the rabbits over here I just cant believe you dont have them in Queensland! But your right Maggies recipes are always a hit!
You must know someone who’s a good shot Annaleis?
I used to be able to get rabbit in Cairns, it was frozen but was still great. I’ve never tried hare but I’m sure it would be tasty!
Prue xx
It’s pretty good Prue. Is there anything that can’t be enhanced by prunes?
I just don’t think I could try this one. I am a bit of a sooky la la with trying new foods (meat in particular). Me being adventurous is having lamb!
I have a few mates like you Soph!
I get a bit freaked out by rabbit and hare, but my partner is a big fan. As for star struck, I do but but over the oddest people – never who you expect…(who I expect).
Intriguing Lydia. Enjoy your break. X
We love the book the Nut Brown Hare but would have no problems at all eating him! This looks so delicious, Amanda. I’m feeling a family food adventure coming on:-)
You should give it a burl. Let me know if you’d like the original rabbit recipe and I’ll email it to you. x
Oh I’m totally team no-kidneys, team no-liver also (ick).
I very much miss the affordability of game in the UK, I make a mean rabbit and venison stew and in our first year home naively went to the butcher and priced up how much it would cost to get the meat (a rabbit is about $4-6 in the UK from the supermarket or butchers, venison is also relatively cheap). When it was over $50 and that was just the two rabbits I decided that I’d make something else.
It’s easy to get rabbit on the Gold Coast, there are a few speciality butchers that will carry it (Boarder Range Rabbit has a list of their SE QLD stockists) but they are upwards of $27 each which is insane because they are a pest and we should make them cheap and easy to eat.
A friend sent me a photo of a market near Leeds recently. There was a table covered wither pheasants and other game. Totally jealous. I’ve cooked venison too, but only stuff that my brother and friends have procured for me. Would you consider sharing your venison and rabbit stew recipe for a time-worn tucker guest post?
That really is a sweet present!
I haven’t tried hare. Not sure if I could make this with much success but if someone else were to make it for me…:)
Look forward to cooking you a meal one day Grace. x
Sounds delicious!
I don’t think I have eaten rabbit or hare but I would not turn my nose up at all! I am a meatosaurus and will pretty much try any meat you put in front of me!
Not sure that I’m brave enough to tackle hare- but I would happily eat it if someone else was cooking! I love your introduction to this post. No doubt each meal tastes a little sweeter thanks to your friends efforts.
The boys skinned them for me, so I was lucky. If I’d had to do it myself we’d have been eating at midnight!
LOVE the nails. And as a journo I can’t get star struck, otherwise I’d never get to interview or speak to anyone, like NZ’s Prime Minister some 10 years ago, Steve Fossett adventurer etc. Haven’t tried hare, just rabbit, they similar?
I didn’t realise you used to be a journo Em – great training for your final fancy career as a blogger! 🙂
I did this too. I used a wild rabbit and he was leeeeaaaan, therefore a little on the chewy side, but the flavour rocked!
Yep – you got to be so careful cooking them. Maggie says there’s more margin for error on farmed rabbits, but I’ve never tried cooking one.